esi: Who are you, what do you do and what makes you an expert on your start-upcountry?
Imre: ICatapult is a unique accelerator and business development company, focusing on taking European technologies to the global market. We believe that many non-US start-ups have the potential of going global from day one, they just need the boost to avoid cultural, language, financial barriers and the lack of cohesive network. We strongly believe that talent on this planet is distributed evenly whereas opportunity is not. Backed by our founders, a great network of mentors and an awesome team, we help European tech start-ups expand their businesses to a global scale by exposing them to start-up ecosystem cultures like that of the Silicon Valley and New York.
esi: What is cool about your start-upcountry, what inspires you and keeps you thriving?
Imre: Budapest is the Amsterdam of Eastern Europe. It is the capital city – it is thriving, with its many coffees, bars and clubs it creates a perfect environment for innovation. What’s more, this city has three major 200 Mio. USD start-ups (Prezi, Ustream, LogMeIn), which makes the city a very significant start-up core. This open, eclectic, bohemian cultural atmosphere is conductive to innovation. A few decades ago, the American counterculture and its capital San Francisco was instrumental in the formation of what Silicon Valley is today. As Paul Graham puts it “It’s the young nerds who start start-ups, so it’s those specifically the city has to appeal to.”
esi: What makes you shake your head about your start-upcountry, what needs to be improved?
Imre: We have a lack of cooperation between neighboring cities and a need for more international events and knowledge transfer on a global scale. There are more consultants than start-ups in Hungary. And we have venture capital with bad terms – global standards are slowly creeping in.
esi: What’s some cool fact we are likely not to know about your start-upcountry?
Imre: Because of the Jeremie Programme (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Size Entreprises) of the European Union, there is a lot of – over 500 Mio. USD – venture capital money available for start-ups in Hungary, which is unique even within Europe. Budapest is the only capital in CEE (and probably in EU) with three major 200 Mio. USD+ start-ups , none of which have major Hungarian but substantial global market presence.
esi: Thank you for the interview.
About the interviewpartner:
Imre Hild is CEO of the tech accelerator iCatapult (www.icatapult.co).
