The most promising startups in the region competed at the Danube Cup Pitch Competition

Hungary’s top universities – Corvinus University of Budapest and Budapest University of Technology and Economics – have joined forces to create the Danube Cup International Pitch Competition for students of universities along the Danube.

According to the organizers, the mission of the competition is to bring start-ups to international success, while bringing together the most motivated university startups from both sides of the Danube. This year, the fifth cup was organized in the region, the final which was organized on 21 April within the framework of Startup Safari Budapest.

The competition became international last year. By 2019, four universities had already participated in it.  Recently, more and more foreign universities have joined the initiative. It is now open to students from the Universities of Belgrade, Vienna University of Economics and Business, University of Passau and Linz, as well as Regensburg University of Applied Sciences. This year’s international round was organized by the Hungarian team from Corvinus and BME, however, next year the Vienna team will take over the organization and  organize the Danube Cup 2022.

Smart homes, mental well-being, air pollution and DNA recognition – such ideas competed with each other at Danube Cup 2021 Finals, one of the region’s top university startup competitions.

The six startup teams who made it to the finals had four minutes per team to convince the international jury that their startup idea was the most viable.

Members of the Jury were Prof. Emeritus Derek F. Abell (founder of Berlin’s European School of Management, professor emeritus at ETH Zurich),  Laura Egg (CEO of Austrian Angel Investors Association),  István Lám (CEO of Tresorit), Prof. Dr. Mladen Cudanov (professor at the University of Belgrade, startup advisor) and Prof. Dr. Sean Sassmannshausen (professor at OTH Regensburg, director of OTH Regensburg’s Startup Center)

First place went to Perun Laboratory , a  startup team delegated by University of Belgrade , they are developing a portable DNA recognition technology. The answer to the problem that the work of police officers in criminal locations is often complicated and prolonged by the fact that the recorded DNA samples have to be returned to a laboratory. The Perun solution provides an opportunity for on-the-spot DNA analysis, thus revolutionizing this field by increasing accuracy and reducing time and cost.

In second place were Vienna-based Caire Solutions , who presented their innovative solution for reducing indoor air pollution.

In third place were the team of Mentalead from Regensburg , who are working on the development of a comprehensive application for mental well-being.

Fourth place went to a Corvinus startup, EduFund, a FinTech platform that focuses on supporting students to continue their higher education by offering funding opportunities along the way.

Fifth place was taken by Co-Writers at BME , who created an interface where online role players can meet and create new stories.

Finishing in sixth place is Pionize, a team delegated by University of Passau, the team is bringing an innovation to the smart home area. An application that was developed to simplify the management of smart homes.

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Prizes were won by every startup team from tickets to Europe’s most prestigious Summits to Amazon vouchers to a 1on1 meeting with the President of Corvinus University Dr. Anthony Radev.

Danube Cup 2021 was sponsored by organizations who supports young talents like: Nemzeti Tehetség Program, 77 elektronika Kft., Opten Informatikai Kft. , MiniCRM Zrt. , Tresorit Kft. and Neticle Labs Kft..

Interested to learn more about Danube Cup? Check them out here: www.danubecup.net

Read alsoDanube Cup 2021 – International pitch competition for university students coming up!