Another year has passed, and we’ve completed several milestones in our ongoing mission of creating a world-class innovation ecosystem in Krakow.
2023 was a special year for us. We not only celebrated our 10th anniversary of OMGKRK community creation, but also conducted 15 events and initiatives for over 1,100 participants. We established many important partnerships and developed existing ones, working together to developing the world’s premier tech hub in Krakow.
10th anniversary of OMGKRK community & Summer Jam
This year held profound significance for OMGKRK as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our community creation—a decade dedicated to fostering innovation, collaboration, and success in the vibrant Krakow tech and startup scene.
The main anniversary celebrations took place at our Summer Jam event, hosted in a beautiful space of Manngha Museum.
Our flagship tech networking party, attracted a diverse and dynamic crowd of 450+ tech ecosystem players, showcasing the community’s growth and impact.
The event was not just a party; it was a stage for insightful talks by industry experts such as Peter Kruger, an agrifood expert from Rome, as well as leading European investors and local entrepreneurs, including Eva Arh (3 VC), Markus Gleim (Northzone), Maciej Gnutek (Credo Venture), and Kris Dabrowski (Stonly).
Under the theme “We Create,” we have showcased the newest tech projects developed by early stage startups like bespokey, Visionare, Exploded View, and Liftero. Thanks to the cooperation from ergodesign we inspired attendees towards sustainable product development. We also empowered the community to initiate innovations, foster supportive networks, and build lasting connections.
For those who couldn’t join us, the recap video and exclusive after-movie by Krakow Play offer a visual journey through the electric energy and excitement that defined Summer Jam. You can experience it all here:
https://playkrakow.com/en/vod/vod.7930-omg-krk-summer-jam-10-edycja
Recurring Hangouts
This year, we also continued our commitment to building a robust tech community by our monthly Hangouts—an initiative focused on fostering business connections and facilitating knowledge exchange among various stakeholders within our ecosystem.
These engaging meetups took place nearly every month at diverse and vibrant venues across the city. We conducted a total of 9 meetups, attracting 600+ attendees. Our venues ranged from the unique spaces of Pacura Studios, MAK Bread & Coffee, and Targowa2 to esteemed office and coworking spaces like Krakusa 11 and Cluster’s new office in Zabłocie.
Our Hangouts maintained the tradition of featuring expert keynotes and sharing insights from local entrepreneurs, ensuring a rich learning experience for all participants. Each session was video recorded, making them accessible on our YouTube channel and through our blog posts.
In 2023, we also experimented with new forms of discussions during our Hangouts, such as fireside chats and panel discussions. The inaugural fireside attempt, featuring Szymon Niemczura, can be viewed here:
On December 14th, we added a festive twist with a special Christmas edition of our Hangout. This edition elevated the format with a lively panel discussion featuring three local entrepreneurs: Anna Ogar (Insignes Labs), Rafal Han (Silvair), and Szymon Niemczura (ecomyko), delving into the current trends in the startup landscape. The event, attended by 80 participants, seamlessly blended knowledge-sharing with a warm Christmas gathering.
Hangouts in 2023
Wake up – breakfasts – a new format of gatherings
This year, we introduced an engaging lineup of Wake-Ups, our breakfast meetups tailored for OMGKRK members and friends. These sessions served as a unique platform for connecting, networking, and deepening knowledge within our community.
Here’s a glimpse of the diverse topics covered in 3 pilot editions of our Wake-Ups:
- HR Wake-Up
Led by Monika Dymacz – CEO Catalyst Poland
Topic: HR Challenge: Employee Experience. How to win the war for the best talents?
Monika Dymacz, a seasoned professional and CEO of Catalyst Poland, guided us through a profound exploration of the HR landscape. Focusing on the critical theme of Employee Experience (EX), the session navigated the complexities of designing optimal EX strategies. Monika shared valuable insights, addressing pressing questions: How do you initiate the process of crafting the best Employee Experience? What are the proven best practices in this domain? And, crucially, how can organizations leverage opportunities presented by the current challenges to enhance their employee experience?
- Designers Wake-Up
Led by Krzysztof Bogomaz & Paulina Morawa from Ergodesign
Topic: AI-Powered Product Visioning
In a dynamic workshop, Krzysztof and Paulina harnessed the power of generative AI to explore innovative ideas for the future of selected products. The use of ChatGPT for idea generation and Midjourney for visualization provided participants with hands-on experience in collaboratively building a compelling product vision, showcasing the potential of AI in the product visioning process.
Participants had the chance to develop their own product ideas using these new tools.
- Business Wake-Up
Led by Yael Yeger, Corporate Innovation Expert from Israel
Topic: Unlocking Corporate Collaboration: A Startup’s Guide
Yael Yeger shared her wealth of knowledge on navigating corporate collaboration, offering startups actionable insights and strategies to unlock collaboration opportunities within the corporate landscape
Wake Ups in 2023
Office Hours
This year we also launched a new cycle of expert consultations for early stage startups called Office hours.
Office Hours is an initiative dedicated for startup visionaries to consult their ideas with various industry professionals – from VC representatives and investors to startup mentors and founders.
This year, within 2 pilot editions of this initiative 8 entrepreneurs and their teams had the chance to meet with:
Taras Gopko – Experienced entrepreneur with extensive expertise in software development
Other supporting activities
2023 was also full of other startup & tech events and programs conducted with our partnership, including:
- Krakow IT Market Report 2023
- Krakow IT Market map
- Strong Women in IT Strong Women in IT 2023 – global edition report!
- Hack Yeah
- Akcja Inpiracja
- 6th Cassini Hakathon
- StartUP Małopolska acceleration program & meetups
- Inovo VC Brunch & Open Hours (Kraków)
- Krakow Play episode
- French Tech Connect Poland 2023
- La French on Air episode
Strong relationships
For us, it was a year of establishing close relationships with our community and ecosystem partners.
We strengthened our partnerships with our members as well as other community partners: Małopolska Innowacyjna (Sponsorship of the Summer Jam & Hangouts), La French Tech (participation & support of various events and initiatives), Krakow 5020 (event cooperation and media support) EU Startups Summit (yearly conference attendance & support) , Ergodesign, Elisty and many more.
We also extended our membership by admitting the following companies to OMGKRK family: SALESmanago, Tagvenue, Inuits, ForteDigital and Reel Jobs.
These are the main highlights for 2023.
If you want to support our mission and operations in 2024 do not hesitate to offer us a free donation or contact us at contact@omgkrk.com or at dominika@omgrk.com. Thank you for being with us, and see you soon!
