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Friday, 19.04.2024, 06:51
The strongest Kaunas startups have been chosen
Photo "Kaunastic IN" |
Investors
and representatives from IT companies and startups were among those in the
audience of almost a hundred who witnessed 14 startups presenting their
products to a jury of experts. The best teams received prizes worth more than
20 000 euros.
The jury – 12 most influential startup ecosystem representatives
The
presentations lasted three minutes each and the teams had to give an overview
of the consumer problem that their product solves, the progress they had made,
the projection of their business growth and later answer difficult questions
from the jury. There were twelve members in the jury who assessed the startups’
presentations – venture capital funds Practica Capital, Startup Wise Guys, Baltic
Sandbox, Katalista Ventures, representatives from the strongest IT
companies - Telesoftas, NFQ, DevBridge, Aciety, consulting company Civitta,
that is also implementing the program, representatives from law firm JurisConsultus.
Startup Ninedou,
that is developing a marketing tool for advertising in the Chinese market, was
awarded third place. The jury recognised a solid need for such product and the
team’s experience working in China. Team Virtual racing, creating a
virtual reality program which allows to experience the adrenalin of racing in a
modified car, won the second place. The greatest appreciation went to team Brite who
were invited to the final event during other gatherings. This team put up a
natural ingredients based energy drink.
Also, the
special prizes from Aciety, NFQ and KTU went to teams Zowo app, Salerenginiui.lt and Viaviz.
The social capital and knowledge are appreciated the most
When the
participants of the programme gave feedback about it, they unanimously agreed
that the most significant added value is the mentors who they met during the
programme and still consult when developing their businesses. ‘To meet so many
mentors who look at your idea from a different angle and generously give
objective advice is a priceless experience’ the members of the pre-accelerator
share their impressions.
The great
surprise of the final event was the alumni of the 2018 programme who shared
their experience about the benefits of the accelerator and the results they
achieved thanks to the programme.
‘I spent
five months recreating and redoing the product. Thanks to Kaunas accelerator we
got in the Startup Wise Guys programme, we attracted financing.
The most substantial benefit was that I met a great deal of wonderful people
with great ideas, I met the Baltic region startup community’ Justas
Šidlauskas, startup Dear deer founder.
‘The
programme gave me a great experience and understanding how the business works.
During the programme you get a lot of knowledge which you then try to adapt to
your own business‘ Juozas Proškevičius, the founder of startup Stay
in Charm.
‘Kaunas
startups’ programme was initiated by ‘Kaunas IN’, implemented by business
consulting company Civitta, together with partners - startup support
organization VšĮ Startup Division and risk capital fund Startup
Wise Guys. Programme is financed by Kaunas city municipality.