Developing Central And Eastern Europe As A Hub For Global Entrepreneurship: Budapest and Prague As Cases In Point

Abstract

It can be stated that Central and Eastern Europe is fast becoming a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. There appears to be a robust ecosystem where universities/business schools, venture capitalists and non-profit organizations are working together to promote entrepreneurship at several levels. This paper seeks to explore the entrepreneurial ecosystems prevalent in 2 prominent central and eastern European capital cities – Budapest and Prague, often referred to as the “Entrepreneurial corridor” of the CEE due to the straight line they represent geographically, cutting across the CEE region and being the main centers of entrepreneurial activity in this region. In the past few years several startup success stories have emerged across these cities. These include AVG and Avast from the Czech Republic and Prezi, LogMeIn, and Ustream from Hungary. To study the entrepreneurial ecosystems, we employ the case study methodology and interview key stakeholders at prominent business schools and venture capital firms in the region in addition to the founders of new businesses. We seek to understand the challenges faced by new businesses in these regions and how the regional ecosystems could best assist in the start-up and development of new ventures. We conclude by presenting key recommendations on how best to strengthen the region as a global entrepreneurial hub, to bring valuable ideas to the market with support from university management, policy makers as well as the region’s burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem of angel investors, venture capitalists and business incubators.