This initial Demo Nights event reunited fintech and blockchain startups from Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia with experts in the field who are ready to help the startups with accelerating their journeys. The host of the event was Cosmin Cosma, Unchain Festival’s Advisory Board Chairman and CEO of Finqware, the preferred open banking provider of CEE companies.

At the end of the Demo Night, the two startup finalists selected were Acounto App and Insurwiz. Together with the finalists from the next Demo Nights events and other selected startups, they will have a chance to pitch their ideas to investors further on the pitching stage from the upcoming Unchain Festival physical event in Oradea, on 13-14 July.

Upon participating in the Demo Nights, all pitching startups already received:

- honest feedback on their products and business proposals;

Romanian cofounded Databricks, 10 billion $ investment at $62B valuation

- referrals to major corporate startup programs, accelerators, angel investors and VCs;

- 2 tickets to Unchain Fintech Festival taking place between 13-14 July 2022.

Furthermore, winning teams will be fast-tracked into the Unchain startup competition and get a chance at the big investment prize.

The next two live Demo Nights events are:

Fondatorii 5 to go vând pachetul majoritar din companie

You can see the events on Unchain Festival’s Facebook and Linkedin pages on their scheduled days, and subscribe to the festival’s newsletter for more

The Demo Nights events are also valuable as a preview into the main upcoming physical event, Unchain Fintech Festival, created to bring together unicorns, big players and regulators of the fintech industry in the CEE region and globally. For two official days and another one-day extension for VIPs, the Unchain Festival will create the innovation space needed for fostering the growth of the region’s fintech and blockchain business sectors.

The two-day festival will be split into three sections. Unchain Trends, Unchain Ideas and Unchain Connections:

  • Unchain Trends – conferences and workshops stage on “hot topics” of the field. With keynote speakers from important players, regulators and opinion leaders;
  • Unchain Ideas – pitching stage and booth area with top fintech startups in the region;
  • Unchain Connections – 1 to 1 meetings and networking area. With set-up for matchmaking to facilitate direct interactions between companies, startups and investors. Fostering community and supporting the building of relations, this section will prove key to the overall boost that the Unchain festival is aiming to bring to fintech businesses and players in the CEE.

Ticket prices start at 150 € and are already selling fast. The organizers are expecting at least 500 attendees, from financial services, regulators, and tech providers to investors and startups .

“Kickstarting the Demo Nights events and the Fireside Chat discussions immediately following the startup pitching sessions already provided our audience with an exciting glimpse of things to come in the main Unchain event coming in Oradea in July. Thanks to the support of regional financial institutions, national banks, regulators, technology companies, industry associations, startup accelerators, ecosystem players, and trusted advisors, the upcoming flagship regional event will be the top growth accelerator of fintech and blockchain innovations in the CEE”, said Cosmin Cosma, Advisory Board Chairman of Unchain Fintech Festival and CEO of Finqware.

Unchain was created to bring together the global public and private sectors to advance the topic of Fintech in Central Eastern Europe and globally. Unchain is supporting the future of finance by connecting companies and people, trends and challenges.

With a 2-day festival at its core, fintechs and other financial institutions, alongside the wider ecosystem stakeholders will meet in a city that is at the center of Central Eastern Europe. Representing the rich past of the region, alongside the vibrant digital solutions the region has to offer. The festival will help showcase what the region has to offer, as well as bring global trends to the region.