The Slovak American Foundation (SAF) announced that the Summer 2017 Round of US Connections is open for applications from August 1 until September 30, 2017. Final selection will be made and announced in mid-October.
Since its inception in 2015, SAF has received almost 70 applications for the US Connections program, with 43 companies meeting published qualifications. 27 companies have made presentations to the US Connections Selection Advisors and 8 companies have been selected for awards. With the US Connections prize given annually at the Slovak Startup Awards, the Slovak American Foundation’s portfolio contains 9 companies:
• Agent Balance
• Anima Technika /Drone’n’Base
• Kickresume
• MultiplexDX
• OrderLord
• Photoneo
• Streamstar
• TSS Company
SAF does not take equity positions in US Connections companies. Rather, the US Connections program provides capital to enable management teams of early stage Slovak companies for travel to the US to participate in structured programs that are specifically targeted to their business growth and market expansion needs. Activities include participation in industry trade shows and conferences in the US, founder and customer meetings and short-term location in incubators/accelerators.
SAF’s US Connections Selection Advisors are a distinguished panel of Slovak business and academic leaders. Among them is Simona Bubanova (Owner, creative department), Vladimir Bužek (Research Center for Quantum Information, Slovak Academy of Science), Zdenko Hoschek (CEO, Creative Web), Pavol Luka (Chief Technology Officer, ESET), and Šimon Šicko (CEO/Founder, Pixel Federation).
To be considered for US Connections, applicants must meet the following criteria:
You can apply until September 30th, 2017, here.
