Poland Prize Partners

2022 Edition

Efficient energy, water and waste management

Veolia Group in Poland has been a reliable partner of cities and industry in the area of effective energy management, water and wastewater management and waste management for over 25 years. Based on knowledge and experience, it offers innovative services tailored to the needs of Customers. By investing in the expansion and modernization of its production and distribution infrastructure, it ensures the highest quality of services.
Veolia constantly looks for innovative solutions in areas such as renewable energy for district heating networks and for industries, energy efficiency of residential and tertiary buildings, water and waste management. Taking into account the circular economy model, it creates and implements economically and environmentally efficient solutions contributing to the sustainable development of cities and industry.

Veolia Group in Poland employs 4,600 employees whose mission is to resource the world. It operates in 109 municipalities, managing district heating systems in 58 cities.

Challenges for projects

Divided by area of interest

Area:

  • Leak detection in water supply networks
  • Continuous monitoring of technical and biological parameters of supplied water
  • Exploration of new groundwater sources
  • Hydraulic modeling of water distribution networks


Challenge:

  • How to treat industrial wastewater for reuse in industry and agriculture
  • How to implement methods for the recovery of phosphorus from wastewater
  • How to optimize investments into DWN pipelines in order to reduce non-revenue water while minimizing costs
  • How to aerate wastewater in wastewater treatment plants in an energy efficient way
  • How to compost wastewater sludge in an odorless way (“no-smell composting”) while maintaining a high quality of compost
Area:
  • Optimisation of the production of utilities (heat, cooling, electricity, compressed air)
  • Optimisation of energy consumption (e.g. through real-time plant management)
  • New technologies for utilities production (heat, cooling, electricity, compressed air)

Challenge:
  • How to measure and analyse the consumption of energy (heat and electricity) in residential buildings?
  • How to manage and control the thermal comfort of residents in multi-apartment residential buildings?
Area:
  • Energy demand management, flexibility management
  • Smart metering – advanced smart meters (real-time collection of electricity and heat consumption data)
  • Virtual power plants – a central management system for diversified, distributed energy sources
  • Energy storage and smart battery/battery network management
  • Smart chargers for electric cars: RTP (real time pricing) systems
  • Predictive modeling in the energy market area (customer demand for electricity
  • New customized heat recovery methods for various industrial sectors

Challenge:
  • How to maximise the heat-generation capabilities of PVT (Photovoltaic Thermal) panels in low outdoor temperatures
  • How to efficiently store heat (daily and seasonal storage)?
  • How to recover heat from municipal wastewater in order to supply heat to individual buildings or to the District Heating Network?
Area:
  • Sewage sludge management
  • New methods of combustion by products
Challenge:
  • How to support the collection, organization and analysis of data needed for ESG reporting.
  • How to bring contextual information to technicians through Augmented Reality technology

Do you have any question?

We’ll be more than happy, to answer you!

Maria Tyka-Majewska

Senior Project Manager

Project manager, Expert in creating innovation and acceleration programs.

As a member of the Huge Thing team, she is responsible for the creation and coordination of acceleration programs and direct cooperation with startups.

Before joining the Huge Thing team, she gained experience at the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Startup Academy and the Polish Development Fund, where she was responsible for coordinating incubation and acceleration projects. 
 
Italian and Spanish cuisine enthusiast.

Mateusz Szymański

Junior Program Manager

Tech and innovation enthusiasts, especially those with positive social impact, Greentech, and health tech solutions. In Huge Thing, Mateusz is responsible for co-running acceleration programs. In 2022 he was co-running the 12th edition of the Google for Startups pre-acceleration program. 

Previously he worked in the sales and product departments, where he was responsible for outreach activities and product communication. He’s also gained experience in project coordination and internal communication, working as a Spokesperson for Poznań’s department of NGO organization The Polish Forum of Young Diplomats. He was a co-creator of the social campaign “Paragraphs without blunder” which mission was to educate high school students about their rights.

During his spare time, he likes to read about international politics and the economy. Strategic games enjoyer. He’ll surely like to play chess with you.

Monika Synoradzka

CEO of Huge Thing and managing partner at Speedup group

Monika together with the HT team is responsible for the company’s development in startup acceleration and activities aimed at supporting organizations from the private and public sectors in their work with innovations.

She specializes in implementing innovations in organizations and building a culture of innovation in companies from various sectors. For years, she has supported the development of Poland’s startup environment.

Monika is also a Managing Partner at SpeedUp Venture Capital Group.
Thanks to her knowledge and experience, she helps portfolio companies to understand the operation of large organizations and corporations and prepare to work with them. She also supports them in building business relationships.

Natalia Sadownik

Delivery Lead, Senior Program Manager

Natalia joined Huge Thing in 2019. As a Senior Program Manager, she implements acceleration and educational programs (Poland Prize, PlusJeden do Rozwoju) in line with Huge Thing’s standards.

As a Delivery Lead, she focuses on the operation of Huge Thing as an organization, financial issues, team planning, and quality of activities carried out by the company. Natalia loves to sail around Masuria and Croatia, and on gray days eats sushi and watches tennis.

Agnieszka Cichocka

Head of Acceleration

Agnieszka joined Huge Thing in 2021. She is responsible for our acceleration programs. She is passionate about art, technology, and gendered innovations. Previously, Director of District Hall Warsaw and Startup Development Department Manager at Incubator Starter. 

