Over 600 start-ups from all around the world competed for the title of the Infoshare Startup Contest winner. The main prize in the amount of €20,000 went to the Prometheus start-up. Blitab Technology took second place, while the third went to LESS Industries.

Prometheus is an innovative start-up that creates a 3D human tissue for pharmacological research and transplants. Prometheus’ key technology is a 3D Bio printer: a machine the company built themselves, capable of extruding human cells in a controlled way and keeping them alive throughout the printing process. Their first patented product is EMATIK – a second skin for the treatment of wounds which are difficult to heal.

As many as five start-ups made the final short list: Prometheus, Blitab Technology, LESS Industries, e-bot 7 and Feelif. All presented their ideas to investors, representatives of VC funds and the largest corporations. The total prize pool in the competition amounted to as much as €30,000.

“We have changed the rules for awarding prizes this year. As a result of the enormous support of the Mayor of the City of Gdańsk, the founder of the monetary prize, we were able to award it to three start-ups who entered the competition. In previous editions, the financial award went only to the winner of the first place,” Grzegorz Borowski, CEO of Infoshare Foundation, organizer of the conference, said.

The Start-up Contest special prize, funded by RBL_VC, the Alior Bank investment fund, went to the Pago start-up, which created an application to help manage bills.

“We picked PAGO because we see many synergies between this payment solution and Alior Bank. First of all, the success of the application has been verified on the Romanian market, which we appreciate because we are present in the market through a partnership with T-Mobile Romania. Secondly, we believe that PAGO’s further development will be supported by the opportunities created within the so-called Subscription Economy. While still underdeveloped on our market, the area meets the investment criteria of RBL_VC – the newly created CVC fund of Alior Bank,” Kamil Wincenciak, Director of Partnerships with FinTechs in Alior Bank, explained.

Startup Contest is a chance for startups from all the world

In the 13th edition of Infoshare, over 600 start-ups from all the world entered the competition, including Poland, Germany, the UK, the US, Italy and France. They create solutions for industries such as health & medtech & wellbeing, finance & banking insurance, e-commerce & online marketplaces, AI, analytics and big data.

“This year’s agenda also included presentations of Social Impact Scaleups - companies solving important global problems, such as hunger or access to education. The presentations of start-ups invited to Poland as part of the Poland Prize Space3ac program also enjoyed great popularity among conference participants,” Grzegorz Borowski added.

About Infoshare

Infoshare is the largest technology conference in the CEE region, creating an ecosystem in which new technologies connect with business. Thousands of participants come to Gdańsk each year. Among them are start-ups, investors, representatives of corporations, programmers and marketers. Two days of the conference include 9 thematic scenes, 200 speakers, over 150 speeches and accompanying events, which are an opportunity to make new contacts and exchange experiences. Infoshare is also a space for development for companies at an early stage of development. Speed Dating allows you to arrange individual meetings with investors, Startup Expo allows you to present your solution on a dedicated stand, and Startup Contest attracts over 500 start-ups fighting for the main prize of €20,000.