Startuppers visit the Presidential Palace

The second edition of “Start-ups at the Palace” has drawn to a close with an official banquet and a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. During the event, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, congratulated all participants and together with other attendees listened to their ideas for changing the world.

The “Start-ups at the Palace” programme is organised by the Start Up Poland foundation. The foundation council picked out 10 innovative projects that they believe deserve attention and support. The President and the organisers did not only host Startuppers, but also business angels, investors, and representatives of state-owned companies.

The recognized start-ups were granted a special “passport” allowing them to take part in economic missions of the Head of State. Most importantly, however, they received much attention from prospective investors and got into the limelight, which will surely help them in developing their ideas.

The competition was open to all start-ups from Poland that offer services for business, on condition they had been existing for no more than five years. A working business model and a prototype were also a must. Several hundred of projects were submitted, of which 33 ideas  were shortlisted by the Start Up Poland Foundation. The top ten was selected in a vote. The President’s Chancellery was involved in the project and its representatives participated in the final vote.

Among the most innovative startups of the year are companies providing such services as document authorisation (Autenti), digital currency (Billon), and freight rate management (Quotiss). The President stressed that we need to use the potential of the people in Poland. Deputy Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who was also present at the event, highlighted the role of the state in developing innovation, even though it is not in the officials’ heads that new ideas come to life. Julia Krysztofiak-Szopa, the president of Start Up Poland Foundation noted that startups develop in places where there is demand for innovation as well as corporations willing to invest.