David Rose, MIT, James Haliburton, Topp Design & Innovation & Enis Hulli, 500 Startups
Incredible first-class conference! The best-organized event that I ever attended! Priceless opportunities for networking and new business deals! And thorough reflection by the organizers regarding details, carried out with military precision, including taking care of the guests, having fun, and enjoying the beauties of Slovenia. You can be proud of everything you've achieved! This is how we can summarize the compliments and thanks we received this year after the end of PODIM, the biggest and most influential startup event in the Alps-Adriatic and Western Balkans regions. Over the past couple of years, PODIM has made a quantum leap from being just another startup conference and actually grew into a movement that joins and connects the most active stakeholders of the regional startup ecosystem, opening doors to incredible individuals, organizations and opportunities in global startup hubs. It also developed into an effective investment platform for investing into the most promising startups from the region and further, and this year achieved a new organizational record. It was attended by more than 1,000 individuals from 25 countries, which is the highest number so far, including more than 70 prominent speakers, 90 Slovenian and international investors, more than 100 corporate representatives, and more than 300 representatives of innovative high-tech startups, for which we organized more than 600 meetups in the PODIM 1:1 Arena.
The hall, the crowd, and the main moderator of the conference Daniel Cronin, AustrianStartups
Epicenter of the regional startup ecosystem!
When looking at this year's hustle and bustle, dynamic exchange of ideas, and enthusiastic new business connections, PODIM organizers got the best possible confirmation that the influence of this event is increasingly recognizable and spilling over into the national, regional and global space. This fact is also detected by all the main partners, sponsors and co-organizers of PODIM through many positive effects, realizing how important it is that attendees, who travel to the event from countries outside of Europe (mostly the US and Asia), recognize the Alps-Adriatic and Western Balkans regions as a pool of promising business talents and highly qualified tech staff and see PODIM as an epicentre of the regional startup ecosystem.
Prime Minister Dr. Miro Cerar on stage during the opening addres
Critical mass for changing the legislative framework
PODIM is also important as an event that ensures a critical mass of people, incentives and interests that drive positive changes for the entire Slovenian startup ecosystem and its legislative framework. This was also confirmed by the visits of the Slovenian Prime Minister, dr. Miro Cerar, and Tadej Slapnik, State Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister also attended last year's PODIM to meet representatives of the Slovenian startup community and overview all the key administrative, fiscal and business obstacles that innovative startups face in Slovenia, in order to attempt to eliminate them in collaboration with line ministries and ensure a more encouraging environment for the creation and business operations of startups.
Prime Minister Dr. Miro Cerar at the meeting with the Slovenian startup community
Eliminating obstacles and meeting with the startup community
After a year, the dialogue and collaboration have brought results. The action plan “Slovenia – the land of startups”, accepted by the government in March this year, includes 17 obstacles from the mentioned list as well as concrete suggestions for eliminating them! Once again, the Prime Minister met with key stakeholders of the Slovenian startup ecosystem at PODIM. This time, the ecosystem was represented by Andraž Tori and Boštjan Špetič from Zemanta, Tilen Travnik from D·Labs, Luka Topolovec from EqualEyes, Matej Rus from Venture Factory and Initiative Start:up Slovenia, Branko Drobnak from the Business Angels of Slovenia Club, and Maja Tomanič Vidovič from the Slovene Enterprise Fund. All of them praised the measures that the government has taken to improve the legislative framework for business operations of Slovenian startups, and highlighted the current pressing issues and the need to resolve them. The host of the meeting between the government and stakeholders from the Slovenian startup scene at this year's PODIM was mag. Aleš Cantarutti, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.
Excellent speakers, excellent performances
Eight hot programme blocks
This year's conference programme was designed in line with the vision of PODIM organizers, which also includes co-creating better conditions for the formation and development of startup companies and offering new opportunities for them to learn, to motivate them and connect them with actors on the global startup scene. We covered all the hottest topics from the world of innovation and startups, which we dealt with in eight programme blocks – technology and business, venture design, corporate innovation, marketing & growth hacking, winning team and winning company, venture capital funding, blockchain, creative industries and high tech.
