Startup Weekend inspired Belgian Fintech entrepreneurs to launch new startups

Oct 14, 2015, 12:40 PM
Title : Startup Weekend inspired Belgian Fintech entrepreneurs to launch new startups
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Belgium’s first ever FinTech themed Startup Weekend took place in the accelerator Co.Station in Brussels, from 9-11 October. The Weekend was a big success: 75 entrepreneurs and creative minds have participated, and 9 new startup businesses were presented on Sunday evening.

 

From idea to business model in one weekend

Startup Weekend is an intense weekend event where the community of entrepreneurs, business startup enthusiasts, web and software developers, designers, marketing guru’s and anyone interested in building a business, come together to pitch ideas, network, participate in discussions and launch projects.

From Friday evening to Sunday evening coaches and mentors guide participants to pitch ideas, form teams around the most popular ones (public voting) and go from idea stage to working business model. The results are presented to a panel of judges on Sunday evening who hand out the prizes to the top 3.

The Startup Weekend program is run by organizers from the local startup ecosystems. On a global level, it is supported by partners like Google, Coca-Cola, Amazon. This FinTech edition in Brussels was proudly supported by BNP Paribas Fortis.

Three winners

The weekend had 75 participants, 28 ideas were pitched on Friday night and 9 new startup businesses were presented in the closing ceremony on Sunday evening. The jury was composed of Chief Economist BNP Paribas Fortis Peter De Keyzer, Deputy CIO BNP Paribas Fortis Alain Goffi, Chief HR Officer BNP Paribas Fortis Bert Van Rompaey and entrepreneurs Jean Zurstrassen and Cheryl Miller. They were highly impressed with the quality of ideas and presentations.

Deciding on the winners was a hard task and the following startups stole the show:

  • The Best Innovation Award went to TalentAngels.co: a platform that will help students support their academic fees with mentors and potential recruiters using the crowd-funding model.
  • The Best Design Award went to Drink It: an app that will allow you to pay for your drink and get notified when it’s ready to be picked up at the bar.
  • And the overall Startup Weekend Award went to Azurent: a platform where property owners can manage the rent payments and issues related to their properties.

The three winners are invited to participate in the Microsoft Bootcamp. On top of this, Azurent can move into the Brussels accelerator Co.Station for a three-month period and begin to develop their startup further.

About Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.

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