From whistleblowing to automation: how a Hungarian start-up rowed its way to growth with Enterprise Europe Network support

Empowering people to report workplace harassment and mistreatment confidentially is a priority for the European Union. However, when EU-wide whistleblowing rules came into force, many Hungarian businesses were unprepared for full compliance.

PanaszPortál, a platform designed to meet both the EU Whistleblower Directive and Hungary’s Act XXV (the country’s national implementation act), offered a timely solution. It was developed by Hungarian entrepreneur and software engineer Péter Bártfai, who founded Enlight Digital Studio  with the goal of building a compliant whistleblowing platform. His team launched PanaszPortál, meeting every legal requirement. 

Unfortunately, Hungary’s market remained reluctant. Adoption remained slow, leaving the start-up at a crossroads. 

Weak enforcement was part of the challenge. With no financial penalties for companies that failed to implement internal channels, many businesses opted for minimal ‘checkbox’ solutions. Six months of lobbying to extend the platform to schools and sports clubs highlighted the regulatory hurdles. The team eventually made the difficult decision to pause the initiative. 

Lessons from rowing

Rather than give up, Bártfai drew on lessons from his decade as a national rowing athlete: resilience and teamwork. He realised that sustainable product development, like rowing, is a long-term process. Rowing taught him to invest years in incremental improvement before reaching peak performance. 

"If you’re not in perfect sync with your partner, the boat drifts and slows down – you cannot reach the finish line alone. That experience taught me that true performance comes from partnership. In business, we apply the same principle: projects succeed when both sides row together," he says. 

With that mindset, instead of stalling, the company made a bold pivot. Drawing on its expertise, it repositioned itself as Elliptic Digital, delivering AI-driven automation solutions tailored for SMEs. 

Elliptic Digital blends bespoke software development with AI-powered micro-automation, carefully judging where off-the-shelf tools suffice and where custom modules are required. This combination ensures precision, cost-efficiency and solutions tailored to local EU processes rather than one-size-fits-all enterprise tools.

The pivot quickly proved successful. Clients reported measurable benefits, including a time-to-first-automation of around 21 days from scoping to live deployment. Targeted workflows saw process speeds increase by 30 % to 40 %. Firms with 150 to 250 staff members reported annual cost savings of EUR 20 000 to EUR 60 000. One logistics client with 600 employees reduced monthly reporting times by 70 %. “This ability to deliver return on investment within weeks is what differentiates Elliptic Digital,” says Bártfai.

The Enterprise Europe Network’s role

The local Győr-Moson-Sopron Chamber of Commerce and Industry, part of the Enterprise Europe Network, supported Enlight Digital Studio in navigating this transition. Network advisers provided a tailored funding roadmap, outlined Horizon Europe and Digital Europe opportunities, and strengthened the company’s innovation management and market evidence. 

Cross-border introductions through Network events directly led to new partnerships, including agreements with a German compliance consultancy and other regional digital solutions firms. Bártfai’s visibility also increased after being featured on the European Commission’s 33 Under 33 list that recognises young innovators across Europe. 

"Being part of 33 Under 33 opened doors, we couldn’t have reached otherwise," he says. "It attracted interest from new clients, investors and potential partners, and it helped us amplify the message that SMEs can embrace digital innovation with real impact."

"Thanks to the Enterprise Europe Network’s funding guidance and matchmaking, we secured long-lasting partnerships and created five new digital innovation jobs in Hungary," Bártfai confirms.

Now trading as Elliptic Digital, Bártfai launched an AI-assisted SME workflow pack in the second quarter of 2025 and scaled across five EU markets through Network matchmaking. 

Bártfai sums up his approach: "Resilience means knowing when to pivot, and partnership means rowing together. With the Network’s support, we’ve built the right boat – and the momentum to grow internationally."