Presenting best practices of corporate innovation with Jonathan Grover, Plantronics
Really relevant topics
Within the content segment dedicated to effective corporate innovation, we collaborated with our programme partner CorpoHub to carry out a so-called unconference, a well-known format across the world, but one that isn't used that frequently in Slovenia. “For purposes of more effective organization, participants recommended the current hottest topics of corporate innovation even before the conference, then oriented the debate on individual topics with their questions and comments. It was a great pleasure to hear participants’ comments on really relevant topics and see the enthusiasm for a significantly more thorough analysis of startups after the conference, for which we apparently successfully prepared them a good week before PODIM. We are justified in being optimistic that the first bigger Slovenian companies will attract other big companies to adopt practices of lean, agile and open innovation over the following years, because they need both for their existence and growth in a world that is so uncertain and quick today,” said Lojze Bertoncelj from CorpoHub, at the end of the conference.
How to gain management support for corporate innovation was revealed at PODIM 2018 by Mike Sigal from 500 Startups
Speakers from Deutsche Post, Amazon, Kapsch ...
Besides the mentioned unconference, we collaborated with WhatAVenture, an established Austrian company, and this year's PODIM programme partner, to cover the best global practices in intrapreneurship and corporate innovation. Prominent speakers shared their views and experience in the mentioned topics, including Johannes Naumann from Deutsche Post DHL Group, Heinrich Schmid-Schmidsfelden from Kapsch, Mike Sigal from the American accelerator 500 Startups, Carolyn N. Spencer from the American internet giant Amazon, Jonathan Grover from the American company Plantronics, Darwin Dubon from the American Dunkin’ Brands and Bjarke Wolmar from the Danish Thinkers50 Europe, with conversations moderated by Philippe Thiltges from WhatAVenture.
This year, we were joined by 11 excellent corporate partners, including Kolektor, Pošta Slovenije and Iskratel (on the photo)
Excellent corporate partners and representatives of key industries
Due to numerous positive effects in ensuring effective corporate innovation and systematic collaboration with startups, PODIM has also been supported by numerous prominent corporate partners and representatives of key industries. This year, there were 11 of them, including Iskratel, Kolektor, Outfit7, Telekom Slovenije, Zavarovalnica Sava, Nova KBM, Pošta Slovenije, Cofound.it, DEWESoft, Center for Creativity from MAO, and Science Park Graz, which is based in Austria and houses the European Space Agency and its business incubation center ESA BIC.
Signing a letter of intent between the Croatian startup Locodels and Pošta Slovenije, which met the Locodels team at last year’s PODIM
Pošta Slovenije gains a resounding achievement in a year!
This year, PODIM was also the place where we celebrated the newest achievement of Pošta Slovenije. Last year at PODIM they meet the team of the Croatian startup Locodels, while this year, they gathered at the PODIM press conference to sign a letter of intent for collaboration in ensuring fast delivery with a sharing economy model. Or as Kristijan Perčič, member of Pošta Slovenije's Postartup team, said: “PODIM ensures excellent opportunities for meeting talented startup teams and individuals, and developing new solutions and business models, so we're truly very happy to be a part of this event!” Meanwhile this year's conference and its excellent media coverage with more than 700 press clippings also thrilled representatives from Kolektor, Iskratel, Telekom Slovenije and the blockchain platform Cofound.it ...
Mateja Lavrič, Kolektor (first from the left)
”Since we are a corporate partner our expectation was to present the industry as a sexy environment for the startup ecosystem and of course to find appropriate startups and individuals who want to work for the industry. PODIM always fulfills our expectations, as an event it is really energetic, powerful and we had a lot of discussions here in our showroom and in the one-on-one arena.”
Matjaž Slak, Cofound.it
”PODIM is a perfect place where entire regional startup community comes together and we could meet most of the key stakeholders that were here, so on that point we were very happy. It was really good, for instance, meeting a team from India that is building 100 smart cities that will include blockchain services and blockchain as a fundamental part of their business plan.”
Roman Kužnar, Iskratel (in the middle)
”Congratulations to the entire PODIM team, for a resounding and well-implemented event, for a rich and varied programme, good lecturers and content, even more startups than in the previous years, for an increasingly better corporate programme, and for excellent media promotion!”
