Riga.

We visited last year’s Baltic Honey Badger Bitcoin conference and literally didn’t move from the chairs due to the impressive presentations. It was a good combination of tech and business with an adequate measure of promotion.

There are not many conferences that gather so much good content on Bitcoin in 2 days.

To put this in perspective, the conference focuses on the technological and socio-economical advancements in Bitcoin. A gathering of global leaders in the space and Bitcoin-driven businesses.  Therefore, DeltaHeroes is visiting again but this time we wanted to have a closer look at the organisers.

The P2P Bitcoin Exchange HodlHodl Is hosting the conference and we had a talk with the CEO – Max Keidun. Here’s a quick overview of the exchange and what to expect from the upcoming conference in Riga.

Leaving the Bank for a Startup.

In 2015, Max left his stable job and met his “partner in crime”.

Initially, they were hired by a company that was in the Bitcoin space, but slowly both founders understood that they have to do something on their own.

“I have worked 14 years in Banking and realised it’s enough. Initially, we were hired in 2015 - then it took us (me and my future founder) 6 months and we already had an idea for a Startup.“

Essentially, the idea came from personal experience from another P2P exchange and the “experience” was horrifying.

“My Co-founder almost got scammed the first time, and the UX, in general, was so bad. It took me 5 hours to make a trade the first time”

But there were more problems there and easily foreseen. Firstly, the exchange was holding the funds on their wallets, which was insecure – this distorted the idea of real P2P transaction.

And secondly, in the future, the exchange will require users to make additional KYC/AML…which eventually is already happening (2019).

“We understood that there should be a better way to trade Bitcoin, it was too risky, there will be KYC and it was too expensive”

This is how HodlHodl was born. A new exchange that will make trading seamless and will not hold your keys.

“They say not you keys – not your coins, that’s why we don’t hold coins – and provide only the tech platform”

Currently, HodlHodl has more than 10.000 users and sign-ups are growing rapidly. Of course, competition is there but the exchange focuses strongly on the user experience.

“Product is key here, backed by good promotion, but the simplicity is what we are aiming for. Some users say that it’s so smooth - just like exchanges that actually hold your funds i.e. Coinbase.“

And that comes with constant improvements on the platform. Recently, Multisig and Predictions were added.  With Multisig, 3 parties hold keys, the seller, the buyer, and HodlHodl.

You need 2 signature to activate the trade and in case of dispute i.e. the seller cannot release the coins, HodlHodl checks the case and if that comes in favor of the buyer – then the exchange and buyer use their keys to “unlock” the coins.

However…

“Interestingly you can move it only one direction, in a dispute you send it back to seller -  If the case is in favor of the seller.”

As next steps, HodlHodl will focus on enhancing the prediction features. Users can place bets i.e. two parties argue will Bitcoin reach $ 50,000  by 2019?

Furthermore, more effort on seamless Mobile Experiences while creating offers. Also, Turkish language support, API and much more.

The Honey Badger just got 3 years old.

There will be many announcements during #Bh2019 . So here’s what can we expect from the event.

“This will be the third conference in a row, and by far it will be least technical. We will focus more on the Social and Economic factors for Bitcoin”

There will be many famous Bitcoin faces coming and their talks will be in an unexpected light.

“We will have Saifedean Ammous coming and Jimmy Song...and especially the presentation by Jimmy is more on the social impact that Bitcoin created – which I find very interesting”

Saifedean, also will give a talk about “How can be Bitcoin really killed”.

He claims that one of the scenarios is that Bitcoin can become obsolete because FIAT will move back to the gold standard. However, Max thinks differently.

“Bitcoin can be killed by Bitcoin, this could be a community war/division but not by external factors” And also on Gold, we will be so technologically advanced that we will have synthetic Gold, it’s just a matter of time.“

Besides presentations, the conference will also offer many fireside chats with: Adam Back, Nicolas Dorier and Giacomo Zucco.

Hungry for more? During the conference a whole street food festival awaits. Plus, gaming room for people to play together with Satoshi Games using Lightning.

We can also expect an art exhibition coming from Canada and books signed by Jimmy Song and Alena Vranova. Moreover, "merch" and other cool opportunities to network during the event. Thus, if you happen to be earlier in town you can visit side events during the Bitcoin Riga Week starting September 12.

In the future…

For Max, the future is more on decentralisation and that includes exchanges as well.

“There will be more people coming to non-custodial exchanges.”

As for the future of Bitcoin. Shortly, it seems bright and Max considers that we’re actually starting to be back in a Bull Market.

But most importantly…

“I see that people start to understand more Bitcoin”

If you want to know more about Bitcoin - then save the dates.

September 14-15: #Bh2019 https://bh2019.hodlhodl.com

And do let us know if you want to meet-up there: info@deltaheroes.com

Zelos team management app was chosen for the top prize of the Nordic Angel Program by EstBAN competition at Latitude59 tech conference 2019, that was being held in Tallinn on May 15th and 16th. Nordic Angel Program is  a business angel training and investment program led by startup  investors, where they invest into the startups chosen by themselves.

