Budapest is considered by many to be the ‘Paris of the East’. Not only is this beautiful city one of the most culturally important metropolises in Eastern Europe, it’s also home to an exciting and thriving tech scene.
In a new study by Startups.co.uk, out of 80 key European locations, Budapest emerged as the number one city in which to launch a business post-Brexit.
Moreover, Budapest is home to useful events such as Startup Hungary, Vittinger Meetup, Budapest Hackathons and Hackathon-in-a-Box. Plus, there are plenty accelerators and incubators to choose from, such as Traction Tribe, Oxo Labs, Connect East, Aquincum Technology Incubator and DBH SeedStar.
So if you’re considering a new role in Hungary, or thinking about starting up a business in Budapest, here’s everything you need to know about the city’s tech scene.
Fintech
Budapest is a huge Fintech hub. Not only does the city host the annual World Fintech Festival every year in November, it’s also home to an impressive number of Fintech startups, SMEs and large corporations. In fact, according to recent research by the news agency MTI, around 24% of Hungarian Fintech companies work in the area of financial software development and system integration, while 21% are active in payment services and 20% offer data analysis and business intelligence services.
A software company that you should keep an eye out for is Barion Payment. Their app enables users to make payments from their cards and also use the app as a prepaid wallet for wire transfers. In 2017, the company secured a €6 million investment from Petr Kellner, one of the wealthiest business people in the Czech Republic. You can see their open roles here.
Healthtech
Healthcare-related tech development has become a priority sector of the Hungarian Government. So much so that last year they implemented the ‘For Healthy Budapest’ programme, which will run to 2026. This programme will focus on renewing healthcare services and technologies used in public hospitals and clinics. The central budget will allocate HUF 700 billion (USD 2.18 billion) for the programme.
One company that will definitely be part of this exciting shift is GE Healthcare, a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator. Its technology allows clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services. You can check out their available roles on Jobbio now.
A guide to working in the Lisbon tech scene
ICT
Information and communications technology is a big sector in Budapest. In fact, ICT accounts for 10% of the total Hungarian GDP and employs more than 100,000 people according to government figures. Covering telecommunications, IT outsourcing, IT services, and software and hardware production, the Hungarian ICT market has grown fast in the last couple of years.
A key player in this market is Kyndryl. Kyndryl was spun-off of IBM IT infrastructure services in 2021. The company has a global customer base of 75 of the Fortune 100 companies. They currently operate in over 100 countries and are hiring for roles in Budapest online now.
Data
Once upon a time, money made the world go around. Now, it’s data. Big data is a growing field around the world and Budapest is no different. The city is home to plenty of impressive companies that systematically extract information and deal with large data sets.
One such company is Starschema Inc. This global data services company is based in Arlington, Virginia, but their European office can be found in Budapest. Starschema helps fortune 500 and other leading organisations use data to make better business decisions, build smarter products, and deliver more value for their customers, employees and investors. It’s an exciting time to join their team.
If you are hunting for an exciting new job in tech, then you should head straight over to Information Age Jobs!