Larisa Potokar, Telekom Slovenije (on the right)
”I think PODIM is great! It really is like an adrenaline shot for all the participants looking for new business opportunities and solutions.”
Record attendance and structure of participants
One of the achievements of this year's PODIM and at the same time also a large organizational mouthful is the record number of attendees – exactly 1,055 of them who traveled to the event from 25 countries. In line with the key target groups that we annually address, most of them were startup company representatives (341), followed by corporate representatives (117), investors (90), speakers (74) and other attendees coming from the ranks of entrepreneurs, consultants, ministry representatives and other public administrators, and students (altogether 433).
Resounding speeches on the main stage
With 74 excellent speakers to 77 excellent performances
We once again looked for speakers in collaboration with our friends from the Slovenian and global startup community and addressed them to visit Slovenia. With altogether 74 top-notch speakers from the whole world, we managed to organize 77 performances – lectures, speeches, panel discussions, fireside chats, meetups ... All with the purpose of offering an unforgettable conference experience to the attendees, giving them goosebumps at lectures of eminent experts and, of course, sharing a new dose of knowledge, advice, and experiences, due to which many people won't need to reinvent the wheel or learn on their own mistakes.
Celebration for the received award – Beeping became the Slovenian Startup of the Year 2018
Prestigious title and crystal statue for Beeping!
If we speak about persistent, exemplary and textbook approach to building business, where the team knows well that there is no point in reinventing the wheel and that learning from other people's mistakes can be very valuable, we can't go past the startup Next, developing the online platform Beeping for a fast, safe and effective way of hiring verified cleaners to one's home. At the gala ceremony, taking place at the end of the first day of the conference, they received a crystal statue and prestigious title Slovenian Startup of the Year 2018, despite the incredibly strong competition from companies Event Registry, Gotoky, MAG-LEV Audio and Smart Optometry.
Jan Dobrilovič (left) attacked the black market of household cleanings with the Beeping platform, and the prize brought big positive effects to the entire Beeping team in a short time
More than a thousand new orders and fully booked capacities
Even though there is already competition on this market, because Europe has platforms that offer household cleanings, the Beeping team convinced the members of the expert jury, choosing the recipient of the award, with distinct data-driven operations and meticulous organization of work processes – for team members who manage the platform as well as for the cleaners, so-called beepers, to whom they guaranteed a fair, safe, time- and cost-effective solution instead of undeclared work! For Beeping, the resounding award didn't only bring fame and responsibility, but also a very concrete business effect – more than a thousand new orders for cleaning homes and completely booked capacities over the following months!
Pitches of three from altogether five PODIM Challenge finalists – Unispotter (Austria), BeeRent (Croatia) and Fastcast (Slovenia)
Record number of startup applicants and PODIM Challenge finalists
Record numbers were also marked with more than 500 applications from startups that wished to obtain a PODIM startup ticket. Based on pre-set criteria, we chose 160 teams from 22 countries and presented them in the PODIM Startup Catalogue. 20 best-assessed startups placed in the semi-finals of PODIM Challenge whose pitching competition is a very important part of investment activities at the conference. They were evaluated by 7 jury members, namely Dan Lupu from Early Bird Capital, Cristobal Alonso from Startup Wise Guys, David Braun from DASHR, leAD Sports Accelerator, Wiktor Rybicki from Innovation Nest, Aleksander Tõnnisson from Buildit, Matevž Petek from Povio Labs and Matt Kuppers from Startup Manufactory, who chose five finalists, namely the Croatian BeeRent, Austrian Unispotter and Slovenian teams Homey, Invoice Exchange and Fastcast.
For winning the PODIM Challenge, Homey received a 10,000 EUR worth all-inclusive networking programme in Silicon Valley. The programme part of the trip was covered by the ABC Accelerator again this year, while Nova KBM contributed 1,000 EUR of pocket money
Victory by Homey from the Start:up Celje community!
After successfully placing into the finals, all five representatives from chosen teams took the stage to compete in an exciting experience of timed pitching. With her confident, self-assured and incredibly well-prepared performance, the victory went to Sanja Zepan and the team of the Slovenian startup Homey from the Start:up Celje community. As the main prize, they received a 10,000 EUR worth all-inclusive networking programme in Silicon Valley, where the content part of the journey was once again covered by the ABC Accelerator, plane tickets are paid for by PODIM Challenge organizers, while Nova KBM gave 1,000 EUR of pocket money to the winning team. The prize came at the best possible time, said Sanja Zepan, because one of the current key goals of startup Homey is to make new partnerships with banks, savings banks and other potential business partners.
