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Startup Spotlight is the leading competition for startups in CEE, where we invite ambitious founders of early stage startups to turn them into successful enterprises.
You bring the product and team, and hopefully a bit of traction, we provide you with access to some of the best investors, experts and journalists on the planet.
Startup Spotlight is all about pushing forward your startup! Thus we have set up benefits that give you international exposure and growth opportunities.
from TechAngels, GapMinder Venture Parteners and RocaX. VC funds & angel networks come together to co-invest in the next rising tech startup
1 day expo booth at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin, including conference full-passes and wildcard for the Startup Battlefield competition, for the winners of the Best Startup, Best Pitch and Best Innovation awards
from F6S that will bring you international exposure, valuable PR, mentorship and business development opportunities to all 20 selected startups
submit your application
The the first step is to submit your application. Startup Spotlight Competition gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their ideas in front of the most relevant audience, win amazing prizes, visibility and networking opportunities.
semi-finalists selected
The top 20 selected startups will pitch their products on stage, showcase them in the startup expo area, meet investors, relevant experts and potential business partners, and receive the public exposure they need.
finalists
selected
Best 6 startups will qualify in the competition final, where a panel of experienced entrepreneurs, investors and operators will review their pitches and reward the best ones.
Application period:
Jul 1 - Oct 10
Judging period:
Oct 11 - Oct 19
Notification of selected teams:
Oct 20
Pitching rehearsal:
Oct 29
Event days:
Oct 30 & 31
Application period:
Jul 1 - Oct 10
Judging period:
Oct 11 - Oct 19
Notification of selected teams:
Oct 20
Pitching rehearsal:
Oct 29
Event days:
Oct 30 & 31
Startup Spotlight is opened to all early stage technology startups in CEE, which are less than 5 years old and up to 1m EUR in financing.
The jury will positively evaluate the experience and complementarity of the team, the added-value of the solution developed, the target market size and the growth opportunities.
Founding Partner @ GapMinder
He has an excellent track record as CEO in IT&C, multiple M&A missions, various Non-Exec Board and Advisory roles
President
@ TechAngels
Entrepreneur & Business Angel. He invested, from their early stages, in some of the most promising startups as Symphopay, SmartDreamers and TypingDNA.
Positioning Expert & CEO @ Ambient strategy
Product positioning expert with 16 products launched, author of “Obviously Awesome”
Founder @ GrowthX and GrowthX Academy
Product/market fit expert in a wide variety of markets
Director of Kit
@ Shopify
Director of product, marketing Shopify Product expert and founder of Kit
Senior Product Designer @ Adobe
Extensive expertise in the UX field & broad experience in enterprise/B2B solutions.
Product Marketing Lead @ Bitdefender
Product Marketing professional and a startup consultant, relatively obsessed with technology.
Partner @ LAUNCHub Ventures
Passionate about Entrepreneurship, Startups, Venture Capital, Technology investments & Social Impact.
Investor @ Gecad Ventures
Radu has over 20 years of experience in founding and developing companies - Software, Internet, eCommerce.
Global Roaming Mentor @ SOSV
Supporting early-stage teams from multiple accelerators in the US, EU, and Asia
Partner @ KPMG Legal
Attorney-at-Law with substantial expertise mainly in the areas of Technology, Media and Telecom as well as Data Protection & Privacy Law and in technology related Competition and Antitrust and Intellectual Property in international context.
Head of Marketing @ BCR
Economist and Political Science Analyst, dabbling in the world of finance and organizational development before focusing on the dynamic pastures of marketing.
Head of operations for PTP services @ Societe Generale & Founder of Paid Analytix
People Manager with practice in leading and growing global teams, reaching valuable results in succession planning and management coaching & development
Chief Product Officer @ Sotrender
Product leader with deep expertise in product metrics
Head Of Technology @ EY
Strong management background with senior level local / international experience and relevant history of working in IT&C industry.
