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6 Foreword 8 About 10 Executive summary and key insights 12 Chapter 1: About this report 16 Chapter 2: A helicopter overview 24 Chapter 3: TOP 15 Slovak Scale-ups 34 Chapter 4: Conclusions 36 Chapter 5: Company profiles 46 References

Author: Jaroslav Leitmann Co-authors: Michal Laco, Petra Lipnická, Peter Kolesár, Adela Zábražná Graphic design: Studio 436

4 5 Much of what Neulogy does is about connections, the creation of meaningful links between the right people. From bridging with communities back home to fostering cooperation between academics and entrepreneurs, our team has a rich portfolio of connections and partnerships formed. As of September this year, we have extended our net- work and joined forces with EIT Digital.

After a decade at the epicenter of innovation activities in , this partnership marks a significant milestone for Neulogy, as well as the ecosystem that has evolved dramati- cally over the years. One of the most indicative proofs of these transformations are the annual Startup Awards that we have been organizing since 2011. The number and quality of appli- cants increase every year, as does the audience of innovation scouts and supporters.

Similarly, this study in itself demonstrates that there is no shortage of world-class innovative companies from Slovakia. As success usually generates more success, we have to take Foreword advantage of these favorable circumstances and assist Slovak innovators to scale their businesses even faster. EIT Digital, being the most extensive European network of investors, can help accelerate the growth of many of these emerging compa- nies.

I invite you to read this report and find out more about those fifteen amazing companies. We call them Slovak Challengers.

Peter Kolesár CEO at Neulogy

6 Foreword 7 Neulogy is one of the leading companies that specialize in knowledge and technolo- About gy transfer in the Central European region. The company’s strong Cooperation with the top CEE EIT Digital is a leading European digital track record includes setting up experts in startup advisory, long- the first Slovakia-based man- term experience in technology innovation and entrepreneurial educa- agement company to run a fully commercialization, and innova- tion organization driving ’s digital regulated seed and venture capi- tion policy consulting, enables tal fund (Neulogy Ventures). Fur- Neulogy to maintain its promi- transformation. thermore, Neulogy is designing nent position in Slovakia and the collaborative research centers, surrounding region. This also The organization as in and Madrid. The which sought to accelerate establishing and organizing means that the company can delivers breakthrough digital organization also operates its their growth and expand their the largest startup and innova- tap into the pipeline of the most innovations to the market and hub in Silicon Valley. business to foreign markets. tion event in the country called promising startups, maintain a breeds entrepreneurial talent for The startups which benefited Startup Awards, and leading strong foothold in academia and economic growth and improved EIT Digital invests in strategic from the acceleration program international projects to support R&D sectors, as well as cultivate quality of life in Europe. It does areas to accelerate the mar- raised more than 80 million € in the global expansion of startups access to high-level stakehold- this by mobilizing a pan-Eu- ket uptake of research-based follow-up investments. and business-academia collab- ers and broader audience. ropean ecosystem of over 130 digital technologies focusing oration. top European corporations, on Europe’s strategic, societal Slovakia joined the network SMEs, startups, universities and challenges: Digital Industry, Dig- through a newly formed partner- research institutes. ital Cities, Digital Wellbeing and ship between Neulogy and EIT Founded in 2014, The helping companies go global. Digital Infrastructure. EIT Digital Digital that came into working Slovak Alliance for Innovation The alliance also actively advo- As a Knowledge and Innovation breeds T-shaped entrepreneurial in September 2017. The coop- Economy is the largest innova- cate for innovation-friendly policy Community of the European digital talent focused on innova- eration takes place under the tive alliance in Slovakia, rep- in Slovakia and on the EU level. Institute of Innovation and Tech- tion through a blended Edu- umbrella of the ARISE Europe The largest resenting over 60 innovative nology, EIT Digital is focused on cation Strategy that includes a program, a program of EIT innovative alliance companies. SAPIE is a leading SAPIE is committed to building entrepreneurship and is at the Master School, Doctoral School, Digital designed to stimulate forum for debate on innovation collaborative networks of private forefront of integrating edu- and Professional School. regional growth in EU countries in Slovakia and digital economy in Slovakia. and public actors, creating na- cation, research, and business where EIT Digital is not present tional and regional partnerships by bringing together students, In addition to an extensive with one of its nodes. Its ob- SAPIE is committed to building and advocating for innovation. researchers, engineers, business network of more than 130 jective is to connect local and collaborative networks of private Three key pillars include support- developers, and entrepreneurs. companies and investors, the regional Innovation Centers to and public actors, creating na- ing entrepreneurial education, All of this happens through organization also runs EIT Digital EIT Digital's innovation and edu- tional and regional partnerships fostering startup ecosystem and a pan-European network of Accelerator. Since 2012, the cation ecosystem. and advocating for innovation. helping companies go global. co-location centers in Berlin, EIT Digital Accelerator program Three key pillars include support- The alliance also actively advo- Eindhoven, Helsinki, London, has provided services to more ing entrepreneurial education, cate for innovation-friendly policy Paris, Stockholm, Trento, as well than 230 European startups fostering startup ecosystem and in Slovakia and on the EU level.

8 About us 9 Executive Key insights

Extraordinary value to the local Ambitions and growth know no Where there is will, there is economy boundaries funding