Roman Pototski from DeltaHeroes met with Johanna-Mai Riismaa, founder and CEO of Zelos, a popular team management app:

Fast, fix-as-you-go approach

Johanna  has been coordinating volunteers at large festivals for over 15 years.  She can already boast an impressive list of clients, who are the largest  film festival in Estonia PÖFF or short for Black Nights Film Festival,  the biggest robotics festival in the world Robotex which is also being  held in Tallinn, and Viljandi Folk Music Festival, Latitude59 tech  conference and many others.

Johanna remembered how she was helping PÖFF film festival to build their community of volunteers:

“I  was impressed by how the team of volunteers was forming during the  festival: two desks became four, then it turned to twenty-four people at  the festival, and then fifty people were involved. The team grew by  itself and I was good at managing it; growing with the team was natural  to me.

Then  other teams started asking her for help with their events. This is when  she understood that she has to do something: “I got bored of things  I’ve been doing. This was the type of “let’s do something silly”  boredom. Hence the prototype was created, but we needed 24/7 support for  the website.”

Value of Accelerators

As other events started approaching for help, startups followed. Johanna went to receive consulting in Storytek accelerator. “At Storytek, we got a mentor for the whole week. We sat  in front of three smart people from the industry and made them listen to  our stories. That was super valuable. The accelerator had a really free  atmosphere.”

The  product was ready on the first of October, with first test clients  on-board. “Then we were thinking about what’s wrong with this version,  and that was just 6 months ago. At the time, we were already working  with the Startup Wise Guys accelerator. Participation in the accelerators was a very valuable  experience. Startup Wise Guys just threw quality people at us. On the  second week into the program, the app was launched into the  stores” — Johanna adds.

“The  value of accelerator is that you get to see the world of startups; you  get to understand the playground. One gets money in exchange for  something — be it share of a company or else. One aspect that helped me,  is that as a participant you get to understand the use of lingo. For  example, what does Valuation cap of a company mean? You get to  understand how to use these words in your future talks.”

But  also personal experience is important — it is your real life adventure,  so you can dive into the digital world by yourself. That is why  sometimes people with Harvard degrees can’t beat high school kids.

I don’t know how to complain

When  asked about the gender pay gap, Johanna replies: “I am always  privileged; I have higher education. I don’t work the type of jobs that  cause the pay gap. Not too young, not too old. Because I am the  privileged a***ole. I totally acknowledge that there are not many people  who are in prime spot of achieving something. If you have no education,  you end up in a job that doesn’t pay too well.” After a while she adds:  “I don’t know how to complain.”

People — scary

“It’s  very hard to build a community in a sense of belonging and motivation  to be there. Tools for community building aren’t very strong. I know  that unpractical fluff around seems unnecessary but it’s not. On one  hand, it is too American; why do I need personal relationship with  people, if we are just here to work?! On the other hand, lack of  communication maybe just part of the Nordic nature; people aren’t very  approachable with volunteers. In Estonia, community is super  practical — one comes and then buggers off.

You  can work with 5 friends, but that’s it; it’s very hard for us Estonians  to work with more people. How do you make 500 people feel welcomed  personally? Since they might leave now if they don’t feel welcomed.  People — scary.”

About the platform

“Ideally,  I’d like to see Zelos as a global platform. If you don’t know how it  works, you need to sign up on the platform and receive the working  format on how to engage people. It is no longer local — people don’t  even have to be in the same building with you any more.

For  example, you save sea turtles. You will find people who are interested  in helping you with saving the turtles. Or Estonian fans residing in  China or New Zealand — perhaps they want to do something in Estonia, or  participate in an Estonian culture event. They arrive to Estonia and  volunteer at twelve different places. For example, Vabatahtlike värav is an amazing organisation, however it operates only in the Estonian  language. They help with volunteering all around the world, like, for  example, in Canada.”

Motivating people

“People  like to try new things, like street cleaning for a day. They do it for  the experience. Just for a day, not being employed. Others want to know  what it’s like to sell pancakes at a children’s party. Our main message  is the same as always: engage your communities and don’t be afraid. You  might think that others just can be motivated with food and money. But  no, you don’t have to pay everyone. It is not working for free, it’s  working for a common goal — it’s easy to confuse the two terms. Engaging  the community is not the same as exploiting people. In part, the  confusion arises because after the USSR times ended, nobody wanted to  hear about working for free anymore.”

Johanna  gave another example of how Zelos app can be used: you are a producer  at a film company and you need to find three goats by the next morning’s  filming. Zelos app would help you with that — apparently, there are  more than enough farms around Tallinn. “Do it with the  community - that’s what we are here for” — adds Johanna .

