The first month at the Millenaris Startup Campus
It was a delightfully overcast day in July (we miss those temperatures!). Most people had their minds on the underdog teams that had somehow made it all the way to the World Cup finale.
As far as we were concerned the tournament may as well have been happening on another planet.
We had just spent the past months gearing up for our mid-Summer launch, a feat as physically and mentally tiring as any of the games on TV.
After months of renovation, infrastructure planning and getting the word out, we opened the doors of Millenaris Startup Campus to the public for the first time on July 9th.
Now the real work begins
Week One: we watched the first startups move in and set up and we hosted the 5G collation’s kick-off event. A wave of giddy pride washed over our tiny but tough MSC team. It grew over the weeks as the teams — with projects and plans in tow — filled up the floors of Budapest’s biggest coworking space.
Now, every morning, the buzz of devices coming to life, daily standups and the first coffees being poured in the cool oasis of the cowork greet us.
Teams begin swapping ideas, events are getting booked, exciting new companies are coming in and we can feel the circulation pick up until late into the evening.
The Campus has quickly coming alive, its desks are filled with purpose, the ‘hip new space’ is beginning to live its real mission.
That mission is not really about having cool telephone booths, an amphitheatre style event space or shipping container meeting rooms. It’s about bringing together the best tech founders and startup ecosystem stakeholders in a shared space, to support each other in doing the work.
Our BETA community
Our founders-first strategy brought together a BETA tribe that makes us so excited for the future, sometimes it’s hard to fall asleep at night.
Here are just a few of the companies that are building the future at MSC:
Rachel Evatt, Aroundsound
Rachel was Product Director at Skyscanner and now she is building Aroundsound, the “Instagram of sound,” with her Budapest-based team. Read more about Rachel and Aroundsound in our recent interview.
Lilla Demjen, Sourceress
Sourceress is an AI recruiter that is reinventing how people find jobs. It’s funded by the world-famous Y Combinator accelerator. Lilla is works for the San Francisco-based company remotely from Budapest’s MSC.
Orosz Balint, Partner, A3 Ventures
Balint doesn’t need an introduction for those who are familiar with the local scene. He was the Co-Founder and CEO of Distinction, acquired by Skyscanner. Besides A3, an entrepreneur led micro VC, Balint is also working on a new mobile app in the productivity space.
Laszlo Kardos, CEO & Co-Founder at Trekhunt
Laszlo was a Senior Product Manager at Prezi and Skyscanner. Now he is building two marketplace startups from the Campus. Learn more about Laci and his ventures in our recent interview.
Nagy Szabolcs, Turbine.ai
Szabi is the Co-Founder & CEO of Turbine, a fast growing health tech startup that supports cancer treatment research with artificial intelligence. Their team of 30+ will be joining us in a few weeks’ time.
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Partnership discussions
Creating a community is less like a 2-way street and more like a heavily trafficked intersection in Rome full of Vespas, crazy Italian drivers and ancient obstacles that you can only work together with to move forward.
You may say that’s insane, but we say: challenge accepted.
One of our heroes is Brad Feld, who perceived the need for strong partnerships right off the bat.
For a healthy ecosystem, he prescribes engagement across the entire ‘entrepreneurial stack’ from serial entrepreneurs to aspiring founders, universities to large corporates, to angel, investors, accelerators and more.
We’ve already begun working with stakeholders across the spectrum to start building the next level of our ecosystem. We’re announcing our first partnerships in the coming weeks.
We’re joining forces with our partners to co-organize events, innovation programs, hackathons and much more. Our dedication is to creating high-quality, international programs and to making sure they reach their audience.
If you’re interested in creating something beautiful together, email us at hello@millenaris-startupcampus.hu.
MSC events
We have over 50 events booked in our pipeline this Fall, and each one of them kicks ass in its own way.
Each is packed with value in and of themselves, and more importantly, they also bait local and international players into spending time learning, networking and engineering serendipity right here in Budapest. We love to see what grows out of these happenings!
Here’s a taste of what’s coming:
Oct 1–3 — Flux Hackathon
Flux is a conference — powered by NKM — about the future of the utility industries. This year we are partnering up with the organizers to do a large-scale hackathon and will recruit teams who will hack together solutions for big problems in the space.
Oct 19–21 — Junction x Budapest
The biggest international hackathon is coming to Budapest! Born and raised in Helsinki, Finland, JUNCTION brings hackers together for a 48-hour contest that is unlike any other. Developers, designers, and talents of various fields compete in diverse teams in order to build and present their revolutionary ideas and to solve real business problems coming straight from the business world. Join the innovation!
Find out more at https://budapest.hackjunction.com/
Oct 30 — ProductTank: Product Lunch w/ Marty Cagan
On Sept 30 we’re hosting a special event with Marty Cagan. Martin is one of the most well-known product experts, a Silicon Valley-based executive with more than 20 years of experience with industry leaders including eBay, AOL, Netscape Communications and Hewlett-Packard. Marty is the author of the book “Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love.” We will have a special lunch meetup with him on Sept 30. Join the ProductTank group so you don’t miss registration.
Launch Party
Last but not least, one more event we need to tell you about. On Sept 12, we are throwing a big “Beta Launch Party” to kick-off the Campus, unite the movers and shakers of the ecosystem and celebrate the new chapter of the Budapest tech scene.
More details are coming soon, but you can expect some local and international startup celebrities, big announcements and a party the likes of which the Millenaris hasn’t seen since its Megasztar days. Pre-register and request an invitation here.
