The beginnings of Hungarian tech success in America
LogMeIn – The Remote Access Revolution
LogMeIn is a Hungarian-founded, American-based company that was founded in 2003. Initially working in a rented apartment on Margit Boulevard in Budapest, they are now headquartered in Boston and their shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. LogMeIn is one of the best-known and most successful Hungarian startups, enabling access to remote computers from a browser.
LogMeIn's success is not only significant from a financial perspective, but also from a development perspective of the Hungarian tech ecosystem. The company has taken an active role in supporting young Hungarian talent, including through the Bridge Budapest joint initiative in collaboration with Prezi and Ustream.
Ustream – The pioneer of live streaming
The Ustream video platform was acquired by IBM in 2016 for $130 million. The Hungarian-developed startup was known not only for its consumer streaming app, but also developed complex enterprise solutions. The core of the Ustream portfolio was the open Ustream Developer Platform, which allowed customers to create customized, cross-platform video player applications.
The company's developments included a real-time sentiment analysis tool to gauge audience reactions to live broadcast content. Following the acquisition, IBM merged the company into its Cloud Video Services unit, which aimed to conquer the $105 billion cloud video market.
Prezi – Rethinking Presentations
Following the successful launch of Prezi, Hungarian startup Zui Labs has announced its official launch in the United States. Prezi was brought to the tech capital of the world by BootstrapLabs, a Silicon Valley business lab. The company’s goal was to help European startups quickly and efficiently enter the American market.
The presence of international interest is demonstrated by the fact that according to the Google Blog Search results, there were over 20,000 mentions of Prezi. The new product was applauded in almost every country in the world, and the company also gained a physical presence in Silicon Valley.
NNG – Navigation technology worldwide
NNG (previously Nav N Go in 2010) is a navigation software company founded in Budapest, which has now become a major supplier to the global automotive industry. The company, which started as a garage company in 2004, now has 12 offices and 4 representative offices on 6 continents, nearly 1,000 employees, and its products are available in more than 190 countries and 50 languages.
The company's first international debut was in 2006 at CeBIT in Germany, where it presented navigation maps of 26 European countries on a gigabyte memory card, radically reducing the storage requirements of navigation solutions at the time. The key to NNG's success was a strategic shift: previously, they had produced software almost exclusively for portable, handheld devices, but when the market became saturated, they focused on developing navigation software built into cars.
This shift has been extremely successful. Today, seven of the world's ten largest automakers use the company's navigation software for their multimedia systems. NNG's iGO Navigation software is currently installed on more than 60 million devices, across more than 30 global vehicle brands. The company's gross profit in 2013 increased by 43.5 percent compared to the 2012 financial year.
Graphisoft – World-class architectural software
Graphisoft SE is a Hungarian-based multinational software development company that develops architectural design software based on Building Information Modeling (BIM). The company is headquartered in Óbuda, in Graphisoft Park, and has been a member of the German Nemetschek AG group since 2007.
Graphisoft's best-known product is ArchiCAD, which is an integrated architectural design software that simultaneously provides two-dimensional drafting and three-dimensional modeling, lifelike visualization and document management functions.5The software is a market leader not only in Hungary, but also internationally: Hungarian-founded ArchiCAD is the most popular BIM solution, 96 percent of the architects surveyed are familiar with it, and 73 percent are currently using this software.
The company celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022 and continues to continuously improve its product7The story of Graphisoft is an excellent example of how a small Hungarian business can become one of the world's leading global companies.
More Hungarian tech successes
The Hungarian tech sector has produced several other success stories in recent years. Starschema, a company specializing in big data solutions, data visualization and data analytics, was ranked among the fastest-growing tech companies in Central Europe in 2017, gaining 24th place with a growth of 541 percent.
Hungarian development and consulting company META-INF received the “Atlassian Partner of the Year” award in the “Marketing Innovation” category in 2023 – the first Hungarian company in the Atlassian ecosystem. The company started as a one-person business in 2003, and now more than seven thousand organizations worldwide use the Email This Issue for Jira application.
American support for Hungarian startups
The development of the Hungarian technology ecosystem is also supported by government and institutional support. In 2022, twelve Hungarian startups gained first-hand experience in the United States of America, organized by the INPUT Program and the Express Innovation Agency, a subsidiary of the NKFIH. Participants were able to attend CES and then visit Silicon Valley, where they could participate in mentoring opportunities and a pitch event.
A similar program took place in 2016, when four Hungarian startups – Leopoly, which simplifies 3D printing, the Laborom inventory management application, the Publishdrive e-book sharing platform, and Precognox, which offers complex search solutions – presented themselves at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in New York.
How can USAAccelerator help with this?
USAAccelerator's team of experts has years of experience in the field of US-Hungarian business relations. We provide comprehensive support to Hungarian entrepreneurs entering the US market, including tax and accounting issues. Our services include company formation, tax consulting, accounting, payroll and strategic business consulting.
Our experts are familiar with the regulations of both countries and provide bilingual support, helping to bridge language and cultural differences. Whether you are a start-up or an existing company in the US, we offer customized solutions that meet your unique needs and goals.
Contact us today and start your American business adventure on a solid footing! 👉 https://www.usaaccelerator.com/
Sources used:
NNG - Wikipedia, https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/NNG
From a Hungarian garage company to a navigation giant – Index.hu, https://index.hu/tech/2013/03/27/magyar_garazscegbol_navigacios_orias/
Four Hungarian tech companies have also been included in the Central European elite | News, https://hirado.hu/2017/10/13/negy-magyar-tech-ceg-is-felkerult-kozep-europa-elitjebe/
Hungarian startups on a study trip to America – ITBUSINESS, https://itbusiness.hu/technology/cegvilag_n/magyar-startupok-amerikai-tanulmanyuton/
Graphisoft - Wikipedia, https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphisoft
You could get to know four Hungarian startup companies in the USA – 888.hu, https://archivum.888.hu/na/negy-magyar-startup-ceget-ismerhették-meg-az-usa-ban-4054373/
Hungarian BIM overview – ARCHICAD is the most popular – Architects' Forum, https://epiteszforum.hu/hazai-bim-korkep-legnepszerubb-az-archicad
Graphisoft Park – a Hungarian success story – City walks, https://varosmuvek.hu/programok/graphisoft-park-egy-magyar-sikersztori/
Hungarian Archicad 26 debuts – Architects' Forum, https://epiteszforum.hu/debutalt-a-magyar-archicad-26-
Game Development Trainer, https://ptgamedevelop.hu
Small Hungarian software companies can also be very successful in the international market, https://bitport.hu/kis-magyar-szoftvercegek-is-lehetnek-nagyon-sikeresek-nemzetkozi-piacon
English 
Magyar
Recent Comments