The Top 15 Slovak Scale- Every company in the Two-thirds of the com- Summary ups generated revenues of more Top 15 serves customers in for- panies included in this report than 23 million EUR in Slovakia eign markets. While one-third raised more than 500,000 EUR during 2016. With high annual of the scale-ups already selling each. Four of those companies Over the past decade, the Slovak innovation ecosystem has growth rates exceeding 20%, globally, the American, British hit a home run and raised more grown by leaps and bounds into an extensive and active network the added value of the scale-up and Czech markets are the most than 5 million EUR to date. of stakeholders. companies to the economy is popular destinations. All but Venture capital funds and angel likely to increase in the years to one of the scale-ups run a part investors are the leading sources As shown by the rising number of incu- (1) the value created by these scale-ups, (2) their come significantly. Cumulatively, of their operations abroad. This of investment. bators, investors, co-working spaces and newly scale-up mechanisms, (3) funding processes and they are employing over 850 includes anything from physical emerging startups, innovation and new technologies (4) internal R&D activities. Examining these varia- people, most of which are Slo- offices to sales teams. have shifted from being the preoccupation of only bles through the lens of Slovakia’s most promising vak nationals (a little over 85%). a few to a sector of the economy attracting many scale-ups reveals the barriers and opportunities professionals from various backgrounds. Even more these companies face. The report’s findings may, importantly, success stories of Slovak companies therefore, provide some useful insights for readers scaling their business internationally and gener- interested in improving the standing of the Slovak’s ating extraordinary growth rates are no longer an innovation ecosystem. Both domestic and foreign R&D as an investment growth Partnering with researchers is obscurity. This makes us optimistic about the pros- investment matter welcome pects of Slovakia being a country where innovators The first part of the report presents the definitions, are not only born but also a place where internation- methodology and selection criteria used for the The Top 15 Slovak Scale- All except one of the An overwhelming ma- ally successful companies are founded. study. The second part evaluates how the Slovak ups are very good at attracting companies in this report con- jority of the companies included innovation ecosystem evolved over the past dec- foreign investment. Over two- tinuously conduct some R&D in this report recognize the val- The following pages attempt to shed light on a ade. The following chapter introduces the Top 15 thirds of the scale-ups included activities. On average, they ue of collaborations with other handful of such companies that scaled up inter- Slovak Scale-ups and an analysis of the collected in this report raised a part of commit a little over one-third research entities. While 60% nationally and on the explanatory factors behind data. Conclusions and recommendations are noted their funding from international (37%) of their costs to research of the scale-ups have previously their growth. The report identified the Top 15 in the final section. An annex of company profiles is investors. Nevertheless, all but and development, and one-third collaborated on their research Slovak Scale-ups that have outgrown the stage included at the end of the report. one of the companies benefit- of the companies obtained pat- with other entities and found of “emerging startups” and entered a phase where ed from Slovak investors. Four ent protection for their product. it valuable, 26% have not had ideas are refined, business models set, and prod- The Key Insights presented on the next page pres- companies were funded solely by a chance to do so yet, but are ucts validated. The report focuses specifically on ent a bird’s eye view of the report’s findings. domestic investors. open to the idea.

10 Executive summary and key insights 11 Reasons for putting this report together

This report highlights the positive trans- Success tends to inspire more success. formations that have taken place within the Slo- Therefore, shedding light on the achievements vak innovation ecosystem over the past decade. The of the top scale-ups allows other Slovak inno- country moved from being a place where the term vators to envisage the possibility of success ‘startup’ was virtually unknown to a vibrant eco- both home and abroad. In turn, higher visibility system with many emerging companies. However, for the best Slovak scale-ups fosters the country’s moving to the next stage requires the most prom- reputation and position within the greater Euro- About ising startups to overcome the challenges of scal- pean innovation ecosystem. The collaboration ing up and growing into the future ESETs and Sygics on this report with EIT Digital, a pan-European of Slovakia. The potential contribution of similar accelerator program, made our efforts particularly companies to the local economy and society is po- worthwhile. tentially very valuable.

Compared to emerging startups or typical This report was written for an audience SMEs that often demonstrate little to no growth, of stakeholders active in innovation and entrepre- scale-ups receive very little attention. Earlier in neurship-related activities, wishing to understand this report 2017, SAPIE put together the first-ever study on the Slovak innovation landscape better. We can Slovak scale-ups called Scale-up Study for Slova- only hope that both domestic and international kia: The Fast Growing Firms of the Internet Age.1 investors will find it useful. Theinsights generated Our effort is to elaborate on the findings in their by this study can potentially inform policymak- report and expand the knowledge about emerg- ers, investors and other active stakeholders ing scale-up companies that grow by more than in the formulation of their targeted agendas that 20% annually. could help create more scale-ups and support the existing ones.

12 Chapter 1: About this report 13 Methodology & Selection criteria Selection Process for the Top 15

Understanding scale-ups Why do scale-ups matter?

According to the OECD’s definition, a One of the most prominent studies on Either a 20% increase in annual revenues or a 20% ‘scale-up’ is an enterprise with an average annual scale-ups, the Scale-up Report on UK Economic increase in the number of employees over a period growth in employees or turnover greater than 20 Growth by Sherry Coutu CBE, identifies several percent per annum over a three year period, and essential characteristics of a scale-up.4 First, due to of 3 years. We also included super-fast growing with more than 10 employees at the beginning of their fast growth, these companies are incredibly companies which grew by more than 100%, as the period.2 The initial phases of a startup lifecy- productive in what they do. Secondly, they create cle revolve around idea validation, business model many jobs, and these jobs tend to be of a very long as they reached the indicative threshold of formulation, scalability, and multiplication. In the high quality. Because of their innovative and out- 150,000 EUR in revenues. scale-up phase, a company has already resolved ward-looking nature, scale-ups often expand into these challenges and is looking to accelerate its multiple international markets and thus are more growth, gain a significant market share and expand active in exporting than traditionally domestic internationally. The best scale-ups then graduate SMEs. Lastly, scale-ups tend to have international, to established corporate companies.3 diverse and well-educated teams of employees. A company with Slovak A well-established and We only considered founders. If headquartered tested business model, with a companies that reached annual Our selection process Data sources outside Slovakia, there need to product or service already val- revenues higher than 150,000 be ongoing strong links to the idated by customers in at least EUR at the end of the growth In our search for the best Slovak scale-ups, The analysis in this report relies on a va- country. two markets. period. we asked our pool of experts from the ecosystem riety of primary and secondary data. After receiv- to put together a list of Top 15 Slovak scale-up ing nominations from the expert pool, qualitative companies. After reviewing the nominations, we criteria and secondary databases like Crunchbase The business model The company provides The companies should consulted databases like Crunchbase and Finstat and Finstat were used to determine the Top 15 should be easily scalable to oth- its customers with innovative have at least 10 employees to maximize the chances of identifying as many Slovak Scale-ups listed in this report. Founders er countries, and the company products and services that (both contracted employees and potential candidates as possible. After shortlisting were contacted and further data collected through itself should be looking to ex- challenge the way things are self-employed) at the beginning a larger sample of companies, we reviewed their a questionnaire which contained some two dozen pand beyond its national market. being done. of the growth period. performance from 2011 to 2016. To determine the questions. For the qualitative analysis of the Slovak final list presented in this study, we also applied a innovation ecosystem, semi-structured interviews further set of qualitative and quantitative criteria were conducted with experts from corporate com- displayed on the next page. Nevertheless, our list panies, VC funds, and other relevant organizations. might not be exhaustive of all companies that fulfill the selected criteria.

