Technologies driven by passion - Get ready for the 3rd European Start-up Days

An industrial robot, an electric car, a Formula 1 simulator, a virtual fitting room, an interactive mirror, a solar bench, a telemedical wristband and a 3D printer – the 3rd European Start-up Days will be a unique opportunity to admire and test out the most innovative and technologically advanced solutions. Next week, the International Conference Centre and the Spodek Arena in Katowice will host the largest event dedicated to start-ups in Poland, with the participation of a special guest: Andrus Ansip, the Vice-President of the European Commission and the Commissioner for the Digital Single Market.

The European Economic Congress in Katowice (EEC) will be accompanied by the 3rd edition of the European Start-up Days, an event that brings together young and mature businesses.

"A marketplace for ideas and new trends, a space of creative ferment and dialogue: these are the European Start-up Days in a nutshell. They are a platform where you can learn all you need to know to develop your business idea, get a chance to show yourself to the business world, attract potential partners to innovative solutions and let yourself be inspired by mentors, experts and good practices, acquiring important, first-hand know-how as you go. More than ever before, this year's edition is a bow to the world of cutting-edge technologies, which will be addressed during panel discussions and tested live thanks to the presentations delivered by the participants of the Start-up Challenge and our exhibitors", Wojciech Kuśpik, CEO of the PTWP Group, initiator of the European Economic Congress in Katowice.

The 3rd European Start-up Days will welcome a special guest, Andrus Ansip, the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, Estonian Prime Minister in 2005-2013, and the person behind the Estonian "IT and digital miracle". During his ten years in office, the country made an unprecedented leap forward in terms of IT progress, earning itself the moniker of "E-stonia".

The panels, speeches and presentations of the European Start-up Days will also feature guests such as Brunon Bartkiewicz, President, ING Bank Śląski; Jarosław Broda, Vice-President for Asset Management and Development, Tauron Polska Energia; Dobromir Ciaś, Managing Director, Edge NPD; Beata Cichocka-Tylman, CEO, PwC; Magdalena Chudzikiewicz, Member of the Board, Division of Internet, IT and Marketing, Polska Press Group; Katarzyna Dorsey, CEO, Co-Founder Yosh.ai; Joanna Erdman, Vice-President, NG Bank Śląski; Ben Greeven, CEO, Founder Thalento; Piotr Hołubowicz, CEO, SEEDiA; Tomasz Jażdżyński, CEO, Gremi Media; Bo Ji, Chief Representative & Assistant Dean, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business; Michał Kot, Sales Director, Siemens Polska; Marcin Kowalik, co-founder, Managing Partner, Black Pearls VC; Łukasz Kroplewski, Vice-President for Development, PGNiG; Marcin Krupa, Mayor of Katowice; Julia Krysztofiak-Szopa, CEO, Startup Poland; Jarosław Kuźniar, founder, GoForWorld; Benoit Legrand, Chief Innovation Officer, ING Group; Jowita Michalska, President, Digital University Foundation; Szymon Midera, CEO, co-founder, Shumee; Tariq Qureishy, CEO, founder, MAD Talks, Media Professional, futurist and executive coach; Greg Pietruszyński, CEO, Founder Growbots; Paweł Rek, General Director for Poland, Regional Director for Central Europe, Amadeus; Michał Sadowski, CEO, founder, Brand24; Aleksander Szlachetko, Managing Director, ESL Polska; Wiktor Schmidt, CEO, Netguru; Viktor Wanli, CEO, creator, CEO Team Kinguin; and Dariusz Żuk, CEO, Business Link.
Mentors available to discuss your start-up ideas with will include, e.g. Maciej Balsewicz, CEO, founder, bValue Venture Capital; Kamil Bilczyński, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Creative Director, co-founder, The Farm 51; Marek Borzestowski, entrepreneur, investor, co-founder, Wirtualna Polska, Managing Partner, Giza Polish Ventures, Chairman of the Board, NanoGroup SA; Sergey Butko, mastermind of CallPage; Michał Czerwiński, CEO, PurellaFood; Jakub Gajdamowicz, founder, LandscapeLab, vlogger, founder of a channel dedicated to online business; Iwona Grochowska, co-founder, CEO Nais; Justyna Janicka, co-founder, COO 1000 realities; Mateusz Juszczak, founder, CEO, Laparo; Edyta Kocyk, co-founder, SiDLY; Artur Kupczunas, co-founder, Co-CEO, Saule Technologies; Marcin Kuśmierz, CEO Home.pl; Arkadiusz Regiec, founder, Beesfund.com; and Andrzej Soldaty, Project Leader, "Future Industry Platform".

The European Start-up Days will showcase the best 100 start-ups selected from among nearly 200 submissions to the Start-up Challenge. Authors of the top 18 will get the chance to appear not only on the stages of the European Start-up Days but also on those of the European Economic Congress in the International Conference Centre, vying for prizes in six different categories: NEW INDUSTRY (Industry 4.0, robotics, automation, production systems, new materials, space industry); ENVIRONMENT (Environmental protection: climate technologies, ecological plantations, smart energy, resource use, waste processing); TRADITION & MODERNITY (Traditional industry, energy, telecommunications, transport, construction); HEALTH & BIOTECHNOLOGY (Medicine, health, medical technologies, pharmacy, biotechnology); BUSINESS PROCESSES (Management, analytics, ICT, cybersecurity, logistics, HR); CLIENT & LIFESTYLE (Commerce, customer experience, e-commerce, fintech, edutech, gaming, sport, leisure industry).

The 18 finalists include the following start-ups: 3YOURMIND; Abyss Glass; BZB UAS; Emplocity; Genomtec; Handerek Technologies – Converting plastic to fuel; Innoaux; InnoGea; Medical Simulation Technologies; NanoPure Technologies; Placeme; PW Network; SENSE Monitoring; SCROOT; Shelfwise; Spectre; Tap To Speak; UMOWNIK.
Visitors to the European Start-up Days will also be introduced to the realm of cutting-edge technologies by other solutions showcased in the Spodek Arena and the International Conference Centre: the smog detectors by Airly; a drone-based blood transportation system by Airvein; 3D printers by 3dgence; Keystone+Thalento by Facelytix, i.e. tools that rely on facial recognition to analyse the personality of job applicants to best match them to occupational roles; solar benches by SEEDia; telemedical wristbands for health monitoring by Sidly; electric cars by ING Bank Śląski; a Formula 1 car, an electric car, a Formula 1 simulator, and YuMi robot by ABB; and, last but not least, AR and VR technologies by 1000 realities.

The European Start-up Days will be held on 15-16 May 2018 in Katowice. The first event of this magnitude to bring together start-ups, corporations, and business support organizations, it attracted 2500 visitors last year alone. This year, the objective again is to integrate the community of young entrepreneurs with experts, CEOs of large companies, investors and successful business people attending the European Economic Congress in Katowice. The 10th anniversary edition of the EEC will feature more than 150 sessions with as many as 900 speakers, and more than 9 thousand guests are expected to arrive from all over the world.

More information about the European Economic Congress: www.eecpoland.eu/pl 

Detailed information about the European Start-up Days: www.estartupdays.eu/pl