Awarders and recipients of additional PODIM Challenge prizes – trips to London and Boston
Four additional trips to London and Boston
One of the novelties for participating startups at this year's PODIM Challenge were also the prizes that PODIM organizers gave out in collaboration with corporate partners and CEP's programme Start:up Balkan. In the spirit of giving back to the community, we chose four startups from amongst all companies presented in the PODIM startup catalogue, and rewarded them with a business trip to London and Boston. In autumn, Slovenian startup DS Meritve, chosen by Iskratel, Slovenian team Teodoor, chosen by Telekom Slovenije, and team MEERKIDDO from Bosnia and Herzegovina, chosen by representatives of the Start:up Balkan programme, will travel to London. Meanwhile Zavarovalnica Sava chose the Slovenian startup company Arvio for a networking visit to Boston.
Highlights from this year’s PODIM 1:1 Arena
DEMO Day and more than 600 meetings in the PODIM 1:1 Arena
Meanwhile, investors and corporate partners had numerous informal and formal opportunities for networking with startups, including another novelty, namely the DEMO Day, organized a day before the start of the conference. This gave all startups from the catalogue the opportunity to carry out the first PODIM pitches and introduce themselves to chosen investors and corporate representatives. More than half of them took advantage of this opportunity and, as the conclusion of the DEMO Day, the participating startups met Maribor's startup community in KID KIBLA. Similar to last year, the PODIM 1:1 Arena once again ensured a special place and increasingly optimal conditions for pre-organized meetups between startups, investors, corporate representatives, conference speakers and other potential strategic partners. This year, there were more than 600 of such meetings!
Thank you’s and impressions from the PODIM app
More than 2,700 interactions in the PODIM app
One of key values added for the attendees was once again the official PODIM app, which ensured a perfect overview of the activities, location of lectures, workshops, networking, schedules and of course information on individuals and organizations that attended this year's event. Possibilities for informally establishing new contacts and making acquaintances were thus practically endless, only dependent on the mood and proactivity of each individual, who knew exactly why they came to PODIM. Users demanded information through the app more than 44,000 times, uploaded more than 200 photos, but we also marked a bit over 2,700 interactions in the form of comments and likes. Once again, the app was precious for us, the organizers, because it allowed us to get the general feel of the event as well as a lot of feedback, compliments and recommendations.
Highlights from the PODIM Marketplace event
PODIM Marketplace or how to quickly sell 5,000 shoelaces!
PODIM organizers are very proud of PODIM Marketplace, which took place the day after the official conclusion of the two days of conference activities. We carried it out on the initiative of our best hardware scaleup startups such as Chipolo, Equa, Xvida, Visionect and SIPA Boards, who wanted to join forces to effectively address a very pressing issue – expanding the global distribution network and building good relationships with distributers. More than 70 attendees met at the event, exchanging best practices and experiences, but mostly making new deals. They included around 20 representatives of established distributers and traders, including Amazon (US), Blue Green Group (Japan), Selection Trade (Germany), Cylla (Turkey), QoQa (Switzerland), Altijdalleskwijt (Netherlands) and others, as well as approximately 50 representatives of the most promising hardware startup teams from the region. And what did the initiators of the event and the distributers that came for fresh, innovative products say about the event? Read below ...
Primož Zelenšek, Chipolo:
”PODIM Marketplace is an event where we invite startups that are in the stage of looking for sales channels, distributers. The best startups brought the best distributers and showed them the potential we have in Slovenia. What’s also necessary for success is that startups know each other, because Slovenia might be small in surface area but it is very big in successes. Mutual help enables us to be even more successful in the future, on markets at home and abroad.”
Jernej Pangeršič, Dewesoft Katapult:
”At the PODIM Marketplace event, David Knez from QuickShoelace told me that he made a deal to supply almost 5,000 shoelaces to Austria! There were at least 30 one-on-one meetings, as far as I managed to count, although the actual number of new deals will show in a few months. But still – the first reactions of startups and distributers were good – after the event, we received quite a few emails and texts with compliments and thank you’s.”
