Workshops
Group workshops with mentors from the field of law, finance, sales and presentation skills, product building or UX.
About the acceleration program
Challenger Urban:Creative is an intensive acceleration program for teams or starting companies that are developing an innovative product or service with the potential to contribute to the development of Košice. It helps them use their potential, gives them the opportunity to grow and establish cooperation with the City of Košice and future customers.
We know the participants of Challenger Urban: Creative 2021!
We´ve selected twelve teams and startup companies developing an innovative product or service that aims to improve the services or quality of life of residents and visitors of the City of Košice.
Read moreHow will it benefit the participants?
Individual mentoring and coaching
Individual consultations with experts in the range of 6 + 6 hours per participant.
Company growth
Opportunity to address potential customers, get to know their needs and establish cooperation with the City of Košice.
Free of charge
All activities within the program are free and “equity-free”.
Opportunity to present oneself
Participants present their product or service during the public Demo Day event.
Prize for the winner
During the Demo Day, the expert jury will select the winner of the program, who will receive a prize of EUR 10,000 and a package of services from the program partners.
What does the acceleration program consist of?
Every team and project that has successfully passed Bootcamp,
moves on to the acceleration program, during which it
undergoes a rich program full of workshops
and individual consultations with mentors in three sprints:
SPRINT #1 IMAGINE
May 3 – 5, 2022
Objective: Understanding the customer, internal processes during product development and selection of a suitable business model.
Program of the first sprint:
1. Workshop: Business Model Generation
Milan Čapka, Chief Innovator, Milan Innovation services
- Prepare yourself to successfully pitch investors about your business model.
- Learn the differences between business model, business plan, and revenue model.
2. Founder Story
Mária Virčíková, CEO and Co-founder, Matsuko | Holographic Communication
3. Workshop: Market sizing, trends, and competitive analysis
Jaroslav Lupták, Managing Partner, Neulogy Ventures
- How to identify the right market in terms of size, growth, trends & catalysts
- Understand your market (TAM/SAM/SOM, trends and drivers, basic competition analysis)
SPRINT #3 GROW
June 14 – 16, 2022
Objective: Understanding the criteria of corporate growth. While in the first and second sprints, startups focused on product development and marketing, in the third sprint, they will gain the knowledge necessary for the company’s growth.
Program of the third sprint:
1. Workshop: Sales
Katarína Šimková, Founder and CEO, DEAL Factory
2. Workshop: Are you fundable?
Andrej Dula, Founder and CEO, Rezztek
- In this workshop, we will cover the basics and also more advanced methods of how to be successful when fundraising.
3. Workshop: How to avoid lawyers in startups
Juraj Šándor, Head of SK Desk, Sparring
Roman Žňava, Legal Mind, Sparring
- Corporate setup
- Founders relationship
- Intellectual property
- Equity compensation
- Team contracts
- Doing business
SPRINT #2 VALIDATE
May 24 – 27, 2022
Objective: Align the product with market needs and gain the first test users or customers.
Program of the second sprint:
1. Workshop: Content marketing 101
David Miller, Co-founder, Red Basket
Part 1
- What is content marketing and why you should care
- The power of storytelling
- What good content looks like & practical tips
- Q&A
Part 2
- Key messaging workshop
2. Presentation: Vision of Košice 2.0
Michal Hladký, Director, Creative Industry Košice
Startup roast
3. Workshop: Think like Merlin, act like Indiana Jones – agile approach to strategy and growth
Victor Dubrovin, Strategy Consultant, Dubrovin Consulting
- What do you need to know about strategy
- Key challenges with strategy
- Strategy and DNA of the company
- Effective strategic process – how to setup and maintain
- People and Social side of strategy
- Role of the leader in strategy
- 5 strategic choices cascade
DEMO DAY (June 28, 2022)
Košice, Slovakia
The competitive presentation of the participants in the acceleration program takes place with the participation of investors, companies, representatives of the City of Košice, the media and the public.
5:30 – 6:00 PM Registration of Participants
6:00 – 6:15 PM Opening Speech
Jaroslav Polaček, Mayor, City of Košice
Peter Kolesár, Partner, Civitta Slovakia
6:15 – 8:00 PM Startups Presentations
Jury Members
Marcel Gibóda, Deputy Mayor, City of Košice
Michal Hladký, Director, Creative Industry Košice
Andrea Basilová, Co-founder, Sensoneo
Michal Nešpor, Partner, CB Investment Management
8:00 – 8:30 PM Keynote Presentation
Michaela Kršková, Chief Innovation Officer, Government Office of the Slovak Republic
8:30 – 8:45 PM Award Ceremony
Who are the mentors?
The participants of the acceleration program are led by professionals with many years of experience and demonstrable results in the areas of:
Getting to know the customer
Product development and UX
Entrepreneurship and startups
Marketing a sales
Finance and investments
Law and intellectual property
Presentation skills and communication
First names coming soon!
Mentors
Mária Virčíková
Matsuko LinkedinMilan Čapka
Milan Innovation services LinkedinJaroslav Lupták
Neulogy Ventures LinkedinDavid Miller
Red Basket LinkedinMichal Hladký
Creative Industry Košice LinkedinVictor Dubrovin
Dubrovin Consulting LinkedinKatarína Šimková
Deal Factory LinkedinAndrej Dula
Rezztek LinkedinJuraj Šándor
Sparring LinkedinRoman Žňava
Sparring LinkedinGet inspired!
What did the acceleration program look like in 2021?
Demo Day closed the first year of Challenger Urban: Creative. What was the goal of the accelerator program? What did it look like and who won the prize worth 10,000 EUR?
Challenger 2020 Demo Day
Demo Day – or Demonstration Day – is the grand finale of the acceleration program, where startups present their solutions to the general public. Watch how the sustainability startups were presented in Challenger Accelerator 2020/2021.
News
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