Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, is becoming increasingly popular not only for its beautiful architecture and cultural scene. The city is also turning into a destination for the innovation and technology community, attracting talent and companies from all over the world.
The city has been attracting multinational tech giants such as SAP, IBM, and Microsoft for several years. More recently, it was the founding place of companies like Prezi and LogMeIn (now GoTo), before they relocated to the United States.
The city’s international business community is also supported by organizations such as the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency and the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency. These organizations provide a range of services to help foreign companies establish and grow their business in Hungary, and for local companies to expand abroad.
Education and Innovation in Budapest
Budapest boasts a rich academic heritage, with the prestigious Eötvös Loránd University consistently ranked as one of the top universities in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, it is home to the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, which is considered the world’s oldest institute of technology with a formal structure.
It is home to over 30 higher education institutions with an estimated student population of over 210,000 people, with about 14% of them being international students. The city’s concentration of small and medium-sized businesses, along with its highly skilled workforce, has made it an attractive destination for innovation and technology companies.
In this article, we list some of the hottest technology startups founded in Budapest.From cybersecurity, edtech, HRtech, and medtech, explore these startups from Budapest and their solutions.what they do and keep an eye on them in 2023.
Top startups from Budapest
Name: SEON
Founders: Bence Jendruszak, Tamas Kadar
About: SEON is a startup developing real-time data analysis solutions to detect fraud attempts. Their use cases range from e-commerce to crypto trading, gaming, and gambling. Founded in 2017, the company is based in Budapest, Hungary with commercial headquarters in London, UK.
Highlights: Following a USD 94 million in series-B investment in 2022, the company acquired Anti Money Laundering startup Complytron.
Name: Bitrise
Founders: Barnabas Birmacher, Daniel Balla, Viktor Benei
About: Bitrise is a platform for mobile app development, enabling developers to automate integration, testing, and deployment. They support iOS and Android development along with a number of integrations.
Highlights: After receiving USD 60 million investment in series C investment in 2021, the company was placed in the top 150 companies by value by Y Combinator.
Name: Turbine
Founders: Dániel Veres, Kristóf Zsolt Szalay, Szabolcs Nagy
About: Turbine develops a solution that simulates tumor cell behavior in patients, to enable the discovery of the most efficient therapeutic options, case by case. This helps researchers save time before committing to real tests.
Highlights: The company received EUR 20 million investment for its series A round, led by Mercia and the MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, connecting the startup with the multinational pharmaceutical sector. Recently, they announced a partnership with Cancer Research UK, to assist in testing the effectiveness and approach for one of their treatments in research.
Name: Shapr3D
Founders: István Csanády
About: Shapr3D is a CAD modeling tool that aims to make it simple for users to create 3D models. It is able to create technical models and use augmented reality to preview the designs.
Highlights: The company won an Apple Design Award in 2020, followed by a USD 14.5 million series A investment round in 2022.
Name: Craft Docs
Founders: Balint Orosz
About: Craft Docs offers a document creation platform that allows users to easily create and share documents. The options range from client proposals to online courses, with tools to improve the content (such as suggesting a title).
Highlights: The company has raised $12.2 million in a series B round in September 2022 to continue its mission of building “the future of documents.”
Name: Codecool
Founders: Balázs Vinnai, Gabor Simon, Jozsef Boda
About: Codecool offers project-based learning to acquire digital skills for individuals while connecting them with partner businesses so they can follow a career in technology. With their business model, they are able to offer services to people looking to change careers and companies that are looking for new talent.
Highlights: The company merged in early 2022 with Software Development Academy (SDA) from Poland. The resulting company covers the entire CEE region while keeping the original brand names for their specific markets.
Name: Talentuno
Founders: Péter Balázsik, Zsolt Kelliar
About: Talentuno is an HR tech startup company that assists people in finding jobs and companies, as well as expertise, through personal networks. The company offers a crowdsourcing platform that allows people to refer friends and receive commissions.
Highlights: The company has operations in Poland and Hungary, recently expanding to Serbia.
Name: Logiscool
Founders: Anita Breuer, Gyula Csitári
About: Logiscool offers a gamified learning experience for children, specific to every age and knowledge level. Their curriculum includes courses on robotics, artificial intelligence, programming logic and others.
Highlights: With the combination of online and in-person classes, the company has students in more than 35 countries, with more than 180.000 students enrolled to date.