14 Chapter 1: About this report 15 Understanding innovation ecosystems Matej Ftáčnik They are networks of stakeholders en- CXO at VacuumLabs & gaging in innovation-related activities. Co-founder of the SPOT This may include innovative companies, “The major positive change in our co-working spaces, incubators, research- ecosystem has been that it started ers, established corporates, venture to serve as a support system for emerging companies. Investors, capitalists, angel investors, policymakers angels, accelerators, co-working A helicopter and government officials, consultancies, spaces and others are now helping mentors, and enthusiasts.5 startups succeed. The availability of funding has also improved sig- nificantly. Lastly, a lot of cumulative knowledge has been created by Why do we keep talking about the startups and their supporters over ‘ecosystem’? the years. This can be very helpful for new and growing companies Fast-growing startups and scale-ups First, we provide a brief overview in Slovakia. However, it is hard to cannot resolve all of their challenges of the ecosystem’s growth. After- determine what would make the internally. Issues like availability of wards, we focus on four important Slovak ecosystem better as a lot overview funding, access to knowledge and aspects of the ecosystem. These are of small and seemingly unrelated human capital, or barriers to enter- (1) community and support mecha- things need to come together for The Slovak innovation ecosystem ing international markets, largely nisms for innovative companies, (2) an ecosystem to function effective- depend on a company’s surrounding investment environment, (3) role of ly. This is what happened in inno- 6 environment. Therefore, ecosys- corporations, and (4) the importance vation hubs like Berlin or London.” tems and the conditions they create of research and development. for companies are a part of the ‘scale-up equation.' For that reason, we also give the readers of this study a helicopter overview of the Slovak innovation ecosystem.

16 Chapter 2: A helicopter overview 17 A brief overview Community Michaela Kršková Co-founder of Startup Awards & Investment Manager of the Slovak innovation as a support system at Neulogy Ventures

Lucia Šicková Co-founder of Pixel Federation ecosystem The added value of innovation ecosystems where “If you asked a regular person in the streets what a people never cross paths might be very limited. The startup was ten years ago, ten out of ten would have had no idea. Since then, the most positive change that has Ten years ago, there was little In the early 1990s, as the In- accomplished entrepreneurs innovation process is indeed often reliant on ‘out- “ taken place in the ecosystem is the improved perception to no innovation ecosystem in ternet boom was taking much initiated projects like Startup of-office’ activities like discussing, networking, col- of entrepreneurship. Startup Awards played a vital role Slovakia. We were just a bunch of the world by a storm, Slova- Weekends and Startup Awards. laborating and celebrating. In recent years, sever- in this as it provides promising entrepreneurs with a of people who wanted to create kia began its transition into a In those times, the first Slovak al impactful initiatives have been helpful in bringing platform to promote their business ideas in front of an something great and started doing market economy. The first wave co-working spaces, Connect people together and forming an active community expert audience. Just like in any other industry, let’s say it. We were thrown into the water of internet software companies and the SPOT, started bringing of stakeholders. We picked four short case studies advertising or film industry, people need to have such and had to swim. Nowadays, young emerged in the country, and innovative entrepreneurs under which highlight the various ways in which commu- opportunity to showcase their talent and success needs people have a lot more opportuni- along with them, now well-rec- their roofs and assisting them nities can serve as a support system for innovative to be celebrated.” ties what makes things both eas- ognized technology companies with the acceleration of their companies. ier and harder at the same time. I like ESET came about. Nobody growth. Additionally, special- feel like they definitely have more called them startups in those ized venture capital funds and Inspiring through discussion Creating networking opportunities courage. Good examples and role days. The term in itself was an dedicated angel investors began models played a critical role in this. obscurity. to play a more active role in the A worldwide series of events called Startup Grind was Slovakia’s most recognizable network of innovative com- Globally successful companies like ecosystem. first introduced to the audience of Slovak entrepreneurs in panies is the Slovak Alliance Innovation Economy (SA- ESET made success relatable and Interaction and cooperation 2015. This monthly affair powered by Google for Entrepre- PIE), established in 2014. The alliance brings together over more accessible. It was definitely between different parts of the Despite the fact that much of neurs usually features a fireside chat with accomplished 60 innovative companies, ranging from startups and scale- important at least for us at Pixel ecosystem were very sporadic. It the uptake has taken place in the entrepreneurs, followed up by a startup mixer. The event ups to investors, corporations and innovative infrastruc- Federation to see a Slovak com- took a long time before mean- past few years, the two previous provides its attendees with an opportunity to form new ture. Apart from traditional networking, SAPIE also serves pany that made it really big in the ingful synergies formed and decades indeed produced now connections and gain inspiration and advice from others. as a forum for debate and a platform for policy advocacy. It world.” the ecosystem started to come globally known companies like is a perfect example of how a community can provide val- together. First, few business ESET, Sygic, Pixel Federation, or ue to its members, as well as to the entire ecosystem. and innovation centers popped Innovatrics. The following pages up here and there and started look more closely at more spe- Motivating meaningful collaboration Celebrating success and hard work providing some elementary cific aspects of the ecosystem incubation services for aspiring that can potentially complement The very firstStartup Weekend took place back in 2011. For seven years, the Startup Awards competition has had entrepreneurs. the growth of most promising Since then, people with experience in software develop- a mission to inspire entrepreneurship by recognizing the companies in our country. ment, graphic design and business have been meeting to best innovative companies. Since 2011, it has served as a Mobilization around startups build web or mobile applications at this event every year in ‘jumpstart platform’ for 80 finalists who pitched their busi- and innovation intensified only in , Žilina, Košice and Banská Bystrica. The purpose nesses during a gala that airs on national television. The the late 2000s and early 2010s. of these weekend-long events is to induce collaboration event attracts entrepreneurs, investors, corporate execu- Then the small community of that may form a basis for meaningful connections among tives and others coming together to celebrate the best of innovation enthusiasts and the participants and even new business ideas. Slovakia’s world of innovations.