Tadashi Aoyagi, Blue Green Group
”We’re always looking for new, interesting products with a well-elaborated design. And there’s a lot of them here today! Before I got here, I wasn’t expecting such a big and resounding event in Slovenia. I’m thrilled, mostly because we talked to the participants one-on-one. That is definitely the biggest advantage.”
Highlights from PODIM roadshow events
PODIM Roadshow – nine cities in two weeks!
Nine roadshow events in the Alps-Adriatic and Western Balkans regions were very important for the record number of visitors and the visibility of this year's PODIM. We organized and carried them out in Zagreb, Beograd, Sarajevo, Tirana, Priština, Skopje, Podgorica, Klagenfurt and Graz, in collaboration with CEP, the British Embassy, and local partner startup organizations. More than 1000 attendees from the ranks of startups, investors, corporate representatives and key actors of the business support environment gathered there. This is how we more than successfully strengthened the recognizability of the event in the region, and attracted a large number of talented individuals and teams.
Highlights from PODIM activities with Slovenians from abroad
Networks that connect us across borders!
Within this year's PODIM, we once again organized a special programme dedicated to Slovenians from the neighbouring countries and across the world. The chosen 28 startuppers, students and high schoolers spent three days gathering new knowledge, socializing and weaving new ties with entrepreneurs and experts of the Slovenian and global startup ecosystem. The programme started the day before the conference with a Startup School entitled “Let’s take advantage of the potential of networks that connect us”, and was followed by the intense two-day conference programme, where the school participants were also welcomed by the Minister for Slovenians abroad, Gorazd Žmavc.
Work hard, play hard – the motto of startup activities at this year’s PODIM
High value-added and an intense and effective experience for startups
This year, we again received a lot of praise from startup attendees, who were excited about the high value added of the event, priceless feedback that they could gain in two days of intense networking, and an excellent user experience:
Ajda Mrzel Kaluža, Arvio, Slovenia
”The experience of PODIM was amazing! PODIM is excellent and has exceeded all our expectations! The people were really helpful and the feedback we got from investors was very positive and insightful. We can really work on the ideas they gave us.”
Andrey Ustinov, Mindfields, Russia
”PODIM is a great and wonderful conference, it’s an opportunity for people like us to present ideas and projects. We came to meet with investors, companies and other people who are making new technologies and products. We had great meetings with different companies from the region and worldwide. It was great!”
Damjan Postolovski, Solar Data Collector, Macedonia
”This is a great conference, where we can actually show off our product, meet with potential investors and make new contact which will benefit us a great deal in the future. We had several meetings with potential investors and we are going to discuss the possibility of meeting and presenting our solution for further stages. It was a great experience!”
Gergely Ellenrieder, Aeriu, Hungary
”The experience was really intense and efficient. I think this type of conference and organized 1 on 1 meetings is really unique. This is our first time to have so many meetings and opportunities for our startup.”
Paul Bruckberger, Nxtbox, Austria
”I had approximately 14 meetings in the 1 on 1 Arena in two days, which is quite a lot! But it was cool because everyone was open and hands-on so you could really talk openly about everything. There were VC’s who were quite interested and possible strategic partners, so the talks were quite interesting.”
Tamara Markotic, SightRun, Croatia
”We really had a good time and met a lot of interesting people that can help us in different fields. There were talks about cooperation that we hope will happen. It’s a really great event, where you can meet so many interesting people. All in one place, for two days - you really get an excellent value!”
Online workshop with Florian Kandler – how to network like a pro
Online workshop – how to network like a pro
High value added was also brought to startups by a special online prep workshop entitled “How to prepare and network like a pro at PODIM”, which we prepared for all startups from the catalogue in collaboration with Florian Kandler, experienced startupper and funding expert from GetFunding.how, helping European founders find the right investors and build startups worth investing in.
