Meet Hungary’s Angel Investor!
Hungary is lucky to have investors like Jared Schrieber. He does not want to remain a one-trick pony, as there is plenty of work to be done here. He is determined to become the defining face of the Hungarian startup ecosystem. He is on the right track. Continue reading below to find out more.
Portfolio in Hungary
Jared and his Hungarian wife, Réka, have lived here for three years. Jared had already started building his angel investing portfolio back in the States during his years at Infoscout. He has a keen eye for the shortcomings of the Hungarian startup ecosystem and wants to be a key figure in its revival. He sees most of the shortcomings as legal and administrative, not a lack of ambitious founders and workable business plans, reports Forbes Hungary.
Some of Jared’s most successful ventures in Hungary are the followings:
- Munch (An online network against food waste where you can buy meals at discount prices.)
- Bindr (An online platform for students around the globe to connect and study together using a mic and a webcam.)
- Shrooly (An endogenous device designed to make farming mushrooms at home easy and fun.)
Jared is also building his own business, on a non-profit basis. Revolution Robotics is getting elementary school kids into robotics, with their 500-piece kit kids can build any robot they want, with a recommended curriculum to go along with it.
Jared’s journey
He grew up outside Phoenix, Arizona. His parents worked long and tireless hours throughout Jared’s childhood. Though he lived an arduous youth, Jared never gave up. His attitude also shaped his outlook on life: anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
His father would occasionally take him to the local flea market, where he made good money selling stamps at the age of ten. He learned a lot about the market and customers’ needs. “I remember there was an officially recommended catalogue for each stamp, but I very soon realised that it meant nothing. That was my first serious lesson in the specifics of supply and demand,” Jared recalls.
His dedication soon led him to one of America’s top universities, the legendary MIT. “It was hard to get in. So hard that I ended up just making it in the back door,” says Jared. It was here that he received the crucial education he needed to become an entrepreneur.
Jared founded Infoscout in 2011. Although he had already built a successful career for himself, working as an employee until he was 35, this was the first time he had started something entirely on his own.
Moving to Hungary
Infoscout merged with one of its partner companies, Market Track, in 2017. Together the two companies became Numerator, which reached the unicorn status of a billion-dollar valuation, and in 2021 the data and consulting firm Kantar bought the company, which had swollen to 3,000 employees. Jared’s strengths do not work best at this size.
While building the company, he was not as involved in family life as he would have liked. His kids were entering their teens, and he wanted to see them growing up and spend more quality time with them. “Silicon Valley is great for raising a startup, but not for raising your kids. Mental health problems and drug abuse are rampant, there’s too much focus on money, technology, consumption.” – Jared explains why he and his wife decided to move to Hungary after 17 years of family life in the US.
Source: forbes.hu, munch.hu, bindr.uk, shrooly.com