18 Chapter 2: A helicopter overview 19 Annual investments in Slovakia Investment environment (number of companies)

The availability and ease marked by growing angel inves- been growing fast and steadily of access to capital are often tor activity, the rise of incubators as the chart on the next page necessary for startups to turn and accelerator programs, and demonstrates.7 their ideas into business models, the emergence of first special- and scale them later on. Histor- ized venture capitalists. In 2016, Even though the investment ically, ‘bootstrappers’ were be- the venture capital investments environment has improved over hind many successful companies in Slovakia totaled 10 million the past few years, there is only in Slovakia. Over the years the EUR, an increase by almost a a handful of professional in- availability of investment capital million from the year before. In vestment bodies present in the has been growing steadily, and it the last year, Slovakia ranked country. As the four examples now plays a more active part in third in the CEE region in terms below demonstrate, even the success stories of many Slovak of total venture capital invest- few are diversified. businesses in the country. ment and fourth in the number of companies that received This trend is best explainable investment. While the former by the changing investment variable has gone up and down environment. The change was over the years, the latter has

Crowdberry IPM

Founded in 2015, Crowdberry is an equity investing plat- InfraPartners Management is a company providing mul- form which links promising businesses with its network ti-asset class fund management and advisory services. of investors. The investment requires that companies ex- The fund’s HQs are in London and Bratislava. Other offic- change a percentage of their equity. The platform targets es are in Korea, China, Turkey, and Guernsey. The compa- companies in later stages, already generating growth. ny’s investment focus areas are commodities, growth and The closed deals with the platform amount to 3.5 million infrastructure verticals. The ‘growth vertical’ is directed at EUR. investing specifically in scale-up companies.

Limerock Advisory Neulogy Ventures

The company primarily provides services in the fields It is the first management company to run fully regulated of corporate finance and financial advisory services. seed and venture capital fund in Slovakia. Early-stage However, the company has also established a subsidiary seed capital investments range from 50K to 200K, 300K company Limerock Fund Manager which invests in small to 1.5 million in later stages, with the possibility of mul- and medium enterprises with growth potential. The fund’s tiple rounds of funding per company up to €4.5 million. portfolio comprises of five companies. In 32 months, the fund received 760 applications to date and concluded 37 investments. Source: Central and Eastern Europe Private Equity Statistics 2016

20 Chapter 2: A helicopter overview 21 The role of Driving innovation corporations through R&D Peter Gažík Robert Redhammer CEO at O2 Slovakia Established corporations, can be very instrumental in The government led innovation strategies, and funding Rector at Slovak University of Technology providing startups and scale-ups with valuable experi- has been at the core of some of the greatest innovation “For the ecosystem to further evolve, corporate ence and resources that could accelerate their growth. success stories abroad. The growth of Silicon Valley into “When we started providing business incubation companies need to be more active in supporting As Nesta’s study Scaling Together: Overcoming Barriers the world’s innovation hotspot, the gradual transforma- services at the Slovak University of Technology emerging startups. Innovation is indeed vital for in Corporate-Startup Collaboration puts it neatly, “many tion of Israel into ‘the Startup Nation,' the success of some ten years ago, the ecosystem was nothing their survival and O2 has always recognized this, startups and scale-ups hope to gain a large firm as a Scandinavian states like Finland - all of these would have like today. Since then, the university supported and that is why we launched Wayra Accelerator customer, but also recognize many of the other benefits, been impossible without the commitment of public in- over 50 companies and the overall support sys- in Slovakia and the .” including visibility and enhanced publicity or reputation, stitutions and government, working in hand in hand with tem for startups became more accessible. Due to business development (entering new markets or gain- innovative companies. these structural changes, I feel like fewer young ing new customers), and gaining market knowledge or people hesitate to start a business today.” access to key contacts.”8 In Slovakia, public investment Inadequate structure of in R&D continues to represent R&D financing shortage can Unfortunately, many large and scale-ups remains low one of the major shortfalls hamper the potential of many enterprises in Slovakia do not but is slowly rising. within the ecosystem. While excellent researchers in Slo- consider cooperation with the gap has somewhat nar- vakia to deliver world-class startups and scale-ups their To name a few, O2, ZSE, rowed down in recent years, scientific outputs. Moreover, priority.9 This is despite the Skoda Auto and Tatra Banka Slovakia still spends only 1% excellent research and the Andrej Juris possible improvements in have a proven track-record of of its GDP on R&D, compared availability of high-quality Chairman of the Board at their products or services, or working with startups. While to the EU average of 2%. human capital are important Petra Lipnická Zapadoslovenska distribucna even the overall performance, O2 runs its global network Public institutions invest far variables that can also affect Chairwoman of the Board at Neulogy that could result from such of accelerator programs, more than private companies, the growth of research-inten- cooperation. While some may Skoda has recently launched while foreign investment, par- sive startups and scale-ups “A significant development in the Slovak eco- “A very positive change has been the transfor- strategically avoid adopt- its DigiLab platform which ticularly EU structural funds, in the ecosystem. If those system is the increasing number of innovative mation of the Slovak Academy of Sciences into a ing disruptive innovations, targets mature IT startups or often supplements the low companies do not find the re- startups and the infrastructure that emerged public research institution. This might potentially other might not be aware of university students to work levels of domestic funding. sources they need for growth around them. From expert advice, investment intensify the cooperation between academia and the possible benefits that on mobility solutions for the What is more, the percentage in Slovakia, they are going to and mentoring, startups can nowadays access private companies. For the proper and effective cooperation with innovative future. of workforce in science and look for them elsewhere. valuable resources for their growth. For a compa- functioning of the R&D segment within the eco- companies can bring. At the technology related activities ny like ZSE, close cooperation with the brightest system, well thought out policies, strategically moment, the number of cor- has been decreasing steadily innovators in Slovakia brings tremendous value. defined priorities and stable streams of finances porate companies in Slovakia in recent years. The figure By integrating startup solutions, we, for example, are necessary.” improved the process of getting feedback from that cooperate with startups halved from around 4% to our customers.” only 2% in recent years, and the trend slowly reversed its direction only in 2015.10

22 Chapter 2: A helicopter overviewChapter 23 The table below provides a brief overview of the Top 15 Slovak Scale-ups listed in alphabetical order.

