About GEN Hungary

GEN began working in Hungary in 2008 when it partnered with the Young Entrepreneurs' Association Hungary (FIVOSZ) to organize the country’s inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) campaign. GEN and FIVOSZ, led by Patrik Kovács, quickly built GEW into a broad-based initiative connecting the entrepreneurial community. The campaign opened doors for founders and inspired thousands of participants throughout the country. The early campaigns set out to build a bridge between today's and tomorrow's entrepreneurs, encouraging young Hungarians to consider starting a business and planting the seeds for more than fifteen years of grassroots ecosystem building. It matured rapidly.

In 2012, nearly 6,000 people participated in 44 programs, which featured a large closing ceremony hosted by the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis. In recognition of the campaign's success, Hungary’s Ministry for National Economy awarded FIVOSZ its “For the Hungarian Economy” award, acknowledging the campaign's impact on national entrepreneurship.

The 2013 campaign produced signature moments of its own. At the annual gala, FIVOSZ and the Young Businessmen Association of Turkey (TÜGIAD) signed a cooperation agreement surrounded by high-level political figures from both countries. In 2020, when the global pandemic made in-person gatherings impossible, GEW moved online in Hungary and featured a national television broadcast — the “Online Business Show” — that reached more than a million households.

As the campaign grew into a nationwide platform, GEN deepened its presence in the ecosystem. Kovács — the founder and president of FIVOSZ, co-president of the Hungarian employers' association VOSZ, and an economic diplomat recognized internationally in youth entrepreneurship — built relationships across the ecosystem and brought national delegations of entrepreneurship leaders to GEN's global events. Kovács’ role as the honorary president of JEUNE, the young entrepreneurs' organization of the European Union, provides GEN with a direct line into a Europe-wide network of more than a million business-minded young people. Through this leadership, GEN connects Hungarian founders, policymakers, and researchers to its wider global community and pursues its entrepreneurship agenda in Hungary year-round.

In 2024, GEW in Hungary centered around the EU SME Assembly in Budapest. The Assembly convened policymakers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders from across Europe for sessions on the digital transformation of small businesses and the green transition. GEN Global staff participated directly. Inclusion has been a steady thread since the first campaign, with GEW Hungary spotlighting successful women founders to encourage more women to start and grow companies. Sessions at the Assembly featuring GEN Global experts focused on successful initiatives that support women entrepreneurs.

Government engagement is a consistent feature of GEN's work in Hungary. GEW has drawn high-level backing since its early years. The 2011 campaign was held under the patronage of Tibor Navracsics, then Hungary's deputy prime minister, and the U.S. Embassy. The 2013 GEW media campaign reached more than 700,000 people through the support of the Ministry of State for the National Economy, the Foreign Ministry, and the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. That engagement has continued at the most senior policy levels. During the 2024 EU SME Assembly, GEN and Kovács advised Hungary's state secretary on entrepreneurship policy, elevating it to a core pillar of the government's economic strategy.

GEN connects Hungary's founders to its global programs. Through the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) — a global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019 offering training, mentorship, and a share of $1 million in prizes — Hungarian startups have reached the competition's Top 100. They include MedInnoScan Kft., led by Peter Szoldan, an EWC Top 100 finalist in 2021, and Block, since renamed AviBike Kft., led by Szabolcs Szilágyi, a Top 100 finalist in 2022. Battle-tested founders have gone on to join the GEN Starters Club, an invitation-only community that connects promising founders to training, mentorship, and an international network. The Club’s Hungarian members include Szilágyi, Szoldan, and Yevgeniy Levkovets of DP Innovations.

GEN has forged a broad set of partners in Hungary. Alongside FIVOSZ and VOSZ, GEN has engaged government bodies including the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency, and the Hungarian National Trading House. Corporate partners include UniCredit Bank, MKB Bank, the Budapest Stock Exchange, MOL, MVM, Škoda, IBM, Mercedes-Benz, and Iron Mountain. GEN has also engaged the entire country. Recent GEW campaigns have included programs in Gyöngyös, Győr, Kecskemét, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, Pécs, Szeged, Szombathely, and Zalaegerszeg.

GEN's president, Jonathan Ortmans, has taken a personal interest in Hungary, visiting and writing about the country's entrepreneurial ecosystem and its steady progress in shifting cultural attitudes toward enterprise. The country's significant role in the GEN network is reflected by the presence of Hungarian founders in the GEN Starters Club and at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC).

Looking ahead, GEN's goals in Hungary run through both policy and the next generation of founders. It continues advocating for the government to make it easier to start and scale a business, working to strengthen cross-border ties across Central Europe and the wider European Union, and connecting Hungary to its global network of mentors, investors, and policymakers. As Ortmans has framed the work, “our aim is to help Hungarian founders from all walks of life in every way possible.” GEN remains dedicated to connecting Hungarian entrepreneurs with the knowledge, networks, capital, and policy support they need to grow.