Partner @ 3TS Capital Partners
Venture & PE investor in tech companies, entrepreneurship professor and business angel
VP Product & Head of European Development Centers @ Fitbit
Entrepreneur, angel investor and business advisor with 4 successful international exits.
Director Software Engineering @ Fitbit
Managing 6 teams with 50+ engineers that deliver next generation of features and platforms for the Fitbit ecosystem
Investor @ Flashpoint
There is always something to do. You just need to look harder, be creative, and be a little flexible
Early stage tech investor @ Earlybird Venture Capital
Part of Digital East Fund since its inception in Istanbul, he covers companies based in Turkey and Eastern Europe. It's one of the largest VC firms in the region with fund size of $150M.
Head of Intellectual Property and Technology @ DLA Piper
An accomplished attorney and former Romanian judge with dual legal qualifications in the United States and Romania
Vice President of Product @ 2Checkout
VP of Product Management at 2Checkout, all-in-one monetization platform.
Startups Program Manager @ Orange
Startup programs manager with a passion for creating products
Founder & Managing Partner @ Early Game Ventures
Tech entrepreneur with a marketing and creative background.
General Partner @ Credo Ventures
Venture capitalist with a passion for finding outstanding founders and great talent
Managing Director @ Techstars Berlin
Investor and supporter of the next wave of disruptive European startups
Partner @ Bitdefender
Silviu is a certified offensive security expert with 10+ years of cybersecurity background.
Managing Director @ GapMinder Venture Partners
Venture capitalist with a high understanding of High Tech and its trends
Head of Tax & Legal
@ KPMG
Helps companies to create value by expanding in new territories and embracing new technologies.
Product Management Director @ Bitdefender
Product and UX expertise in B2B and B2C security products
VP of Sales
@ 2Checkout
Senior sales leader, with 10+ years expertise in building sales teams, processes and customer success
VP of Growth
@ Workable
Established sales development at Workable, the leading SaaS hiring platform. Startup Spotlight alumni
Product Owner @ Metro Systems
Tech’N Trade was launched from the company’s desire to appeal to the young talent category with dynamic ideas from the Cluj region and to build digital retail solutions for the future.
Founding Partner
@ Dynamo VC
Experienced seed investor and corporate innovation expert, Europe 1st acceleration expert
Customer Experience Optimisation Specialist @ Vaimo
Optimising customer and product experince through data and cognitive psychology
Partner @ 500 startups Istanbul
Early stage investor helping Eastern European entrepreneurs to succeed at the global stage
Founder & CEO @ Salesflare
Product and sales experience in building the most popular CRM on ProductHunt
Senior Department Manager @ METRO Systems
She started as software developer and enhanced her knowledge and skills in many other areas as management, leader, trainer and coach.
Experienced product specialist & co-curator @ Mind the Product
Product manager, community builder, coach, general enthusiast
Partner
@ Gecad Ventures
Extensive experience with new products and markets, transition planning and execution, organizational and product development.
Support Organization @ RIST
He runs an Applied AI Research program for startups and companies. Interested solving hard ML challenges and investing in data-driven startups.
Co-Founder & COO @ MEDIjobs
MEDIjobs is a recruitment platform dedicated exclusively to medical recruitment.
Co-Founder
@ OUTCOME
Lean startup and innovation specialist, author of The Corporate Startup
CEO and Data Scientist @ TypingDNA
“Startup Spotlight was a great opportunity to interact with other entrepreneurs and with seasoned professionals who could provide guidance for growing our company. We have incorporated many of the things we learned through the HTW experience into our business and believe that it brought us an extraordinary launching opportunity.”
CEO @ Omniconvert
“The How to Web team has put together a great concept where not only are startups brought into contact with investors, but the guidance from mentors and networking helped us understand better the SaaS game that we are in and also gave us more knowledge about how to tackle the channel market fit phase that Omniconvert encountered.”
Co-founder @ Incrediblue
“We had the chance to meet awesome people, some of which later become our investors and got featured in some of the biggest tech outlets in the world. Highly positive experience, great business outcome!”
