V4 Startup Force, autumn edition 2023

On November 20–22, 2023, as the only startup from Poland, the Modino.io team took part in finals of the V4 Startup Force acceleration program. The event was held in the Hungarian capital city – Budapest.

About V4

V4 Startup Force is one of the oldest startup internationalization programs in CEE, financed by Visegrad Funds. The event is under the patronage of Design Terminal in Budapest and co-organized by a Polish NGO – Startup Hub Poland Foundation. V4 aims to internationalize startups from Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. This goal meets the International Visegrad Fund agenda, which is to enhance economic and cultural cohesion in the countries of the region. During V4's online and offline events companies participate in practical mentoring and knowledge transfer sessions. The goal is to prepare the participating startups for personalized business meetings in all of the four countries of the V4 region. Afterwards the jury selected participants meet face-to-face in the final session that is held in Budapest. In 2023 Modino.io was one of the few selected startup teams to be there.

Our participation

One of the most exciting parts of the on-site program was the "Boardroom exercise". Each startup presented challenges they are struggling with. Meanwhile, the rest of the participants (based on their own experiences) tried to come up with potential solutions. This exercise showed that regardless of the region, problems that startups face are quite similar. Those range from pitch deck efficacy, ways of convincing investors, term sheet negotiations, gaining traction, to business scaling.

On the other side, Design Terminal as the coordinator of the event, did an outstanding job as the on-site host. Thanks to good organization, we managed to network not only with other startups but also with mentors, investors, and industry representatives. Regardless of the industry, other startups were happy to share their contacts, mentors, and contacts that could possibly help us grow.
Even though all of the participating startups could compete for access to the same investors, there were no barriers to sharing networking experiences and contacts.

What's next?

The knowledge and experience gained in Budapest confirmed what we are currently doing well and which elements of our plan require adjustments. One takeaway is to keep improving our pitch deck with data and case studies connected to specific types of industries in the context of cybersecurity. After all, one of the main goals of Modino.io is to save companies from potential losses that can be caused by malicious attacks.