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Episode Highlights:

 

Márton István graduated from Budapest Business School and commenced his career in the financial sector, participating in various transactional projects across Central and Eastern Europe. Recognizing the benefits of integrating innovative services and processes within a company, his interest in the electricity industry led him to his career at MVM Group. His previous experiences quickly directed him towards the Smart Future Lab (SFL) project team.

The MVM established SFL to enhance the effectiveness of collaboration with startups seeking support and cooperation. SFL aims to support startups developing innovative energy solutions and integrate them into the activities of large corporations. The mission is to bridge the gap between startups and large corporations, acting as an intermediary with efficient and effective process organization.

Dorka has been strengthening the SFL team since 2019, focusing on internal and external innovation programs. This includes supporting startups and developing the innovative capabilities of employees. Dorka emphasizes the necessity of bridging corporate and startup cultures, highlighting the excitement of this process. Colleagues at MVM perceive mentoring opportunities alongside startups as an honor.

“Yes, we have a doorbell,” István says in response to the question of how startups approach them, even from the streets. However, they also receive applications through events and the website throughout the year, not just in cohorts. Applicants can benefit from both corporate and external mentoring, prototyping opportunities, research capacities, with the goal of achieving an average investment size of 50 million forints. “As an early-stage incubator, we find it important to consider the mindset of startups alongside the invested amounts,” says István. “We examine what milestones can bring real value for the given product or service, determining the financing needs accordingly.” “Even from crowdfunding,” Nóra adds, as potential end-users, whether it’s a B2B or B2C business model, validate the project with their investment, providing confirmation from both a professional and market perspective. The crowd validates creative and innovative ideas, and if supported by a large corporation like yours, they invest more confidently. This is an international best practice, a proven approach in more developed capital markets and innovation ecosystems.

István: “As investors, it’s beneficial for us to have a co-investor, whether a classic investor or, in our case, a different type of partner. Based on our experiences so far, translating the professional content into the crowdfunding territory is challenging for energy projects, as it may not always be appealing to the non-expert audience. On the investment side, we focus a lot on solving the teams to present them appropriately to investors. It’s crucial that the project is understandable despite the challenges from the energy side. The MVM Edison program is an eight-session program with a duration of 2.5-3 months. In the consecutive program, a significant emphasis is placed on background research, interviews, and collecting additional information. The goal is for participants to learn how to create the first prototypes to gather market feedback.

The Purpose and Background of SFL’s Establishment: MVM Group created SFL to manage relationships with startups more efficiently. Although MVM received many inquiries from startups offering innovative energy solutions, handling them within the corporate structure was challenging. SFL aims to address this problem.

SFL’s Role within MVM Group: SFL plays a mediating role between startups and the corporate culture, with the goal of integrating the innovative ideas of startups into MVM Group’s operations while ensuring that these collaborations are mutually beneficial.

Energetic Innovation and Infrastructure: SFL leverages the extensive energy infrastructure and knowledge base operated by MVM Group to support innovative startups. This provides the necessary resources and knowledge for dynamic development.

Financing New Products and Innovations: According to SFL’s strategy, they support innovation activities by introducing new products and leveraging the economic results. This process leads to the creation of new products, and the successful innovation cycle enables the re-financing of future projects.

Startup Entry Processes: SFL distinguishes between two main entry methods. One is a continuous, open application process, not limited to specific periods. This provides individual investigations and flexibility for applying teams.

Investment Amount: The investment size is 50 million forints in two or more milestones.

 

If there is no venture capital investment, there is no innovation!

 

MVM Edison Program: Provides support for applicants in the idea phase. Teams that make it to Demo Day present themselves with compelling international-level presentations and videos. The best teams are entitled to prizes worth several million forints. The previous winners can be viewed at this link: https://mvmedison.hu/korabbi-versenyek.

 

Hall of Fame, the list of companies that have already entered the international market:

1. Volteum: A winner of the MVM Edison program, an electric car fleet management company that also entered the Techstars Urban Mobility program. Listen to Zsófi on the Kanapé series too!
2. Rollin Technologies: A winning company in the MVM Edison program that deals with charging services related to scooters.
3. Diverzum: A winning team of MVM Edison, which initially started under a different name in another innovation program organized by SFL, and became a successful business by providing student discounts.
4. Tourmix: Won the MVM Edison prize with its “last-mile delivery” solution.