This guide started in 2013 with the aim to give a conscise overview of what to look out for if you are a young entrepreneur in Budapest. It has proven to be a most valuable source of information for a lot of people interested in the local startup ecosystem. We are releasing the article in 2014 as well with updated information.
As in every country nowdays, also here in Hungary everybody is talking about startups. New ventures have sprung up in recent years, ushered by an emerging startup ecosystem of accelerators, funding sources, co-working spaces and other new resources now available to entrepreneurs. As the ecosystem grows, it fosters new ideas and ways of doing business, and it makes it easier for aspiring young talent to get enthusiastic about starting a business. This is why this guide exists: to give a conscise overview of what to look out for if you are living here, or just happen to be a young entrepreneur visiting Budapest. (Asterisk indicates a new addition since last year.)
Annual Events, Conferences
- Startup Underground - The largest and leading conference on startups.
- Smartmobil - Conference focusing on mobile trends and technologies.
- Hungarian Innovation Tech Show - Annual showcase for tech companies.
- Barcamp Budapest - Conference focusing on internet business.
- Singularity University Summit Europe* - Showcasing what changes the world.
- Stretch* - International conference on leadership and management.
- Craft* - International conference on craftsmanship in software companies.
- MLOC.JS* - International conference on the future of Javascript.
- Ramp* - International conference on building highly scalable backend systems.
- Startup Sauna Budapest - Event by Startup Sauna, Finland's largest accelerator.
- Seedcamp Budapest - Event by Seedcamp, Europe's leading accelerator.
- Colabs Startup School - Open day at Hungarian tech companies.
Monthly/Semi-Regular Events
- Budapest Business Meetup - Business networking events with exciting programmes.
- E-Breakfast - Morning interview and breakfast networking.
- E-Liquidity - Monthly happy hour gathering of the Budapest startup community.
- EEF Speaker Series - Presenting the best of breed entrepreneurs.
- First Monday - Meet with key stakeholders of the startup-ecosystem.
- Hackathon* - Business idea workshop for students across Hungarian universities.
- International geek-together - Monthly gathering of tech-expats living in Budapest.
- Lean Startup Circle Budapest* - Get practical help with Lean Startup.
- Lean Startup Machine Budapest* - The world famous Lean Startup workshop.
- Mobile Weekend - Find an idea, build a team, and ship a mobile app in just two days.
- New Tech Meetup - Monthly gathering of technology enthusiasts.
- Pioneers Unplugged Budapest* - An evening full of tech-talks and networking.
- Prezi Tech Talks* - Sharing knowledge on various technology topics.
- Startup Budapest - Monthly meetup supporting business development of startups.
- Startup Weekend Budapest - Budapest event of the popular Startup Weekend series.
Accelerators
- ACME Labs* - (Accredited Technology Incubator)
- Aquincum Incubator* - Startup development center. (Accredited Technology Incubator)
- AVEC Accelerator* - An accelerator composed of Hungary's largest investment groups.
- Colabs - Startup center and tech hub. The first of its kind in Hungary.
- Digital Factory* - Incubator for global startups. (Accredited Technology Incubator)
- iCatapult - Taking startups to the global market. (Accredited Technology Incubator)
- SeedUp - Incubator program aimed at CEE startups.
- Traction Tribe* - Early stage traction composer for startups looking to enter the US.
Entrepreneurial Development Firms
- European Entrepreneurship Foundation - Building next generation European companies.
- Invendor* - A consulting house providing strategic advisory and scouting services.
- Kitchen Budapest* - Kitchen Budapest (KiBu) is a place where ideas come alive.
- Megoldas.Most - Group of business development experts focusing on startup companies.
- RocketSide* - Helps people in implementing their wildest dreams.
- SmartUp - Business communication and coaching agency.
Coworking Spaces
- Colabs - Startup center and tech hub. The first of its kind in Hungary.
- CoWo - Co-working right at the center of town. Light, space, harmony.
- i-Office - Co-working and virtual office services in one of Budapest's most dynamic areas.
- Kaptar - For people who like freedom in work and being part of a vivid community.
- KoWerk - For growing startups who still take pleasure in the co-working environment.
- Loffice - One of the first co-working spaces in Budapest, now also open in Vienna.
- MyCorporation - Open minded host space with complete office infrastructure.
- Startup Office - Office space for small and medium size enterprises.
- The Hub - Co-working and startup event hub, close to the popular Liszt square.
Investors
- Euroventures - One of the longest-established venture capital firms in Central Europe.
- Day One Capital - The first institutional business angel fund to operate in Hungary.
- Finext* - Finext invests into emerging innovative SMEs in Hungary.
- Primus Capital - Primus accelerates expansion stage enterprises with venture capital.
- PortfoLion - OTP Bank's venture capital fund management company
Online Resources
- Bridge Budapest* - Offers fellowship program to gain practical experience.
- European Entrepreneurship Foundation Blog - English language blog of EEF.
- Insider Blog - Hungary's largest technology blog, in Hungarian.
- Silicon Goulash - The first english language blog covering Hungarian tech startups.
- Startup Cafe - Hungarian language blog covering technology startups.
- Startupdate - Hungarian language blog giving advice on starting a business.
- Startup Digest Hungary - The definite tech events directory.
- Startups.hu - Extensive database of Hungarian tech startups.
In case you think we missed something, please drop us a line: hello at silicongoulash dot com.
