Startup Hungary

Yesterday at Wise's Product Meetup, we dove into what makes cross-functional teams actually work, with real talk from András Fincza (XUND) and Alexander Pavlov (Wise). Takeaways? Trust > tickets. Context > control. And yes, PM–Engineers alignment is the secret sauce. Catch the highlights below 👇

Margaret Island mornings hit different. 🏃♂️☀️ This Tuesday, our SH Running Club crew circled back to where it all began — the good ol’ szigetkör. 📸 Check the photos below for some running inspo — and see you next time, we'll be back after Easter! 🐰

🚀 Q1 2025 is off to a great start when it comes to fundraising. The early-stage funding scene already attracted more than €30M in fresh capital. We predicted in our Report – check the link in the first comment to download a copy 📥 – that this year would outperform ‘24. Q1 alone accounts for over 55% of the total raised in all of last year – or the year before, for that matter. 😲 Even more surprising: this capital came from just 5 transactions. 💸 Axoflow → €6.7M Seed round → Lead: EBRD VC → Credo Ventures, e2vc 💊 XUND (👀 our next First Monday guest) → €6M Pre-Series A round → Lead: Lead Ventures → J&T Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, tba network, LANA Ventures 🤖 Zocks | AI for Advisors → €12.7M Series A round → Lead: Motive Partners → Lightspeed 🔍 Qneiform → €3M Seed round → Lead: Day One Capital → PROfounders Capital, Keen Ventures, DFF Ventures (Dutch Founders Fund) 🕵️ Stealth → €2.5M Seed round → Soon to be announced 👀 Stay tuned – Q2 might just get even wilder.

📊 Check out the latest insights from our 2024 Hungarian Startup Report, featured on The Recursive. 🇭🇺 Hungarian founders are dreaming bigger—44% believe they’re building future unicorns. But taking those dreams global? Still a tough climb. Despite steady funding, most startups making revenue still rely on the local market. Why? Limited capital, weak networks, and slow validation hold them back. Read the article 👇  https://lnkd.in/dsS2GERZ

Still buzzing from yesterday night’s meetup with Kristo Käärmann, co-founder & CEO of Wise! 🙌 We got a rare inside look into what it’s like running a publicly listed fintech giant, how Kristo's hands-on founder journey shaped his leadership style, and what’s next for Wise. We also got to hear some real-time customer feedback straight from our founder-filled crowd 👀 Big thanks to Wise for being such a thoughtful strategic partner to the local ecosystem (and to us at SH)! 💚 And if you're still hungry for more, don’t miss the Wise Product Meetup happening tomorrow night — all about cross-functional teams & scaling product. 👉 https://lu.ma/5ezits2g

✨ 🦾 When product and engineering actually work in sync, great things follow. This Wednesday, we’re bringing together András Fincza from XUND and Alexander Pavlov from Wise to talk all things cross-functional teamwork — the wins, the fails, and the lessons learned from the frontlines. Registration: https://lu.ma/5ezits2g

AI meets healthcare at the next First Monday 🧠💊 We're hosting Tamás Petrovics, Co-Founder & CEO of XUND, and Balazs Haszonics from Lead Ventures, fresh off XUND’s €6M Pre-Series A. They’ll dig into how XUND is redefining diagnostics with AI-powered SaMD, scaling across Europe, and navigating the real-world challenges of building in healthtech—from regulation to fundraising. Register through Luma: https://lu.ma/g0a5xs47

Next Monday, we're hosting an exclusive Meetup Night with Kristo Käärmann, Co-founder & CEO of Wise, at their Budapest office! From Skype roots to building a fintech giant moving more than £10B a month, Kristo’s journey is a must-hear for any founder or operator in the region. We’ll talk early lessons, CEE/Baltic startup potential, and what’s next for Wise. 🌍💸 Only 40 spots, approval required — apply now! 👇

🚨The Hungarian Startup Report 2024 is out! Here’s your cheat sheet on what’s happening in the ecosystem 📊: 💸 Startup funding dropped slightly — Total investment hit €54M, down from €56M in the previous year. 🚀 Colossyan raised the biggest round with a €20M Series A—no other deal passed €10M. 🌱 More fresh startups — 17% of all surveyed were born in 2024, the highest % in years. 🤖 AI stole the spotlight — 36% of startups are in AI/ML, up from 26%. 🦄 Founders are regaining confidence — 44% believe they could build a unicorn (vs. 31% last year). 🌍 Global sales are still tough — Only half of revenue-generating startups earn most of it abroad. 👥 Hiring is bouncing back — 55% of startups grew their team in 2024, up from 44%. 📉 Sales & growth are still hard — Customer acquisition tops the list of startup headaches. 📦 Startups keep flipping — Nearly half are either already abroad (30%) or plan to relocate their legal HQ (14%). 🧠🧪Dive into the key trends, numbers, and takeaways from this year's data-packed report—full article via Forbes Hungary 👉 https://lnkd.in/dPgQmwjq

🎻 From violin strings to startup swings — our latest First Monday guest, Thomas Percy, took us on a journey from classical music to reshaping the hiring industry with Qneiform. Before founding the Budapest-based HRtech startup, Thomas spent years navigating different careers — from performing as a professional violinist to leading executive search. What stuck? Resilience, experimentation, and a sharp eye for inefficiencies in broken systems. Thanks for the inspiring stories, Thomas, and everyone who joined us! 🙌 📸 Swipe for photos!