History - DanubeCup Network

Danube Cup student pitch competition for the 8th time in Linz in May 2024

Danube Cup started as a student pitch competition between two Hungarian universities in 2016, but it has evolved to an international network of 9 universities along the Danube in 5 countries by now. The two founders were the Corvinus University of Budapest (BCE), and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences

2024 May: Danube Cup Final in Linz

The 8th Danube Cup pitch competition (5th international) is organized by the Johannes Kepler University, for students of 9 universities of 5 countries

2023 Nov: DC Governance was established

The Danube Cup Board approved the new org structure with Pitch Competition Committee, Research Committee and DC Office. The leaders were appointed.

2023 Nov: 2nd International DC Conference

The 2nd International Danube Cup Conference was organized by the University of Belgrade on Entrepreneurship Education, for 100+ participants

2023: Danube Cup Board is established

In the summer, each member university was invited to delegate two members into the newly established international DC Board

2023 May: The Competition Goes to Bavaria

The 7th Danube Cup pitch competition final was uniquely organized by three universities in Bavaria: Passau Uni, Regensburg Uni, and OTH Regensburg

2022: 1st International DC Conference for Education

The 1st International Danube Cup Conference was organized by Corvinus University on Entrepreneurship Education

2022 Vienna: International Grand Finale

The 6th Danube Cup is the first that is held outside Hungary: Wirtschaftsuniversität in Vienna is organizing it...

2021: The Competition Goes Online

The 5th Danube Cup is unstoppable despite Covid-19: 7 universities from 4 countries, online competition, and the Cup goes to Belgrade

2019: Danube Cup becomes international

The 1st International Danube Cup is organized by BME with the participation of 3 countries, but the winner is from TU Vienna

2018: Danube Cup festival

Out of the office: the 3rd Danube Cup takes place as part of the BME GTK Faculty Days: stage, beer, happy relaxed atmosphere

2017: BCE strikes back

The 2nd Danube Cup is organized in the new building of BCE. The fights goes on, and BCE strikes back

2016: Tradition is established

The 1st Danube Cup between the students of BME and BCE is organized in BME's new Q building and ends with BME success

The show must go on also during Covid-19

Danube Cup^TM levels up

Although the competition in 2020 had to be postponed, we organized the 5th Danube Cup on 21 April 2021. After the semif-final, 6 teams headed to the international final that was organized online in Budapest as part of the Startup Safari event.

A network is born

7 universities (Regensburg, Passau, Linz, WU Vienna, BME and Corvinus from Budapest, and Belgrade) joins from 4 countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary and Serbia)

A new perpetual trophy is established

The artwork of the Hungarian sculptor Levente Molnár was chosen as the new trophy of Danube Cup that the winner team can keep for one year

European trademark is registered

The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) registered the Danube Cup name and logo as a common trade mark of BCE and BME

Meet us

Danube Cup 2021 Summary

Danube Cup 2021 International Final

Danube Cup 2021 Award Ceremony

Danube Cup 2021 Semi Final Recap

2021: The Competition
Goes Online

We organized the second international Danube Cup competition online on 21 April 2021 in a joint effort of BCE and BME as part of the Startup Safari event. 6 teams of 7 universities from 4 countries made it to the final, whose constest was really close in front of an international panel of judges. The team from Belgrade (Perun) won the Cup, the C:Air team from Vienna (Wirtschaftsunivesität) became the second, and the German Mentalead (OTH Regensburg) received the third place, and also the Award of the Audience. Young Entrepreneurs’ Support Society (IVE) offered a special sponsorship to the event.

Chief organizers: Dr. Pál Danyi, Dr. Loretta Huszák, Attila Miklya, Prof. János Vecsenyi

Jury: Laura Egg (Austrian Angel Investors Assoc.), Prof. Derek F. Abell (ETH Zurich), Dr. Sean Sassmannshausen (OTH Regensburg), István Lám (Tresorit), Dr. Mladen Cudanov (Uni Belgrade)

Winner: The Perun team of Belgrade University who built a business around real-time DNA analysis. Members of the team:

2019: Danube Cup became international

The first international Danube Cup startup pitch competition was organized on 17 May 2019 based on Dr. Pal Danyi’s proposal. 7 teams of 4 universities from 3 countries (Austria, Hungary, Serbia) made it to the final that was organized in the Q building of BME. The prizes were offered by Absolvo, Demola Budapest, Ernő Duda (Solvo Biotech), 77 Elektronika, and János Vecsenyi (StartupVIP). Behind the winner Austrian team (Curratec) the Safe Cath startup (Belgrade University) became runner-up. The REAL42 (Technical University Vienna) startup took third place and also received the special award of Demola Budapest.

Organizers: Dr. Pál Danyi, Attila Miklya, Prof. János Vecsenyi

Jury: László Bacsa (Demola Budapest) , Endre Doszpod (Hiventures), László Gulyás (EIT Digital), Lénárd Horgos (Absolvo), Barnabás Szabó (77 Elektronika)

Winner: Curratec team of Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) who developed a special adhesive for industrial use. Members of the team:

2018: Danube Cup festival

The third Danube Cup was organized on 2 May 2018 as part of the Faculty Days of BME Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences. Four teams, 17 students were selected for the final where they had to pitch their projects within 4 minutes. At the end, students said that the Cup and its StartupVIP preparatory training was one of the most practice-oriented, useful and most exciting experience of their studies. The annual award was handed over by Zita Zoltayné Paprika, Dean of BCE Business School.

Organizers: Dr. Pál Danyi, Prof. János Vecsenyi, Gábor Kerékgyártó

Jury: László Bacsa (Demola Budapest), Imre Hild (entrepreneur), Lénárd Horgos (Absolvo), Dr. László Kállai (BCE KFI), Donát Pájer (Hiventures)

Winner: the competition was won by Drop’N’Shop team of Corvinus, who makes shopping cheaper to customers by recommending shopping lists. Members of the team:

2017: BCE strikes back

The second Danube Cup took place on 8 May 2017 in the new modern building of BCE. One of the teams of the organizing university won the contest, WeShop, in front of two BME teams, S.A.R.D. and MyBeer. The trophy was handed over by Richárd Szántó, BCE Vice-Dean.

Organizers and Jury: Prof. János Vecsenyi (BCE és BME), Dr. Attila Petheő (BCE), Donát Pájer (BCE), Bálint Bedzsula (BME GTK), Dr. Pál Danyi (BME GTK), Bedő Balázs (entrepreneur)

Winner: The Cup was won by WeShop who has become a popular Hungarian e-commerce startup since then under the name of Roksh. Members of the team:

2016: Tradition is established

The first Entrepreneurial Danube Cup Competition was held on 4 May 2016 according to the idea of Prof. János Vecsenyi. 3-3 teams of BCE and BME competed against each other, in front of a distinguished jury. The cup was given over by György Andor, Dean of BME Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, as well as Zita Zoltayné Paprika, Dean of BCE Business School. Young Entrepreneurs’ Support Society (IVE) offered special awards to the winners.

Organizers: Prof. János Vecsenyi, Dr. Pál Danyi, Bálint Bedzsula

Jury: Endre Doszpod (IQB, OTP Portfolion), Ernő Duda (Solvo Biotech), Attila Petheő (BCE), Péter Szesztay (Proda), Dániel Vincz (UniBreeze)

Winner: The Cup was first won by the startup Surgeon Simulator. Members of the team: