Two Innovation Bootcamp startups to work with Knorr-Bremse

Knorr-Bremse Budapestʼs building

Knorr-Bremse is a major partner of Design Terminalʼs program, having asked the agency for help in achieving transparent processes and more efficient teamwork, decreasing administrative burdens, and attaining a faster, more accurate information stream by involving international startups. According to the press release, the cooperation has now come to fruition with two startups, already proven in the banking services sector, now testing themselves in the production and development fields.

Initially, 82 applications were submitted for Design Terminalʼs program, but only ten were selected to participate in the Innovation Bootcamp. During the three-day event, teams brainstormed with Design Terminalʼs mentors and Knorr-Bremseʼs experts. Teams from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Austria and the U.K. were deemed the best, with their offers customized for clients. Knorr-Bremse will cooperate with at least three of the winning startups within the framework of a half-year pilot project. The Czech and German teams are already preparing for cooperation.

Czech startup Feedyouʼs chatbot assists not only in tackling challenges of the first working day (onboarding), but also facilitates established recruitment practices and employer brand building. The service can be easily connected with popular information systems such as Messenger, Skype, Slack and Telegram, and used to answer frequent HR questions and for training employees.

"We would like to keep our flexibility and the speed of decision-making mechanisms with the impulses coming from startups, which are also good for letting us distinguish ourselves from other large companies, to become more attractive on the job market, and to support the retention of our own talents," says András Sávos, managing director of Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest.

A similar pilot project is starting with German startup Delgate, which has developed an application that helps companies in mapping free resources and required professional knowledge, both assisting the launch and realization of internal development projects.

The aim is to make innovation ideas "grow up," meaning that ideas should not be left to "die" after a discussion, but to become real, valuable projects which display the companyʼs global resources and international knowledge.

Multiple large company partners are testing Delgateʼs solutions for communication, internal processes, and company culture, while the four-person team of Feedyou has made a partnership agreement with Microsoft. While currently contemplating half and one-year projects with the chosen startups, Sávos does not exclude common product development in the longer term.

László Jónás, Design Terminalʼs head of business development, added that the Innovation Bootcamp, created within the framework of the Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest - Design Terminal partnership, offered a chance to find innovative startup solutions tailored to the companyʼs needs which can be integrated into the companyʼs operations in the long term.