The National Centre for Research and Development

The 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.

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. Polish companies participating in this year's edition offer products and services related to innovative solutions, including systems of unmanned aerial vehicles transporting e.g. medical samples, an application supporting people suffering from Hashimoto's, artificial intelligence-based physiotherapy, sensor-based predictive analytics, synthetic ultra-light plaster cast, UV light cured, smart writing assistant, next-generation cloud computing services, computer and video games based on player skills, offering concrete prizes.

Worth the wait

After the Demo Day with pitches and presentations of 20 companies which were subsequently assessed by experts from Poland and Nevada, the top 10 was selected in March. In June the group has travelled to Nevada to fulfil its American dream.

- It was well worth waiting those two months to be able to meet you in Nevada. Your innovative ideas and solutions have great potential for development also on the US market. I listened to your pitches during Demo Day in Warsaw with admiration. Now it is time to introduce yourselves to Nevada mentors and investors in person, and on their turf. I keep my fingers crossed for your success - Agnieszka Ratajczak, Director of NCBR Office of International Cooperation, rallied the troops in Reno.

Well-prepared participants

NCBR’s American partners from Nevada, including Granite Landings and the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), are responsible for the preparation of the program and the acceleration process itself.

- Granite Landings has been thrilled to work with NCBR to host companies exploring opportunities through the NCBR-NAP acceleration activity. Participating businesses have had numerous meetings to learn about the processes that will help them grow their businesses in US markets. We are very optimistic that the experience gained and lessons learned will lead to building successful operations. We are especially proud of the companies who have worked so hard to take advantage of this opportunity. We are grateful to our friends at NCBR for their vision and their support of the program - enthused Dr. Dave Croasdell, Founding Member of Granite Landings and Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Also Dr. Paweł Pietrasieński, Professor at Warsaw School of Economics, Rector's Plenipotentiary for cooperation with Nevada., was one of 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 this year’s participants. Already in March 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

The Nevada partners had come up with a very intensive acceleration program. 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, the cohort spent several days in both Reno and Las Vegas. In Reno, among others, companies meet representatives of Business Assembly - Platinum Group, InNevation Center at the University of Reno and Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship, as well as met the world-renowned IP lawyer Jeff Sheldon, Esq. In Las Vegas, in turn, they visited Black Fire Innovation Center, StartUpNV, International Innovation Center and Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. An interesting break was a meeting with John Petkus, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Nevada, who shared hist vast knowledge of the history of Poles in Nevada and the beginnings of their business activities there.

- An important part of the agenda was a meeting at the Blackfire Innovation Center in Las Vegas. NCBR-NAP participants could learn about the local ecosystem of supporting innovation and benefits from developing companies in the south of Nevada. They also found out about the growing importance of the entertainment, sports and tourism sectors for the global economy. But perhaps even more importantly, they listened to first-hand experiences of Polish entrepreneurs who actively and successfully operate in Las Vegas. It was a tangible proof of not only the Polish can-do attitude and entrepreneurial spirit, but also a confirmation of how effective can the Nevada-run acceleration be. One of the Polish entrepreneurs, Dr. Rafał H. Kartaszyński, decided to continue his career in Nevada as a result of the regional acceleration program NLAB, which had been carried out together with GOED by the Lubelskie Voivodeship - emphasised Cezary Błaszczyk, Director of the Department of International Cooperation at NCBR.

The participants of the cohort themselves did not hide their satisfaction. - Taking part in NCBR-NAP is an important step towards the internationalisation of our company. The visit to Nevada gave us a unique opportunity to verify our assumptions regarding the American market, delve into regulatory issues as well as a first-hand experience of institutions and people that shape the business environment at city, county and state levels. Nevada has a unique ecosystem to attract investment, which includes friendly regulations, a network of institutions supporting business as well as an extensive offer of cooperation between enterprises and the best universities, such as UNR or UNLV. In our  particular case, an additional advantage is the UAV testing infrastructure. Nevada mentors opened many doors to help enable us a soft landing in their state - summed up Joanna Rutkowska of Farada Group Sp. z o.o.

Michał Czapracki of Scramjet Sp. z o.o. echoed her views. - NCBR-NAP acceleration activity was extremely valuable to us. Bootcamp Warsaw gave us the opportunity to better structure our message and adjust it to the needs of presentations in front of companies from the US and around the world. Our visit to the state of Nevada, in turn, allowed us to establish contacts with local corporations, entrepreneurs and organisations supporting local business. The greatest benefit for me, though, was the cooperation established between start-ups - participants of the activity. The value of the sum of our startups without cooperation is many times lower than the synergies we have just initiated.

The culmination of the trip to Nevada turned out to be the conclusion of a contract for designing a video game between one of NCBR-NAP participants, Reality Unit Sp. z o. o. and Game Taco, a Nevada skill-based gaming platform offering cash prizes. Such a successful effect of the acceleration process bodes well for further, successful cooperation between Poland and Nevada.

More about NCBR-NAP acceleration activity can be found at: https://www.gov.pl/web/ncbr-en/other-initiatives

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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.