The HFDA Startup Program will welcome ideas revolutionizing the fashion and design industry this fall once again, offering a business development course and an investment option of HUF 15 million to the most promising startups. The aim of the program is to provide support to the forward-thinking sectoral solutions that contribute to the revival of the industry and the establishment of a value-generating fashion and design industry ecosystem already in the ideation phase.
Following the success of last year’s cooperation, the joint startup program of the Hungarian Fashion and Design Agency (HFDA), startup incubator Startup Campus and Hiventures, a fund manager belonging to MFB Group will be launched for the second time. The HFDA Startup Program targeting those studying and working in the creative industry provides participants with business skills and a startup mindset that can help them launch their innovative businesses. The program is based on the revelation that innovative ideas can already conceive during university years or at a freshly launched company, which could then result in gap-filling businesses.
The fashion and design industry has become a knowledge-intensive sector across the world: the key to competitiveness lies in the application of the latest material, technological and information technology innovations. The innovative products of the sector are indispensable elements of sustainable development on several fields, thus catering to an important social and economic need. The HFDA Startup Program helps bring the opportunities lying in the combination of fashion, design and technology to the surface, so that the solutions shaping our future could gain ground in Hungary too, and so that more and more fashion and design industry startups also competitive on the international market could be born.
The teams admitted to the program can acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for launching a startup in an online course consisting of 10 sessions, including lessons on how to create a business model, how to make a financial plan, how to analyze their competitors and the market and how to create a market strategy. Then individual mentors and sectoral experts help them finetune their ideas. At the end of the program, the most promising teams get to present their final ideas to the investors and the public in the framework of Demo Day. Here the projects that are ready for capital injection will get an investment offer of HUF 15 million.
The teams consisting of at least two persons and working on an innovative fashion or design industry idea or the development concept of an already existing brand can apply until midnight September 24. This can either be a product concept innovative in terms of functionality or a project that is novel in terms of implementation or use of materials. Another main goal of the program is to support every segment of the sector, including the new generation, therefore having a university student in the team is an advantage, but not a requirement. Applications can be submitted on the website of the program.
“Last year, the originators of the Alpha wearable technology clothing concept received the capital injection after they showed how a fashion and design industry innovation can serve our health. Innovative ideas can already conceive during university years or at a freshly launched company, which could then result in gap-filling businesses. The aim of our joint startup program is to bring these ideas to surface. The goal is to provide the participants with all support already in the ideation phase so that they can compete with the international innovators of the fashion and design industry. In addition to holding their own in the international competition, the products created through the meeting of fashion, design and technology can also help companies strengthen their abilities to maintain jobs and generate income“ – Zsófia Bata-Jakab, the head of HFDA told us.
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Source: press release
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