Economic Accelerator is a programme of the Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies – the organiser of the Economic Forum, which for 30 years has been forming the largest business and political conference in Central and Eastern Europe. The mission of Economic Accelerator is to build a place of dialogue for representatives of major business, experts, government administration and startups by organising events and projects aimed at facilitating contacts between innovative companies and corporations, VC funds and the public sector.Since December 2017, when the Economic Accelerator was inaugurated during the Industrial Forum in Karpacz, there have already been nearly 10 Startup Session tracks at all conferences organised by the Institute for Eastern Studies, the 11th Investment Forum and the Innovation Forum in Tarnow – events entirely dedicated to innovative entrepreneurs, and the Startup Session Elite at the 28th and 29th Economic Forums.

We want the “Polish Davos” and activities undertaken by the Economic Accelerator to contribute to the establishment of cooperation and partnerships in the field of new technologies, which, in view of the ongoing digital revolution, is the main driving force of an innovative economy and society.

The main activities of the Economic Accelerator include the organisation of Startup Session tracks at all conferences organised by the Institute for Eastern Studies. During these events, entrepreneurs compete for the Expert Committee award, which includes representatives of corporations, investment funds and the startup ecosystem, as well as the audience award. Winners are invited to attend the Startup Session Elite at the Economic Forum. Specific groups of startups are invited to particular conferences organised by the Institute for Eastern Studies: Industrial Forum in Karpacz – startups operating in B2B model and producing hardware Europe-Ukraine Forum in Rzeszów – startups from the CEE region European Congress of Local Governments in Krakow – startups operating in the B2G model and offering their solutions to cities Innovation Forum in Tarnow – an event aimed entirely at startups and investors. The conference includes the Startup Award contest, in which the main prize totals PLN 100,000 for the winning project, Robot Show contest, during which robot constructors can win PLN 10,000 and hackathon Since February 2019, the Economic Accelerator programme has been running the Malopolska Startup Rocket project, where 30 innovative companies from Malopolska had the opportunity to participate in the Innovation Forum in Tarnow and in the Startup Session Elite track during the Economic Forum. In 2020, these companies will go to the largest innovation fairs in the world in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Hannover, Milan, Singapore and Tel Aviv.