We went to Košice to compete. We left with a win, a network, and a ticket to San Francisco.

On 27 November 2025, Tapaya was named the winner of the Digital category at Startup Awards Slovakia 2025 - the country's most prestigious startup competition, held at the National Theatre in Košice. Out of 156 startups that applied, nine made it to the final stage. We were one of them - and we walked away with the category Digital title.

What SASK is

Startup Awards Slovakia is often called the Slovak Startup Oscars. Past alumni include Slido (acquired by Cisco), Photoneo, and Capturing Reality - companies that went on to shape the global tech landscape. The jury for the 2025 finale included Peter Komorník, co-founder of Slido; Dalibor Cicman, founder of GymBeam (€220M+ annual revenue); Tatiana Ondrejková, CEO of Pelikan.sk and co-founder of Gluon Syndicate; and Lucia Desmarquest, investor and WomanUp 2024 Award winner. These are people who've built real things. Getting a win in front of them means something.

The keynote was delivered by Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze (acquired by Google for $1.1B) and Moovit (acquired by Intel for ~$1B). The kind of evening that reminds you why you're building.

More than a trophy

Winning wasn't just validation, it was a launchpad. For Tapaya, SASK was the single best way to enter the Czech and Slovak market: a concentrated week of the right people, the right conversations, and the right partnerships. We met potential partners and investors we wouldn't have reached any other way.

And the prize? A trip to Silicon Valley. In March 2026, the SASK 2025 winners CultiWise, Tapaya, Aerostacks, and Norriv will land in San Francisco together to explore the US market. Delegation of 10 founders on a structured mission. That's not a PR trip. That's a real opportunity to see what Tapaya looks like at global scale.

What Tapaya is building

Tapaya is drop-in payment acceptance that turns any device into a payment terminal, built for developers who need to ship fast without becoming payments experts. 30 minutes to your first transaction. Compliance handled. No acquirer negotiation. No in-house security team required.

The Digital category win at SASK confirmed what we already knew: the problem we're solving is real, the solution is sharp, and the market - from Bratislava to San Francisco - is ready.

Payments handled. Now build.