Total funding Company Headquarters Sector Founded (in eur)

ColosseoEAS Slovakia ICT Less than 500,000 2005

Datamolino UK ICT 500,000 – 1 million 2013

DECENT Switzerland ICT Over 5 million 2015 TOP Exponea Slovakia ICT Over 5 million 2015 GA Drilling Slovakia Industrial Over 5 million 2012

Inloop US ICT Less than 500,000 2011

Instarea Slovakia ICT Less than 500,000 2008

Nicereply Slovakia ICT Less than 500,000 2010

Photoneo Slovakia ICT 2.5 – 5 million 2013

Piano US ICT Over 5 million 2010

Saferpass Slovakia ICT 2.5 – 5 million 2013

SEAK Slovakia ICT 1 – 2.5 million 2011

Sensoneo Slovakia ICT 500,000 – 1 million 2014

Sli.do Slovakia ICT Less than 500,000 2012

Staffino Slovakia ICT 500,000 – 1 million 2014

Slovak Scale-ups More information about individual companies is available er Award. This is an award for the most promising Slovak in the final chapter of this report. It should be noted that scale-up company presented at the Startup Awards 2017. three companies (DECENT, Exponea and Sli.do) received the Therefore, we also enclose a brief interview with a repre- highest number of votes in the initial phase of the selection sentative of each of these companies on their company 15 process, and therefore were shortlisted for the Challeng- profile page. 24 Chapter 3: TOP 15 Slovak Scale-ups 25 In recent years, the discussion about scale-ups An overwhelming majority of the being valuable for national economies became more scale-ups on our list operate within the Extraordinary noticeable. These calls for supporting scale-ups came Doing business information and communication technology out of a realization that few fast-growing companies vertical and do business with other busi- can often drive more growth and employment than nesses. GA Drilling, a company with a unique value to the traditional SMEs. Scale-ups are indeed more productive according to the plasma-based drilling technology, is the and international while creating high-quality, innovative only company on our list that falls under the products and services. Industrial vertical. local Therefore, documents like The Scale-up Report, pub- Top 15 The dominance of ICT vertical among the lished by Sherry Coutu CBE, urge governments and all scale-ups can be explained in different ways. relevant stakeholders to recognize and support the value If one wanted to describe the First, for companies within this vertical, the created by scale-ups.11 In Slovakia, the recent Scale-up time between founding and first sale tends economy Study for Slovakia, published by SAPIE, demonstrated “Average Joe” on the Slovak scale- to be shorter. For 75% of the scale-ups that as few as 253 scale-ups (from the Internet econ- up scene, their best shot would be on our list, this took less than 12 months. Based on our findings, in omy market segment) generated as much as 1% of the Second, industrial or medical solutions can national turnovers in 2013. 12 mentioning two abbreviations – require much more time and capital. Availa- Slovakia only, the compa- B2B and ICT. bility and training of professional workforce nies on our list generated can be more limited too. Lastly, the informa- tion technologies, as the highest paying job revenues of more than 23 sector, attract some of the brightest talents million EUR in 2016. in the country.

23 million € 850+ 85% < 12 months B2B + ICT 80%

Revenues generated by the Top The number of people employed The percentage of employees 75% of the companies on our list Selling to businesses leads the Percentage of scale-ups that pre- 15 in Slovakia (2016) by the Top 15 (2017) that are (2017) took less than a year to make way, so does the ICT vertical viously cooperated with estab- their first sale lished corporates

As far as the business models go, two-thirds of scale-ups are purely Cumulatively, they are employing over 850 With high annual growth rates, the added value of scale- running the Business to Business model; the remaining five compa- people, of which 85% are Slovaks. Even ups to the local economy increases exponentially over nies run it in conjunction with Business to Customer or Marketplace though some of the companies moved their the years. If they successfully move to the next evolution- models. Selling to other businesses might be viewed more favorably headquarters abroad, their links and contribu- ary stage and become stable corporates, the benefits due to the lower marketing costs, as well as a healthy network of IT tion to the local economy remain significant. to the ecosystem, economy, and society are even more companies in the country. Cooperation with established corporates First, they are essential role models to other significant. also tends to be relatively popular among the companies on our list Slovak entrepreneurs. Second, the knowledge - 80% of them previously worked with corporates or had them as cli- and experience that they accumulate can be ents. The majority of the scale-ups consider this form of cooperation shared with others in the ecosystem. somewhat negatively.

26 Chapter 3: TOP 15 Slovak Scale-ups 27 The notion that scale-ups are out- ward looking corroborated in our findings. 4 x 5M+ 40 M + 14/15 Ambitions and All but one of the interviewed companies are Where there running some of their operations abroad. The number of From international offices, sales teams, to Four companies The total amount companies that researchers, the best Slovak scale-ups do on the list raised of funding raised received a part growth know not constrain themselves to Slovakia. On is will, there over 5 million by the Top 15. of their funding average, scale-ups on our list have at least EUR. from Slovak three operational units abroad, with the investors. no boundaries Czech Republic and the being the most popular destinations. As a result, is funding Furthermore, all fifteen companies foreigners constitute 15% of the workforce are already serving customers in within our sample. Even though the availability of investors are the leading sources funding raised among the Top 15 investment capital in the CEE of investment. exceeds 40 million EUR. foreign markets. region remains low compared to other parts of Europe, the best As data about funding in da- Because the distribution of the scale-ups have secured sub- tabases like Crunchbase is companies among different stantial funding. Two-thirds of often outdated or missing, and verticals was very one-dimen- the companies included in this Slovak founders tend to be sional (14 firms fall under ICT), 3 OFFICES 15% 1/3 report raised more than 500,000 reluctant about sharing of the the presented figures are most EUR each. Four of those compa- total funding raised, we asked indicative of the ICT vertical. The average number of interna- Percentage of foreign employees The proportion of scale-ups nies hit a home run and raised them to indicate a range rather GA Drilling, as the only compa- tional offices run by the Top 15 within the companies serving clients globally more than 5 million EUR to date. than an exact figure. With this in ny within the Industry vertical, Venture capital funds and angel mind, we estimate that the total raised over 5 million euros.

