Digital case study

Fueling Hungarian startup growth

 

PwC is giving Hungary’s innovation agency the help it needs to nurture the country’s burgeoning start-up scene.

 

Aiming to supercharge the country’s start-ups, the agency decided to bring in outside expertise to help fulfill their ambitions.

 

Client: Hungarian Governmental Information Technology Development Agency (and its subsidiary, Neumann Institute)
Our Role: Advertising Hungary’s lead information agency and its clients, some of the country’s most promising start-ups, on what it takes to break into the global market.
Industry: Technology, Media and Telecommunications
Services: Innovation stimulation
Country: Hungary

 

Setting the scene

Hungarian digital start-ups face multiple challenges breaking into the global market. The INPUT program, a grassroots project being underwritten by the government, was developed to help them grow and thrive. But what services did Hungarian start-ups actually need? And what would it take to create a digital Magyar miracle?

Team


“Hungarian start-ups are often just a little too risk averse for their own good. Few have managed to expand into any foreign market. PwC consultants are giving them the knowledge and the confidence they need to succeed.”

Szabados Zsuzsa, J.DManaging Director, Neumann Institute


How we helped

PwC’s first year working with INPUT began with a deep gap analysis of the factors holding back the growth of Hungarian start-ups. Researchers found that although the start-ups were surprisingly well funded thanks to government seed capital, other factors, such as the lack of foreign market knowledge, presented huge obstacles to growth. In light of that analysis, the team provided tailored advice to more than 100 of Hungary’s most promising early-stage IT companies. For start-ups, free services included mentoring and training in important hard and soft skills, including business plan writing and PwC’s design thinking methodology. In addition, PwC helped prepare entrepreneurs to pitch their business to potential clients and investors, and made introductions to important global investors. PwC analysts also provided operational assistance throughout fund-raising rounds.


Impact and potential

While it’s still early days for INPUT, PwC has already given the agency a better sense of what additional services it needs to offer to succeed, and given over 100 Hungarian start-ups the kind of high-quality advice they might not have received until they had grown much larger. In 2018, INPUT received the prestigious UN Global Best Practice Award for its creative and complex approach to fostering an innovation ecosystem.

“Working closely with INPUT, we are not only helping early-stage start-ups navigate the global market but actually strengthening the country’s innovation ecosystem.”

Ádám Osztovits Partner, Advisory Leader, PwC Hungary

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Ádám Osztovits

Partner, CEE Strategy & Transformation Leader, PwC Central and Eastern Europe

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