The GUILD Academy: How Júlia Véglesi combines entrepreneurship with being an impact investor

When Júlia joined the inaugural batch of the GUILD Academy to work on her student peer support mental health application ‘Befriend’ she didn’t know yet that 5 months later she would have the opportunity to start a new career as an Investment Manager at Impact Ventures, the first Social Impact Fund of its kind in Hungary and the CEE region. She did start her career in Corporate and Investment Banking, but switching from the banking industry to social entrepreneurship proved to her that it’s social startups that she truly cares about.

Firstly, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

The idea of Befriend, a peer-support mental health app targeting uni students, rooted back to my own experience with counselling services at my university: support was free but had a waiting list of 6 months. I thought it was ridiculous as remedies should be immediate when it comes to any sort of mental health problem. When my lecturer of ‘Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice’ announced the coursework would consist of working in groups of 3, coming up with a new venture idea and building an MVP within 8 weeks, it was crystal clear to me: it’s the time to take the idea, Befriend, one step closer to becoming reality. There was no difficulty to find 2 other coursemates who shared similar experiences and were driven by the same goal. Our coursework landed among the top and was presented as a great example for subsequent cohorts of students. Since then, we have been testing and iterating the idea and trying to find our market fit.

You recently moved back to Hungary from London. How would you describe the support ecosystem for entrepreneurs in Hungary?

From an entrepreneur standpoint, I can only recall positive memories from my circa 6-month experience in this world, starting from vibrant and international events such as Untold Stories Budapest and the Networking Bootcamp organised by Péter Kovács and Gábor Márton over into women-focused entrepreneurship support from WER and the GUILD Budapest Chapter. Before attending my first event, I did not know anyone from the Hungarian startup ecosystem. Then I was invited to two other events and made 3–4 new yet lasting relationships at each and every occasion. This describes how supportive and open the Hungarian ecosystem is — it’s easier than I thought to expand your network and jump from one milestone to the other in the beginning if you are open and curious.

I know that you have started working for an impact investment company recently. What was your motivation to choose this path besides working on your company on the side?

Switching from the banking industry to social entrepreneurship proved to me that it’s social SMEs that I truly care about. Besides that, I have always found pleasure in helping others to grow and reach new milestones. To me, impact Investing is the combination of this, exactly at the intersection of my personal interests, missions, and intellectual curiosity. As I am still at the beginning of my career, I’m driven to learn the most and from the best industry experts out there. That a fund manager like Impact Ventures exists in Budapest, is a dream coming true, and I feel very honored to be part of its exceptional team and mission.

Can you tell us about the investor you work with and what are your criteria to invest?

At Impact Ventures we are investing in and providing business development support to early-phase Social SMEs (Seed / Series A) with tech-enabled innovation capacity and sustainable, scalable business models from all sectors, addressing areas of social inclusion, education, employment, health and environmental sustainability. We are based in Hungary but have a mandate to invest internationally across mainland Europe with a particular focus on Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Our ultimate goal is to multiply the growth and positive social and environmental impact of our portfolio organizations where the latter is incentivized by pre-defined measurable social targets as well.

What is the most interesting thing you have learned recently?

Recently, I have developed a new “hobby”: I go for 2 to 6 hour walks and shut the noise of the city out by listening to podcasts from Tim Ferriss, the BBC Business Daily or LSE Public Lectures, just to name a few. It is just incredible how much better and more efficient this format — the combination of physical and mental exercises — is for me, it helps me to be present, focused and inspired, and to store new information longer. I have learned what matters is not only the right content but also the right context that fits you.

What book do you recommend to other early-stage entrepreneurs?

Personal development is equally important to business development, if not even more, so I’d advise early-stage entrepreneurs to read biographies of great entrepreneurs and self-improvement books that help to better understand and improve both yourselves and others around you. I am always fascinated the most by the book that I am currently reading — this time I felt the need to go back to the classic “7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R. Covey.

What’s your biggest personal goal for 2020?

Trust, listen to, and follow my intuition more often — so far it has worked quite well.

How did you learn about the GUILD Academy and why have you decided to apply?

I met the Hungarian Ambassador, Diána Páti, at WER where we had a short mentor-mentee interview. After pitching Befriend to her, she immediately provided me with her business card to keep in touch. A couple of months passed by when she randomly messaged me about this unique opportunity, the GUILD Academy. As someone coming from and always looking for international vibes, I did not think twice to apply. There was nothing to lose.

How was your experience at The GUILD Academy?

My very first experience with The GUILD Academy represents beyond words how supportive this community was — I almost did not start the program at all as I only noticed the fee of the 12-week program once I received a successful application. Although I perceived the pricing to be absolutely fair and value-based, I had just quit my previous job without a concrete Plan B (here it is, an intuition-led decision) so I felt that I had no choice but to reject the offer with a brief yet honest explanation. It was a show of vulnerability that received an unexpected response: Anne Cocquyt, the Founder of The GUILD, wrote back immediately and offered me a scholarship to partly cover my fees.

In retrospect, I lived through a very similar experience to what I feel now during this pandemic: we were united across the Globe.

Apply now for the next batch of The GUILD Academy starting July 20th.

Early bird until the end of May!