The amount of funding The origin of private funding among raised by the Top 15 (in EUR) the Top 15 Furthermore, all fifteen companies are These figures indicate that Slovak scale-ups do Venture capital funds and already serving customers in foreign not hesitate to use resources from abroad to angel investors are the leading markets. While one-third of the scale- accelerate their growth. This notion holds true sources of private investment. ups are already selling globally, the even when it comes to funding – 73% of inter- VC funds invested in nine American, British and Czech markets viewed scale-ups received some part of their total scale-ups from the list, angel remain most attractive salespoints. funding from an international investor. Only four investors invested in eight. Only The relatively small population and companies relied solely on Slovak investors. one scale-up relied on a bank economy are contributing factors to fund their business. The fact that motivate Slovak founders to go that 14 out of 15 scale-ups re- abroad. The presented findings un- ceived funding from a domestic derline high levels of mobility and the investor indicates the commit- global potential of the best innovative ment of Slovak investors to the companies founded in Slovakia. ecosystem.

28 Chapter 3: TOP 15 Slovak Scale-ups 29 Number of companies with a particular R&D as an form of legal protection investment into growth

Due to the dominance of ICT com- All, but one scale-ups in the Top panies on our list, we set the definition of R&D loosely. Therefore it might involve 15 continuously conduct research activities like product improvement or use and development activities. On of specialized engineering teams. However, average, 37% of total costs spent one-fifth of the companies noted that they have a separate department with engineers, among the firms is attributable to scientists, and researchers. R&D

10 PATENTS 37% FOR R&D 13 x YES

The companies on the list have On average, the listed scale-ups A resounding majority of 86% ten patents under their belt. dedicate a little over one-third of scale-ups would like to cooperate their costs on R&D. with other research entities.

Apart from internal R&D activities, a 40% were more informal forms of collabo- majority of the interviewed companies ration (e.g., assistance in thesis research). are interested in cooperation with other research entities (universities, research One-third of the scale-ups have protected centers, and institutes, or individual their businesses with patents. In total, ten researchers). While 60% has previously patents have been issued to the Top 15 cooperated with other subjects, 26% (GA Drilling accounts for 6 of them). The would like to do so in future. The nature of chart displays how many firms received finished collaborations varies. While 40% other forms of legal protection. One-third of the scale-ups have protected their businesses with patents. In total, ten patents of past cooperation was either a formal have been issued to the Top 15 (GA Drilling accounts for 6 of them). The chart displays how research project or consultations, another many firms received other forms of legal protection.

30 Chapter 3: TOP 15 Slovak Scale-ups 31 Factors What factors are influencing influencing the scaling-up process? growth

One of the final ques- The companies were supposed Based on our findings, two- tions that we ask the Top 15 to mark whether the listed fac- thirds of the interviewed compa- Slovak Scale-ups were factors tors influence their growth posi- nies considered the level invest- affecting the growth of their tively or negatively. For example, ment that they have received business. We identified six fac- if the investment was marked as a positive factor. Similarly, tors: (1) Investment, (2) Skilled as a positive factor, it means the companies were positively employees, (3) Network of that the level of investment was influenced by the availability of contacts in Slovakia, (4) Network sufficient for the company to skilled employees. Over half of Investment Skilled employees Network of contacts of contacts abroad, (5) Conduct grow. On the other hand, if the the companies also benefited in Slovakia more research & development factor was marked as negative, it from a good network of contacts to improve our products and implies that the company would abroad and R&D activities tar- services, and (6) Expert knowl- like to raise more funding as its geted to improve their products edge and advice availability in current level is negatively affect- or services. The companies Slovakia. ing the company’s acceleration. seem to be split on the influ- Companies also had a choice to ence of contacts in Slovakia and mark a factor as neutral which availability of expert knowledge means that it had a very minimal in Slovakia. effect, either positive or neg- ative, on the growth. In case a variable was not relevant for a particular company, they were able to skip it altogether. Network of contacts abroad Research & development to Availability of expert knowl- improve products and services edge and advice in Slovakia

32 Chapter 3: TOP 15 Slovak Scale-ups 33 When putting together the concluding remarks, the authors of this report kept coming back to one word – potential.

The evolution of the local innova- Surely, the Top 15 Slovak Scale-ups pre- tion ecosystem has been marked by consid- sented in this report may not be a genuine erable progress. Many impactful initiatives representation of the entire ecosystem. have been helpful in bringing people togeth- These scale-ups represent a small sub- er, motivating collaboration, strengthening set of Slovak companies that were able to networks and promoting innovation across overcome many challenges despite the pre- all industries. The availability and ease of vailing shortcomings of their surrounding access to capital have also improved thanks conditions. However, their stories can be to a growing network of serial entrepreneurs instrumental in driving further growth of turned angel investors and venture capital the ecosystem. funds. A lot more progress is needed, but Conclusions the potential is there. We can only hope that this report will inspire greater discussion about scale-up compa- More importantly, the ecosystem’s perfor- nies, their needs and possible strategies that mance and the list of companies in this re- would support their future growth. port demonstrate that this progress has not been a temporary ‘hype'. Multiple startups that emerged in recent years have matured into fast-growing companies that generate millions in revenues and employ dozens of highly skilled employees. We have identified fifteen such companies and conducted a study about their growth.

34 Chapter 4: Conclusions 35 Company name Decent Founded 2015 Headquarters Geneve, Switzerland Markets Global Business Model B2B, B2C, Marketplace Company size 50 employees Industry ICT Funding raised > 5 M EUR

DECENT is a Decentralized Blockchain Content Distribu- Growth expectations for next tion Platform that is Open-Source and utilizes Blockchain year to ensure Trust and Security. The company intends to • 30-40% employee growth revolutionize data distribution on the Internet. Unlike • New offices in Japan, Malaysia, other content distribution platforms, there are virtually and South Korea • New projects in the entertain- no limitations as to the type of media that are publish- ment and media industry, and able on DECENT Network (from books, pictures, movies gaming industry to music). To make transactions viable and user-friendly, the DCT – a crypto-token, has been implemented. The Growth priorities for next year encrypted DCT tokens help mitigate attacks, promote • Expand to new markets (Japan, funding and ensure transaction validation. South Korea, and Southeast Asia) • Become well known global play- Company Website www.decent.ch ers in the entertainment industry

