The sun was setting, the beer was cold, and the excitement was floating in the air. It wasn’t just an ordinary evening in the heart of Krakow. Everyone had the same question lingering in their minds, had the mission been accomplished?
What Happened at OMGKRK Summer Jam 2019: Mission Impossible
On Friday, August 23rd, OMGKRK hosted its fifth annual Summer Jam – a networking party for Krakow’s startup and tech community. This year’s theme was inspired by the classic spy action thriller Mission Impossible. It was a big party with a big mission of building a world-class innovation ecosystem in Krakow. The venue was at Zet Pe Te in the sprawling Dolnych Młynów complex which was once abandoned tobacco factory but is now Krakow’s hippest entertainment zone.
The event had an interesting and complementary combination of Krakow-based startups, international tech companies, industry professionals and students – all gathered to celebrate the startup ecosystem in Krakow. The event had a full program that offered something for everyone. You could hear early-stage startups for the Dragons Cave Pre-Accelerator pitch their ideas, interact with the founders of successful Polish startups, find collaborators for your business ideas, know more about job opportunities at Krakow startups, visit stands of our mission sponsor companies to participate in some interesting activities, network and have a good time.
Matchmaker Zone: Where the Connections Were Made
The event began with the opening of the ‘Matchmaker Zone’ hosted by #OMGKRK stakeholder member and angel investor, Richard Lucas. Attendees had an opportunity to network with like-minded individuals with fun icebreakers. Next up on the programme were pitches by 6 local early-stage startups who are participants of #OMGKRK’s Dragons Cave Pre-Accelerator programme. The young founders presented their startup ideas to the jam-packed audience that comprised of experienced entrepreneurs, investors, tech leaders and startup enthusiasts. The audience showed active participation by asking questions, cheering and applauding the aspiring entrepreneurs. If you missed this part, you can still watch the startups in action at The Dragons Cave Demo Day, which will be on October 24th, 2019 at Plac Nowy1 during Krakow Startup Week 2019.
Main Garden: Where the Start-up Community Party Kicked Off
The indoor action was later matched by the outdoor events that took place in Zet Pe Te’ garden. The visitors got an opportunity to interact with Krakow-based companies and Summer Jam’s sponsors by visiting their booths: Bidroom, Wave Growth, Symphony Solutions, Microsoft and Tagvenue. The companies offered fun activities at their booth while giving away guidance and information about recruitment to the attendees.
Another fascinating part of the event was the mission set by OMGKRK’s mission sponsors, Wave Growth and Bidroom. The intriguing missions came with an opportunity to win prizes including a trip to Amsterdam.
The event concluded with the announcement of accomplishment of the mission as hundreds of attendees from diverse backgrounds gained new contacts, found collaborators, and gathered advice for their business ideas.
To the People Who Made This Happen
#OMGKRK owes the success of Summer Jam to its sponsors: The City of Krakow, Bidroom, Wave Growth, Symphony Solutions, Microsoft, Tagvenue and Perfops. We thank all our community and stakeholder members for their continued support. Another vote of thanks to the attendees. We couldn’t have asked for a better audience. It was overwhelming to witness the thunderous applause and undivided attention that the audience extended to our startups during the pitching session. It was a delightful sunny evening but our attendees chose to spend it indoors during the pitching – listening and encouraging the young entrepreneurs. Of course, everyone was out in the main garden to party afterwards.
We are grateful to all the team members, volunteers and interns and everyone who worked very hard behind the scenes to make this event possible.
Summer Jam 2019: In Pictures
We have over a hundred pictures from the event on our Facebook page. Check them out!
