The Frontier Fellowship kickoff brought together researchers, engineers, and aspiring founders at Turbine HQ for an evening exploring the journey from scientific research to building a global TechBio company. Turbine’s founders Szabolcs Nagy, Daniel Veres, and Kristóf Szalay joined Ramzi Rizk from Work In Progress Capital to share their different paths into entrepreneurship and the challenges of building a venture-scale startup. The evening continued with four expert tables covering TechBio trends, founding team dynamics, the transition from academia to entrepreneurship, and product thinking for hardware and medtech, with the latter led by Gergő Bagaméry from Mediso. The event marked the launch of Startup Hungary’s Frontier Fellowship initiative.

What does it take to convince an investor in today’s market? At October’s First Monday, partners from Inovo VC, KAYA VC, Portfolion, and Lead Capital unpacked fundraising in CEE from the investor’s perspective. The discussion covered how funds assess startups, the signals that earn their confidence, and the mistakes that put a deal at risk. AI also featured prominently, raising questions about the future of traditional B2B SaaS and how expectations around growth are changing. For founders preparing their next round, the evening offered a clearer picture of regional benchmarks and the demands of raising Series A and beyond.

September’s First Monday was all about Ominimo’s journey from zero to unicorn in just two years. We hosted Gábor Zsarnóczi, Chief Growth Officer, for a conversation on building an AI-powered insurance business, staying profitable while scaling, and expanding across Europe’s regulated markets. From rethinking insurance pricing with data and AI to choosing venture capital when the business was already profitable, the session explored the decisions behind Ominimo’s growth: with practical lessons for founders on building technical teams, entering new markets, and turning an ambitious product into an international business.