Co-creator of Techseed.me technological acceleration program and the first coliving space in Poland for digital nomads. 

Damian Wielechowski

Senior Marketing and Communication Manager

Damian manages the external and internal communications of SpeedUp Group, including Huge Thing. He joined the team in 2017 and since then has been working with business representatives, business environment institutions, public administration, media, and the academic community.

In addition to activities related to Speedup Group, Damian supports the fund’s portfolio companies in the area of marketing and PR. He has served on the jury of many competitions, including ImpactCEE, and acted as a mentor at startup events such as hackathons and Startup Weekend.

Damian is also the author of the Poznan Startup Guide and co-author of the Krakow Startup Guide, as well as organizer of many events dedicated to startups and investors.

Magda Stachowiak

Project Manager

Magda joined Huge Thing in 2021. Responsible for our Gov Tech inno_Lab acceleration programs and cooperation with the public administration. She runs projects for smart city. She is also responsible for building bridges between innovators – corporations, startups and the administration.

Previously, since 2015, she cooperated on our projects for Gov Tech and corporations. Connected with the Poznań Startup Community. Experience in organizing events for the MedTech community. She worked in advertising and interactive agencies, creating brand campaigns and loyalty programs. She helped implement technologies into the organization.

Passionate about personal development, psychobiology, and supporting women in creating businesses. The creator of the projects Kobiecy Poznań Przebudzenie and Joy of Life.

Zuza Kowala

Innovation Manager, Program Manager

Zuza joined Huge Thing in 2021. She is responsible for acceleration programs like GovTech Inno_Lab and Żabka Future Lab.

Also as Maryla, Zuza supports large organizations in processes related to innovation. That includes, among others: design of processes, innovation framework design, structuring the work of innovation teams and facilitating cooperation with startups.

Before joining Innovation Monsters, Zuza led projects at Żabka Polska, earlier connected with automotive at Volkswagen Group Polska. In Żabka, she was responsible for project management, coordinating the teamwork according to the best practice – she was looking for the best way to keep the process alive.
Zuza is also a sportaholic, innovation seeker, and book lover.

Kaja Kulas

Program Manager

Kaja joined the Huge Thing team in May 2022. For several years she’s been connected with the startup ecosystem. She helps international startups in growing their businesses in Poland and across Europe.

In Huge Thing, Kaja is responsible for project management which include running educational programs for startups in their development and acceleration phase. She organizes events, workshops and trainings for the program participants. She monitors their growth and connects with partners and technology recipes. Also, Kaja takes care of relations, community building, recruitments and explorations of startups’ needs to bring them the best value of our programmes.

Before Huge Thing, she gained her experience in Poznan Science and Technology Park developing international projects funded by the European Commission. Kaja was a part of the PSTP Capital Fund and Regional Contact Point for Research Programmes of the European Union. She is passionate about travels, sports, music and dogs. Kaja is a happy “dog mom” of our team member – Nala whom you can pet while visiting us. :)

 

Nala

Cummunity Builder

Since 2022 Nala has been working like a dog to build the Huge Thing community.

She’s always happy to welcome you in our office and you can be sure to get a huuuge hug from her!

PS: don’t forget to bring some treats.

Marta Truś

Innovation Designer

Marta joined Huge Thing in 2023 and strengthened the consulting team. Together with Maryla and Zuza she supports large organizations in processes related to innovation. That includes, among others: design of processes, innovation framework design, structuring the work of innovation teams and facilitating cooperation with startups.

Before joining Innovation Monsters, Marta worked in consulting and was involved in business process mapping, user experience research and design. She is interested in digital accessibility and the changes that digital reality brings to our lives. A careful observer of change. Hackathoner, yogi and dog mom.
Previously, since 2015, she cooperated on our projects for Gov Tech and corporations. Connected with the Poznań Startup Community. Experience in organizing events for the MedTech community. She worked in advertising and interactive agencies, creating brand campaigns and loyalty programs. She helped implement technologies into the organization.

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Maryla Wojcieszek

Interim Head of Knowledge, Innovation Shaper

As Innovation Shaper at Huge Thing, Maryla supports large organizations in processes related to innovation. That includes, among others:  ‘as is’ diagnosis, analysis and (re-)design of processes, innovation framework design, structuring the work of innovation teams, and facilitating cooperation with startups. As the Interim Head of Knowledge, Maryla is responsible for the materialization and transfer of knowledge as well as talent management within the Huge Thing team. She designs and creates new products/services based on internal knowledge resources as well as new models of delivery and dissemination. She’s also a workshop designer and facilitator.

Experienced designer of (public) programs supporting the startup ecosystem in Poland. In her professional experience, as an Expert in the Startup Development Department at PARP, Maryla co-created, among others, the Scale UP program – the first public acceleration program connecting startups and corporations.

A gardener and a LEGO fan.

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Download this resource

In order to download this resource, we ask you to fill a form. After that you’ll receive the download link diretcly to your inbox!

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Kontakt
Sektor publiczny

Magda Stachowiak

Project Manager

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Kontakt
Sektor publiczny

Magda Stachowiak

Project Manager

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Preparing the resources

Acquiring innovation

Preparing the resources

Acquiring innovation

Huge Thing Programs

Monetizing innovation

Acquiring innovation

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