What were DECENT’s beginnings ees every week, we have a team China, like? and setting up a new one in Hong Three years ago, we started out in a Kong. The challenges that we face profiles small office and worked relentlessly today are much different to those at on our business plan. Our first seed the beginning, from keeping up with funding came a few months after.We the growing business to intercultural hired first employees and worked hard communication. for over two years until securing fur- Matej Michalko ther investment. It was mostly about What contributed to your success Founder, CEO figuring out the business and looking the most? for ways how to become world leaders Passion and dedication. These in content distribution. two things are essential and make everything go easier. What has changed since those early weeks and months? Almost everything. In the beginning, it was just me and my other co-founder. Nowadays, we are hiring two employ-

36 Chapter 5: Company profiles 37 Company name Exponea Founded 2015 Company name SLI.DO Founded 2012 Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets Global Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets Global Business Model B2B Company size 120 employees Business Model B2B Company size 80 employees Industry Digital Funding raised > 5 M EUR Industry Digital Funding raised < 500, 000 EUR

Exponea is a company with global presence in advanced Growth expectations for next Sli.do is an audience interaction platform for meetings Growth expectations for next data analytics-enabled marketing automation. Its mar- year and events. It allows event organizers to crowd-source year keting cloud helps businesses get maximum value from •400% revenue growth the best questions for Q&A sessions, gets instant feed- • 300% growth in the number of collecting, analyzing, and acting upon customer interac- back via live polls and share presentations with audienc- events tions. Unlike any other cloud solution, this platform de- Growth priorities for next year es in real-time. Sli.do’s focus is on simplicity, allowing • Reach a valuation of 100 MIL Growth priorities for next year livers one-on-one customer experience in just a few days organizers to create an event in less than a minute, while • Set up a new development office • Continue to provide a high-qual- and allows marketers to run, automate, and evaluate participants can join from any device with a unique code. • Expand throughout the US ity product to the customers campaigns independent of their IT departments. Compa- Since its foundation in 2012, Slido has helped to trans- nies on five continents have already chosen Exponea for form over 50, 000 events, working with clients such as its cutting-edge customer analyses and predictions, rich SXSWedu, LeWeb, SAP, Eventbrite, Prezi, KPMG or Cisco. API that allows third-party integration, and marketing automation enriched with artificial intelligence. Website www.sli.do

Website www.exponea.com

What were Exponea’s beginnings beyond the European continent. What were the beginnings at Sli.do continue to learn how to serve our like? like? customers better and in new innova- There was a lot of excitement and What markets are you considering? The early weeks and months at Sli. tive ways. As we encounter new types stress, a mixed bag of feelings and Next year, we would like to open an do were about figuring out the prod- customers, there is always need to high expectations. office in the United States. uct and looking for a solution that adapt and improve. would bring meaningful change to our What has changed since those early Any advice for scaling up? potential customers. Everything was What does Sli.do’s future look like? weeks and months? Get the basics right. These are cul- moving fast, and everyone was doing Customers are our priority. In addition Jozef Kovac Nowadays, as our business is well de- ture, brand, and people. Matus Horvath everything. to serving world-class events and Co - founder, CTO fined, we focus execution and growth. Head of People driving meaningful discussions there, As to that, we have to adapt and learn Operations What has changed since those early we are now focusing on enhancing in- continuously. What drives us is the weeks and months? ternal communication within corporate fact that more and more customers We learned that to become a global companies. choose Exponea over other well-es- leader in our market segment; we need tablished names in the marketing to work with the world’s best custom- cloud industry. We are trying to grow ers. Here, the quality and dedication in our key markets – Russia and the of our founders and the team were United Kingdom, as well as expand crucial to our success. Nowadays, we

38 Chapter 5: Company profiles 39 Company name ColosseoEAS Founded 2005 Company name inloop Founded 2011 Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets EU, RU, KZ, UK, US, TR Headquarters Sunnyvale, California Markets US, UK, DE, CZ Business Model B2B Company size 120 employees Business Model B2B Company size 132 employees Industry ICT Funding raised < 500, 000 EUR Industry ICT Funding raised < 500, 000 EUR

ColosseoEAS specializes in the LED design, multimedia Growth expectations for next Inloop is a company based in the US and Europe, focus- Growth expectations for next and statistics solutions for sports venues. The company’s year ing on mobile application development and consulting. year integrated system approach, introduced in 2010, allows • 20% growth of revenues Their services cover all phases of development for mobile • Healthy revenue and profit stadium and arena owners to input all data from any applications, web, and AR/VR. From design and devel- growth source into one platform. Moreover, the solution auto- Growth priorities for next year opment to testing and ongoing support, the company • Product development oppor- tunities as another stream of mates tasks, reduces redundant operations and distrib- • Fully implement ERP covers the whole process. Most of its 132 team members • Expand the existing sales net- revenue utes information to a variety of devices like LED screens, have dedicated themselves to mobile application devel- work • Building and developing the IPTVs, advertising fasciae, mobile applications and even opment since the inception of modern mobile platforms. team wearable devices. Website www.inloop.eu Growth priorities for next year Website www.colosseoeas.com • Business development in the U.S. • Deliver even better quality and provide real added value to its clients

Company name GA Drilling Founded 2008 Company name Datamolino Founded 2013 Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets UK, SA, NO, US, AT Headquarters London, UK Markets EU, UK, AU Business Model ICT Company size 105 employees Business Model B2B Company size 20 – 50 employees Industry Mining Technology Funding raised > 5 M EUR Industry ICT Funding raised 500,000 - 1 M EUR

Growth expectations for next Growth expectations for next GA Drilling is a high-tech company developing and Datamolino removes the pain of manual data entry for year year commercializing a groundbreaking technology platform accountants, bookkeepers, and SMEs. The company’s • Hire additional 15 employees N/A PLASMABIT. The technology enables massive time and online application automatically extracts critical informa- cost savings compared to other existing drilling tech- Growth priorities for next year tion from purchase and sales invoices, bills, and receipts, Growth priorities for next year nologies and opens up vast new possibilities in oil & gas, • Reach equity of 10 M EUR and pushes the data directly to Xero or Sage One ac- N/A geothermal energy, mining, and tunneling. The team has • Gain 5 M EUR in grants counting systems in minutes. Datamolino is capable of accomplished the first ever plasma milling underwater extracting all amounts, dates, tax rates, supplier details and the first ever plasma milling in HP/HT environment. including line item level information. PDF or scanned invoices are simply uploaded to Datamolino via email or Website www.gadrilling.com desktop 'drag and drop'.