PODIM is annually visited by numerous esteemed investors from the whole world, this year they included Carlos Eduardo Espinalfrom one of the best-known seed funds Seedcamp from Great Britain
The quality of startups and user experience of the 1:1 ARENA thrilled the investors
Because we significantly upgraded and strengthened the investment part of the conference, we were also curious to see whether we succeeded in fulfilling investors' expectations and ensure a maximal value of the event. Their comments show that we did indeed succeed again this year:
Carlo Asquini, Unicorn Trainers Club
”At PODIM there are a lot of interesting startups, keynotes, lectures and other activities, so it’s a great place! I’m very jealous of what you are doing here and it really is a great meetup!”
Dan Lupu, Earlybird Venture Capital
”I’m always happy to come to Slovenia, I’ve been following the country for a number of years. Since our first visit we can see an evolution for the better in the quality of startups and in the 1 on 1 Arena you get a chance to meet 20 or 30 companies in the span of one or two days!”
Enis Huli, 500 Startups Istanbul
”I think that PODIM is a great place to meet with entrepreneurs from all around the region. It’s THE spot to meet Central European entrepreneurs. Last year when I was here I meet with a lot of companies and looking back I probably knew most of the startups from the region because I came to PODIM for a couple of days. It was really beneficial!”
Igor Madzov, South Central Ventures
”I’ve been taking part in the 1 on 1 Arena meetings and had a great experience! I had meetings with startups I personally handpicked from the PODIM Startup Catalogue and it was great for PODIM to provide us with the details on all the startups. We found some interesting leads that could eventually lead to some investments.”
Márton Medveczky, Buran Venture Capital
”We are not really sector focused so for the 1 on 1 meetings I was completely free to choose from the PODIM Startup Catalogue. There were many interesting companies from all sectors, hardware as well as software. I was positively surprised at the quality of startups in the PODIM Startup Catalogue and the overall experience of the conference was really positive.”
Working visits of Pošta Slovenije and Kolektor, visit to the Doppler house of wine and wine cellar, and visit to the Austrian startup community in Lakeside Park in Klagenfurt
Nine resounding events before and after PODIM
An important part, as well as one of the more authentic and connecting PODIM activities, were also special pre- and post-conference events. We carried out nine of them this year:
Working visit of the ABC Accelerator (upper left) and highlights from the speakers’ dinner in Maribor
Highlights from enjoying the sport, natural and culinary beauties of Slovenia
Thrilled about the beauty of Slovenia
Similar to previous years, we wished to show our guests from all over the world as many sightseeing, natural, sporty, fun and culinary delights offered by Slovenia. This year, we had an adrenaline-fueled cycle across Pohorje, watched a performance of a folklore group, and enjoyed wine tasting at the Old vine in Maribor, followed by our famous speakers' dinner at the terrace of City Hotel with a wonderful view of night-time Maribor. Our journey also took us to Gorenjska, for a visit of Lake Bohinj and a gondola ride to Vogel, visit to Bled and the Vintgar Gorge with an obligatory lunch and a cremeschnitte from Bled. We also spent time in Ljubljana and got a feel for the lively pulse of the capital while sightseeing the old city center and having dinner in one of the restaurants there, visiting the Ljubljana castle with the cable car, and experiencing the night life with the Cubismo concert in the Knafelj passage.
Alexandre Massart, Jakob Gajšek, Boštjan Špetič, Tomaž Štolfa, Chuck Goldman and Marvin Liao – thank you once again, PODIM 2018 was unforgettable also because of you!
*Photo Marvin Liao: happyfarm.com.uaPeople without whom we couldn’t have succeeded
We wish to use this year's concluding PODIM report as a place for sincere and special thanks to everyone who helped us selflessly with their contacts to find and attract the best guests to Slovenia. So – Boštjan Špetič, Jakob Gajšek, Tomaž Štolfa, Alexandre Massart, Chuck Goldman and Marvin Liao – thank you once again, PODIM 2018 left another indelible mark on a crowd of more than a thousand business talents and teams!
As an active supporter of PODIM and the Maribor startup community, the Mayor of Maribor was awarded with a certificate of recognition
Priceless support of all partners, the city of Maribor, and Nova KBM!
At the same time, we've shown and proven that Slovenia and the region can use trust, connections and collaboration to gain the power and inspiration they need for supporting startup ecosystem development. At this opportunity, we would like to once again sincerely thank all organizers, co-organizers, public and programme partners, and supporters with whom we annually create the best PODIM yet!
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