Startup Awards
Bootcamp
25 startups, 40 mentors, 3 days at X-Bionic Šamorín. At the end, the mentors select 9 teams for the finals.
What is the Startup Awards Bootcamp?
Where ambition meets honest feedback. And where it’s decided who goes to the finals
The Startup Awards Slovakia Bootcamp is an intensive three-day program for the 25 best startups selected from the applications to SASK 2026.
For three days, they work with founders, investors and experts who have already seen hundreds of pitch decks.
It’s not about lectures. Every team leaves with a more clearly defined problem, concrete next steps and a pitch that holds up in front of an investor.
Watch SASK Bootcamp 2025
Who will be at the bootcamp?
One weekend, two groups of people.
The Bootcamp works because founders who want to grow and people who can help them meet in one place.
At the end of the weekend, we select the startups that advance to the Startup Awards Slovakia finals.
25 startups
This year, we’re selecting them from 150 applications to SASK 2026 across the Society, Business, Deeptech and Next Gen categories.
40 mentors
Founders, investors from VC funds and experts from SASK partners. They give their time and direct feedback, not generic advice.
What will you take away from the bootcamp?
Real feedback, not generic advice
At the Bootcamp, startups work with people who have seen hundreds of pitch decks, invested in startups or gone through the journey from first customers to company growth themselves.
Semifinalists will take away from this weekend:
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A clearer problem
Mentors will help you define more precisely what problem you’re solving and for whom. -
A pitch that holds up
A deck and story tested on people who actually invest in startups. -
Contacts
Direct access to investors, founders and experts it would otherwise take you months to reach. -
The road to the finals
The TOP 9 advance to the finals on 25. 11. and compete for an investment and a trip to Silicon Valley.
Who will you meet at the Bootcamp?
Over three days, you’ll work with 40 mentors. They include founders who have gone from first customers to growing their own company, investors from VC funds who have seen hundreds of pitch decks, and experts from SASK partner companies. Below we introduce the first of them, and we’re adding more gradually.
VC funds at the Bootcamp
Mentors also come from these organizations and companies
Richard Malovic
Whalebone
48 hours that gave me more than half a year of hard work!
I rank the SASK bootcamp among the top experiences of my life. For one, I worked at the camp basically 48 hours straight and made mental progress that would otherwise have taken maybe half a year. And for another, it was perhaps the first time I really felt the world of tech capital.
Darina Štyriaková
ekolive, Winner 2024
Thanks to Startup Awards, we gained customers in Slovakia and found new contacts that helped us enter the French market.
We also received a lot of valuable advice that we use to improve our strategy and partnerships. It was a great experience and we definitely recommend it to every startup in Slovakia.
Martin Kapšo
CultiWise, Winner 2025
A community of people who want to help you – and that’s something you’ll never find on your own.
It’s not just about Silicon Valley. The whole journey with SASK, from the bootcamp through the Grand Finale to all the mentoring sessions, has completely changed the way we talk about what we’re building. We’re taking the energy of San Francisco and the hard work and dedication people have there home with us. I would recommend it to every early-stage founder in Slovakia.
Questions and answers
The Bootcamp is an exclusive community event only for selected startups that applied to SASK 2026.
If you’re selected as a semifinalist, attending the bootcamp (06–08/11/2026) is required, as is attending the finals (25/11/2026).
The program and pitching are primarily in English, also with regard to international guests.
The time spent at the bootcamp, which will take place at X-Bionic Sphere in Šamorín, and travel costs – we cover accommodation, the program and meals.