Website www.datamolino.com

40 Chapter 5: Company profiles 41 Company name Instarea Founded 2008 Company name Photoneo Founded 2013

CZ, SA, PO, HU, SA, AT, Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets 27 countries Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets CA, DE, BG Business Model B2B Company size 47 employees

Business Model B2B Company size 32 employees Industry ICT Funding raised 2.5 – 5 million Industry ICT Funding raised < 500, 000 EUR Photoneo creates high-quality, easy to use 3D area sen- Growth expectations for next Instarea, formerly known as Adastra Partnering, is a labo- Growth expectations for next sors. We also create a “visual cortex” for robots: we teach year ratory for innovative greenfield ideas. Their latest crea- year them to pick objects and navigate in space. The compa- • 50% growth in employees tion is the Market Locator big data monetization solution • 50% growth in revenues ny’s mission is to produce valuable 3D scanners (static • 300% growth in revenues which brings together the worlds of population analytics scene) and 3D cameras (dynamic scene) and support its • Set up an office in the U.S. & targeted marketing in one simple web-based solution. Growth priorities for next year users with game-changing SDKs and APIs, change the Growth priorities for next year Instarea also focuses on the interactions between com- • Stabilize cash flow from existing traditional 2D machine vision approach in the industrial deals • Move from a tech leader to the panies and their clients. Their omnichannel event hub, environment and bring to the market unique devices with market leader Adalytics, is growing fast in popularity among telecom- new functionalities. Photoneo’s devices enable manufac- munication companies and banks, which emphasize their turers to build more flexible production lines, and robot client satisfaction. integrators will get a powerful tool for new applications.

Website www.instarea.com Website www.photoneo.com

Company name Nicereply Founded 2010 Company name Piano Founded 2010 Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets US, UK, EU, AU, NZ, ZA Headquarters New York, US Markets Global Business Model B2B Company size 12 employees Business Model ICT Company size 12 employees (SK) Industry ICT Funding raised < 500, 000 EUR Industry Digital/Publishing Funding raised Over 5 million

Growth expectations for next Growth expectations for next Nicereply produces a customer satisfaction survey Piano is a fast-growing enterprise headquartered in NYC. year year software, including CSAT, NPS & CES 2.0. The product • 50% growth in revenues The company provides enterprise software to the world’s • Hire more employees in Brati- enables companies to improve their customer service leading media companies, including GateHouse, Grupo slava and provide better customer experience. The company is Growth priorities for next year Abril, NBC, the Economist, Condé Nast, Hearst, and • Focus more on the services and full of data crunchers, pixel officers and algorithm loving • Focus on finding more sustaina- Gannett. Its software enables these companies to create strategic consulting work that we geeks that strive to provide the best customer satisfac- ble growth channels customized digital experiences for users, restrict and sell do globally tion survey tool. • Business development, market- access to content online, and analyze user behavior to ing, and sales maximize revenue. Growth priorities for next year Website www.nicereply.com • Scaling up the business Website www.piano.io

42 Chapter 5: Company profiles 43 Company name Saferpass Founded 2013 Company name Staffino Founded 2014 Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets Global Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets HU, CZ, RO, AT, UK, TR Business Model B2B, B2C Company size 15 employees Business Model B2B Company size 44 employees Industry ICT Funding raised 2.5 – 5 million Industry ICT Funding raised 500,000 – 1 million

SaferPass is an innovative online identity and password Growth expectations for next Staffino is easy to use tool for receiving feedback from Growth expectations for next manager integrated across all devices and platforms. It year customers on staff that they meet. Giving customers year allows the user to securely access his information and • Hoping for the best growth the ability to flip through staff faces, creates the new • 200% growth in revenues passwords using his private master password. The auto result standard for collecting, analyzing and resolving real-time fill and password generator function of SaferPass saves feedback. Thanks to GPS location and Foursquare API Growth priorities for next year time and creates stronger passwords without the need Growth priorities for next year universal Staffino solution gives customers opportunity • Building global/international • Make it rain! sales of memorizing them all. The unique “Secure Me” option to leave feedback quickly on all the venues ranging from allows the user to log out of all devices remotely. Safer- retail stores, telco companies, automotive, financial Pass encrypts the data using current encryption standard sector, healthcare, education, call centers, utility pro- AES-256. viders to public organizations. Progressive stats allows venue managers to track real-time customer feedback, Website www.saferpass.net response time and conversion rate.

Website www.staffino.com

Company name SEAK Founded 2011 Company name Sensoneo Founded 2014 Headquarters Presov, Slovakia Markets EU, Israel, India, Russia Headquarters Bratislava, Slovakia Markets EU, UK, AU, US Business Model B2B Company size 33 employees Business Model B2B, B2C Company size 16 employees Industry ICT Funding raised 1 – 2.5 million Industry ICT Funding raised 500,000 – 1 million

Growth expectations for next SEAK Energetics is a provider of unique technology to Sensoneo company came into existence in 2014 as a Growth expectations for next year year control street lighting as well as lighting in commercial spin-off of a reputable IT company providing senior man- • 200% growth in revenues • Growth in employees and rev- and industrial buildings over 230 V power line. They can agement of complex IT projects, programs, and integra- enues turn the existing luminaires into energy-saving smart Growth priorities for next year tions. Sensoneo, smart waste management solutions, lighting grid with no excavation and no additional wires • Maximize the revenue growth automates the waste lifecycle to ensure all waste is un- Growth priorities for next year required. SEAK’s applications include overall solutions for der control. In addition to the optimization of the whole • Ensure that growth does not energy saving achievement and to have a power control process, we achieved significant time and cost savings hamper the quality of product over the lighting installations. The uniqueness of the ap- for waste collection companies and lowered the environ- plications is the ability to control the lighting over power mental footprint of cities and municipalities. line cables, whether it is indoors or outdoors. Website www.sensoneo.com Website www.seakenergetics.com

44 Chapter 5: Company profiles 45 References

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