Host of the meeting, vice-rector of Warsaw University of Technology, Prof. Władysław Wieczorek, emphasised at the conference on Wednesday that the university tries to support the formation of startups in a variety of ways. He noted that in the new Warsaw University of Technology Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer Management (the so-called Campus Bis), one floor will be made available to science clubs and startups.

The program Hi-Tech Startup is an innovative Polish initiative aiming to select the best technological ideas and then reforge them into well-functioning and profitable businesses. The program is implemented in cooperation of the Kronenberg Foundation, bank Citi Handlowy, the City of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology.

More than 100 technology ideas have been submitted to the program. Top 30 projects have been selected, the authors of which are currently refining the business aspects of their projects with the help of professionals.

"We were surprised by a very large number of applications from people from outside Warsaw, for example from Gdańsk and Kraków. We are very pleased that the participants are willing to come to the capital to work with our experts and develop their businesses" - told PAP Jacek Aleksandrowicz, Vice President of Academic Business Incubators.

Several stages of the program await the participants. First - refinement of the business idea together with the Academic Business Incubators experts. Participants receive support in the form of training and workshops, and then have the opportunity to test their business. Finally, the 10 most promising projects will start operations on the market. They have a chance of financial support for opening a limited liability company.

The main prize for participants is - according to the organizers - participation in the program itself, because it means the possibility of support from the experts and a business "trial" - without social insurance contributions and having to register a business or company.

Statistics show that on average only every fifth startup remains on the market. "It sounds pessimistic, but remember that even if an idea does not work out, its creators usually do not give up and try to create another company" - noted Aleksandrowicz.

Among the most promising ideas competition is a folding shower, which enables the fully automated washing of the elderly or disabled at very low water consumption. Another project are hand and forearm prosthesis for children, printed on 3D printers and controlled by bioelectric signals.

Hi-Tech Startup program participant Tomasz Sasin, a graduate of Warsaw University of Technology, is the creator of "Drones on a Leash". "My idea involves alternate power for drones. Currently the limitation in their use is the time of flight, which usually does not exceed 20-25 minutes. I would like to ensure a continuous power supply for these machines so that they could be used as airborne cameras, for example for property protection and security checks" - Sasin told PAP.

Announcement of the results and summary of the project is scheduled for March 2016.

Academic Business Incubators are a practical school of business for startups. They allow to test the ideas on the market on preferential terms, without having to register a business or company. In the last 11 years, 10 thousand new companies have been established with the support of the Incubators.

According to recently announced results of the a nationwide survey "Young people and the labour market", commissioned by the Kronenberg Foundation at Citi Handlowy and conducted among students in their last year of studies, many young Poles link their future with opening their own companies. A total of 26 percent respondents are considering setting up their own businesses - 14 percent surveyed plan to "start their own business" and 12 percent - "a full-time job or own business".

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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