The first day of European Start-Up Days in Katowice, Poland ended with awarding the six best Polish startups out of almost 200 contest participants. The winners in six categories were granted an opportunity to present their solution during the accompanying event – European Economic Congress, the largest business conference in Central Europe that gathers as many as 8000 attendees.

Marcin Krupa, the mayor of Katowice, congratulated the winner of this year’s challenge. “The European Economic Congress and European Start-Up Days are widely acclaimed events. They allow mixing mature established businesses with the brand new ones. The discussion with panelists and 300 startups is a proof that your work is something worth engaging in,” he said.

Startups were awarded in six categories: industry 4.0, robotics, automation, IT and new materials; business & ICT, management, analytics, decision processes, HR; tradition & modernity, industry, energy, telecom, logistics; for human, biotechnology, medicine, ecology; client & business, trade, customer experience, fintech; lifestyle, entertainment industry, other.

“The objective of the Start-up Challenge is to promote entrepreneurship and encourage creativity. The assessment criteria included team competencies, innovation, market knowledge and competitive knowledge,” said Małgorzata Bonikowska, the president of THINKTANK and Centre of International Relations.

The awarded startups are:

1. Sky Tronic (industry 4.0, robotics, automation, IT and new materials): one of the first companies in the world that control drones with AI. Flight control and stabilization algorithms based on Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) allow for precise monitoring, evaluation, and control.
2. ChallengeRocket (business & ICT, management, analytics, decision processes, HR): an innovative platform for effective and optimal recruiting of IT professionals.
3. Gradis (tradition & modernity, industry, energy, telecom, logistics): a system for design and optimization of street lighting that saves up to 15% of energy. The team is also developing a dynamic real-time lighting control platform.
4. Laparo (for human, biotechnology, medicine, ecology): a company specializing in the design and manufacturing of laparoscopic training devices. They also plan to create simulators for surgery training in virtual reality.
5. Tosend (client & business, trade, customer experience, fintech): an invoicing system for B2B models that increases security and eliminates the necessity to print the documents.
6. ddob.com (lifestyle, entertainment industry, other): DDOB, or Daily Dose of Beauty, is a “Facebook for influencers”. The community has over 12 thousand users. This startup was recognized for their innovative customer communication approach.