October 22, 2013 at 16:32IDCEE 2013: Afterword
- Transfer
This year’s conference, thousands of participants, hundreds of start-ups and dozens of speakers, who constantly chatted, exchanged ideas, retold news, laughed and cried, visited the new venue in the center of Kiev, and were sincerely glad to see each other. Instead of listing the numbers, indicators and names of the reports and panels, let's recall the individual moments of IDCEE 2013 and try to remember her spirit and mood.
... Thursday morning. While the organizing team moves around the Olimpiysky NSC at higher speeds and intensively masters the walkie-talkie with headphones, the first participants flock to the entrance in flocks, simultaneously filling up Instagram with almost identical photos of the area near the Kiev Olympic metro station.
From that moment, the passage of time was constantly accelerating. After the opening with Victoria Tigipko and Alan Patricoff, three scenes of the conference began simultaneous work - and away we go.
... Startups Alley is one of the most crowded places at the conference. On the first day, startupers gathered at the conference venue at seven in the morning to collect and arrange stands, so by nine, when the participants began to come in, they were ready to pitch everything that moves.
A few hours later, the first projects selected by the expert commission were presented on the main stage, competing for a part of the prize fund of € 30 thousand, not counting additional nominations. It seems that this part of the conference was one of the most interesting for both startups and spectators: I was at three out of four pitching sessions, and each time I saw a full hall.
Now, after the conference, I will try not to lose sight of the 12 best startups: with a high probability, at least half of them will still make themselves known on the market.
... At about five o’clock in the evening, a relatively small technological scene was tested for strength: spectators who wanted to know the fate of several grants of $ 30 thousand from GTF stood in the aisles, and the tail went out into the corridor near the press center.
In the dim light with smoke and lasers, grants were presented to Ukrainian projects myTips, Jeapie and Hashtago. I must say that their founders on stage for some reason looked extremely surprised. However, I think that they know where to put the extra money.
... New day - new music. On Thursday before the conference and in the evening at the end of the program, guests could listen to Katya Chilly (Ukrainian folk / electronics / trance), and on Friday the Brazilian guitarist Filo Machado was on stage.
His morning performance created a mood for the whole day and, I hope, helped some of the participants to survive the consequences of the party the night before.
The schedule of three scenes was almost full, so deciding where to go and whom to listen to was very difficult. I think those who spent most of the second day at the Main Stage remembered a really interesting and informative panel discussion about startup accelerators in Eastern Europe and the West.
If I had a startup, I would seriously think about submitting documents to one of the presented incubators.
The second day, with all panel discussions, presentations and communication, flew even faster than the first and ended with the next award ceremony. This time, jury members and company representatives handed out prizes to the winners of the main competition and additional nominations.
Remember these names: Ubertesters, Backendless, KreditAja, Kabanchik, AstraFit, VitalFields. I think we will hear more about them.
And now, to complete this messy afterword, applause to everyone who was at IDCEE'13 - mentors and start-ups, participants and volunteers, investors and moderators, organizers and employees of the NSC. Thanks for a great time, see you in a year!
... Thursday morning. While the organizing team moves around the Olimpiysky NSC at higher speeds and intensively masters the walkie-talkie with headphones, the first participants flock to the entrance in flocks, simultaneously filling up Instagram with almost identical photos of the area near the Kiev Olympic metro station.
From that moment, the passage of time was constantly accelerating. After the opening with Victoria Tigipko and Alan Patricoff, three scenes of the conference began simultaneous work - and away we go.
... Startups Alley is one of the most crowded places at the conference. On the first day, startupers gathered at the conference venue at seven in the morning to collect and arrange stands, so by nine, when the participants began to come in, they were ready to pitch everything that moves.
A few hours later, the first projects selected by the expert commission were presented on the main stage, competing for a part of the prize fund of € 30 thousand, not counting additional nominations. It seems that this part of the conference was one of the most interesting for both startups and spectators: I was at three out of four pitching sessions, and each time I saw a full hall.
Now, after the conference, I will try not to lose sight of the 12 best startups: with a high probability, at least half of them will still make themselves known on the market.
... At about five o’clock in the evening, a relatively small technological scene was tested for strength: spectators who wanted to know the fate of several grants of $ 30 thousand from GTF stood in the aisles, and the tail went out into the corridor near the press center.
In the dim light with smoke and lasers, grants were presented to Ukrainian projects myTips, Jeapie and Hashtago. I must say that their founders on stage for some reason looked extremely surprised. However, I think that they know where to put the extra money.
... New day - new music. On Thursday before the conference and in the evening at the end of the program, guests could listen to Katya Chilly (Ukrainian folk / electronics / trance), and on Friday the Brazilian guitarist Filo Machado was on stage.
His morning performance created a mood for the whole day and, I hope, helped some of the participants to survive the consequences of the party the night before.
The schedule of three scenes was almost full, so deciding where to go and whom to listen to was very difficult. I think those who spent most of the second day at the Main Stage remembered a really interesting and informative panel discussion about startup accelerators in Eastern Europe and the West.
If I had a startup, I would seriously think about submitting documents to one of the presented incubators.
The second day, with all panel discussions, presentations and communication, flew even faster than the first and ended with the next award ceremony. This time, jury members and company representatives handed out prizes to the winners of the main competition and additional nominations.
Remember these names: Ubertesters, Backendless, KreditAja, Kabanchik, AstraFit, VitalFields. I think we will hear more about them.
And now, to complete this messy afterword, applause to everyone who was at IDCEE'13 - mentors and start-ups, participants and volunteers, investors and moderators, organizers and employees of the NSC. Thanks for a great time, see you in a year!