“Lithuania must not become a country of one city, therefore the development of startups is important in Kaunas and other cities of the country as well. Kaunas already has the necessary infrastructure for startups, as well as knowledge. However, creating an ecosystem and its connections is the next necessary step in the development of startups in the region, and for this we will use the experience gained in Vilnius”, says Lina Žemaitytė-Kirkman, head of the sustainable innovation community “Rockit”.
As foreseen in the project strategy, the representative office of the “Rockit” Innovation Center will open its doors in Kaunas in the near future. It will be equipped with spaces for the incubation of startups: about 20 workplaces, spaces for events, etc. In this co-creation space, young and emerging technology companies will be given the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience not only from Lithuania, but also from foreign experts, applying them in practice.
Smart lighting and a virtual garbage sorting assistant are the best hackathon ideas
Even two teams triumphed in the hackathon held at KTU last Friday: “Greenie” and “LightMirror”. Greenie is developing an artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant that helps sort trash and provides other personalized information to the user who seeks to contribute to the Green Course. At the same time, LightMirror is developing a reflective panel solution to transmit daylight into hospitals and care facilities, reducing electricity and heating costs.
The authors of the best ideas were awarded special prizes, including a trip to one of the most important events on the subject of smart cities, the world congress “Smart City Expo”, which will be held in Barcelona this November. The winners of the hackathon also received a prize from the event’s partners, the consulting company Accenture.
During the three-day “Smart City” hackathon, participants from Kaunas and surrounding cities had the opportunity to meet professionals of smart homes, offices and cities and create smart solutions themselves. The best mentors in this field shared their knowledge and advice, including representatives from Swedbank, consulting company Accenture, KTU, association Proptech Lithuania and other startup market experts.
Photo of the organizers/participants of the “Smart City” hackathon
Hackathon “Smart City” was organized by sustainable innovation community “Rockit” and association “Proptech Lithuania”, academic partner – Kaunas University of Technology. The event is intended for early-stage startups, as well as individual idea creators who do not yet have a team.
Funding is important for startup success, and connections are even more important
According to Marijaus Andrijauskas, partner of venture capital “Firstpick”, who advised the participants of the Kaunas hackathon, although no business could survive without funds, the idea, business model and assembled team of the startup are far more important factors of success.
“Too much focus of startups on attracting funding often even puts their foot in the ground, because too little time is spent on validating the idea itself and analyzing market needs.” This shows that incubation and acceleration programs are becoming especially important for early-stage startups. These programs provide valuable knowledge, mentorship, and access to the experience of other startup founders. Other resources are also provided, which are necessary in order to test the idea in real market conditions”, says M. Andrijauskas.
According to him, there are currently few programs for startups in the Kaunas region, which perhaps determines the small number of startups.
Prof. Andrijauskas, vice-rector of KTU strategic partnerships, also agrees. Dr. Edita Gimžauskiene. According to her, the fact that a large number of initiatives, programs or projects are focused on big cities and the businesses and their creators that are concentrated there is an open challenge that higher schools can also help to overcome.
“The university gathers multidisciplinary expert knowledge, a professional academic community, and these resources are among the most significant when it comes to creating a new business or helping to create it. From a pragmatic perspective, the university’s contribution to entrepreneurship promotion initiatives fosters an entrepreneurial community that creates technologically advanced businesses, which in the long term can ensure regional economic development, stability and the creation of new jobs,” says Prof. Dr. E. Gimžauskienė.
Last week’s hackathon is just part of the 2024-2026 partnership with the Innovation Agency. Start-up acceleration and incubation programs financed by the European Union. It aims to create favorable conditions for the startups of the Central and Western Lithuania region to create and promote the development of product ideas through hackathons.
In Kaunas, as well as in Klaipėda, it is intended to provide incubation and acceleration services for young technology companies operating in the region. It is expected that at least 60 new start-ups will appear in Western and Central Lithuania during the three years of the program. Their ranks can be replenished now, after filling this questionnaire. Startups interested in incubation and acceleration can join the Rockit community in Kaunas and Klaipėda.
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2024-04-18 07:59:34