Following the Nevada dream - the second cohort of companies completes NCBR-NAP acceleration
20.06.2022
The second cohort of start-ups participating in the acceleration activity of the National Centre for Research and Development with the State of Nevada has just completed its acceleration process in the Silver State. Polish companies presented themselves before mentors and investors from Poland and the USA. The visit was aimed at gaining unique experience in scaling business on the US market, improving dialogue with demanding investors and establishing beneficial relationships with partners who are of key importance for the success of expansion on the American and global market. The first cohort had done the same in May.
NCBR-NAP acceleration activity is meant to enable the start of a long-term cooperation between companies and institutions from Poland and the State of Nevada in various areas of innovation, such as medicine, education and innovative agriculture. This is to contribute to the commercialisation of technological solutions on offer and to support cooperative forms of R&D activity. The second cohort comprised companies related to computer and video games, solar air collectors, AR glasses, coding for children and innovative devices enabling effective real-time communication
among employees.
Same companies but different than in 2020
After the Demo Day held in February with pitches and presentations of 11 companies which had subsequently been assessed by experts from Poland and Nevada, the top 10 was selected in March. Divided into two cohorts of five, the groups travelled to Nevada to fulfil their American dream.
- You applied to NCBR-NAP acceleration activity at the beginning of 2020. The pandemic has made us meet in Nevada only now. You may be the same companies, but quite different than you used to be back then. You are rich in 2 years of experience in developing and, above all, maintaining a business in very difficult market conditions. Now it's time to demonstrate in Nevada what you have learned during that period and if you have done your homework from the Demo Day in February in Warsaw.
I wish you all every success and now, let’s see you perform – Andrzej Wajs, Department of International Cooperation at NCBR, rallied the troops in Reno.
Well-prepared participants
The Nevada Governor's Office for Economic Development (GOED) is responsible for the preparation of the programme and the acceleration process itself. Prof. Paweł Pietrasieński of the Warsaw School of Economics, also International Trade Director at GOED, is the main brains behind the process.
- NCBR-Nevada Acceleration Program is the first nationwide acceleration activity implemented on the basis of the Memorandum of Cooperation between Poland and Nevada, addressed to companies from across Poland. I am impressed by the participants of both cohorts. Already in February during the Demo Day, the pitches and presentations of the vast majority of companies showed strongly innovative ideas for business and highly substantive preparation. A couple of months have passed and I can see that the companies have not been idle. The presentations are even better and the awareness of the goals to be achieved in Nevada - even greater. Entrepreneurs actively participate in meetings, deliver convincing pitches and ask us concrete questions. My colleagues from Nevada are very positively surprised - praised Prof. Pietrasieński.
Intense acceleration
GOED prepared a very intensive acceleration programme. Each day was almost filled with various meetings from 9 to 5. Due to the differences in the way business is conducted in the north and south of Nevada, each cohort spent several days in both Reno and Las Vegas. In Reno, among others, companies met representatives of Business Assembly - Platinum Group, InNevation Center at the University of Reno, Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship and visit Tesla Gigafactory. In Las Vegas, in turn, they visited Black Fire Innovation Center, StartUpNV, Mędrala Law Firm, International Innovation Center and Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. An interesting break was the meeting with John Petkus, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Nevada, who shared his vast knowledge of the history of Poles in Nevada and the beginnings of their business activities there.
The participants of the second cohort themselves did not hide their satisfaction. – Back in 1940s, Polish engineer Henryk Magnuski started working for Motorola. He then developed one of the first walkie-talkies, later used by the US Army. 80 years on, we go one step further by striving to get Americans interested in the device we offer for communication between employees.
The acceleration process in Nevada gave me a lot of information on how to get started and run a business there - summed up Krzysztof Bańka from WearTech Sp. z o.o.
- When applying to NCBR-NAP in 2020, we were at the start of our business. Now we have our own production line and want to try to enter the US market. I found the conclusions of local mentors, especially those from the Business Assembly - Platinum Group and the Black Fire Innovation Center, of great value. Meeting the latter was a very demanding but extremely valuable lesson - added Grzegorz Maciaszek from Solhotair Sp. z o.o.
- When I come back home, I’m in for a very busy week ahead. I need to modify the website and probably also think about changing the name of our product as well as its intended recipients. The remarks of Nevada mentors and other cohort members, including the critical ones, gave me a lot of food for thought - concluded Tomasz Boiński from VEO Sp. z o.o.
More about NCBR-NAP acceleration activity
More about the first cohort of companies in Nevada.
The pilot edition of the NCBR-NAP was launched in 2020. The aim of the activity is to connect the innovative ecosystems of Poland and the State of Nevada through the acceleration of young technology companies registered in Poland on the American market, selected in a competitive procedure, using the experience of mentors from the State of Nevada and related institutions.