Discover Zelos app: http://zelos-app.com/

Visit Latitude59 conference: https://latitude59.ee/

Find out about Estban: http://www.estban.ee/

Learn about Nordic Angel Program: https://www.nordicangelprogram.com/

Participate in Storytek accelerator: https://storytek.eu/

Take part in Startup Wise Guys accelerator: https://startupwiseguys.com/

すべてのイノベーター、投資家、テクノロジー愛好家をご招待！

DeltaHeroes社主催の、エストニアのスタートアップとイノベーションシーンに触れる4日間のエストニア・イノベーションツアーにジョインしませんか。

世界初のデジタル社会e-Estoniaで開催される、主要スタートアップとテック系イベントであるLatitude 59に参加しましょう。

この地域で最大かつ最も有名なスタートアップのオフィスを訪問し、企業の経営者に会い、彼らがどのように成功を収めたかディスカッションします。 ツアーのメインイベントはLatitude59カンファレンスです。ここではさまざまな国の投資家と出会う予定です。 またスタートアップ企業創業者に会ってプライベートな打合せを行い、破壊的なテクノロジーに関する奥深い洞察を得られます。

これはエストニアとヨーロッパでパートナーと投資機会を探すのに最適な場です。併せて、スタートアップ企業の詳細事情にアクセスし世界中の創業者によるスピーチを楽しめる機会でもあります。

ツアー内容のハイライト

• 時価評価額10億ドルのエストニアのFinTechのスタートアップ、TransferWiseのオフィスを訪問。 会社の経営者と話し合いプレゼンテーションを受ける。
• 参加企業詳細情報、参加者詳細情報、スタートアップのマッチング会場とアプリへのアクセスを含むLatitude59カンファレンスへの投資家用チケット。
• エストニアのスタートアップが生まれる最も重要なイノベーションの中心地、TehnopolとTelliskivi Creative Cityへの訪問。

エストニアのテックエコシステムを垣間見て、エストニアがe-Estoniaというニックネームを得た理由を理解しましょう！

更なる詳細情報やチケットはこちらから入手できます。

https://estoniatour.peatix.com

First waves for the new Baltic startups.

Tartu

It’s very hard to leave Tartu uninspired. The energy of the place and people are incredible. Apart from that, it’s the quality of the products that were presented on stage that matters.

For us, StartupDay was a great place to scout for talents. This involves not only Estonian companies, but also the rest of the Baltics and Nordics. For sure, many of them will be leaders in their “birth" markets, but a few will reach this goal worldwide.

We also saw 3 particular verticals that are starting to be very strong in the region.

Mobility and Logistics

This is an overall strong trend worldwide, but finally we saw companies which are disconnecting from the “Uber” type of models, creating more sophisticated solutions.

Moreover, such solutions have been devised for the B2B sector where such companies' main focus lies. On the other hand, the B2C companies focused on electrical gadgets which have also been presented strongly.

eAronomy and Superfoods

After the success of VitalFields and recently eAgronom, the vertical is getting stronger.

This year we saw that not only food producers are beneficiaries, but the organisations that surround them i.e. insurance companies, resellers and government.

Another aspect is the food products themselves - lots of new tasters out there, no wonder Estonia is the second largest superfood producer in the Balto-Nordic region. Hence nowadays, many of them are exporting their produce to Japan.

Recruiting and HR data

Finding talented people is hard and very often they are not right fit for the employer.

This problem was tackled by quite a few companies in Tartu. They are combining quantitative data analysis and slight human intervention to complete the picture for each new hire. Some also rate employers, thus creating sophisticated matches. The recruiting solutions are starting to really make sense and we presume that with the help of data they are finally becoming useful to the HR world.

Understandably, there were many teams in other verticals. In particular, we liked the batches from StartupWiseGuys and a few from the finals. So, here are our top picks from the event

Tarla.in  

Insurance companies struggle with fraud detection when working with farmers. What Tarla does is bringing data from Satellite images, in order to distinguish fraud from the real climate issues. That helps insurance companies to become more accurate in decision making.  On the other hand, bad actors are excluded from the market, while honest farmers benefit from the solution.

FoodDocs

The Estonian startup has been gaining attention lately. They focus on the food industry safety. Using their platform, producers can be sure that safety documents are all in check. This startup has already 1300 users.

Consorto

Real estate market is still quite defragmented and there many platforms on different languages. Consorto wants to unify all the real estate listings and then allow deal closure within the platform. All this happens in English language using proven brokers.

Zelos

To organise volunteers for a festival and make them actually work is a hassle. Zelos gamifies and at the same time organises volunteers making festival manager's life easier. As the event market is booming, we still think that it’s underserved. The more digital solution such as Zelos are out there - the better.

Optimistic - Trackpro

This Latvian startup tackles the good-ol’ problem of last mile. Their solution takes real-time data and shows the best way for delivery companies to organise their vehicle schedule. Quite useful for companies with large fleets and need for constant re-routing.

Hive

Precision in navigation is very important, especially when it comes down to drones. The startup can help navigate any robotic machinery with precision up to 1 centimeter. They have already done it in Russia and are now ready to expand further.

Ziticity

As mentioned previously, mobility was big in Tartu. Ziticity serves people via fast couriers, utilising the existing networks made of the ordinary commuters. This way everyone can help deliver an item and earn money.  

Talent4gig

Don’t hire on gut feeling. Talent4gig allows to screen a developer and validate with data the actual skills they have. Furthermore, giving scoreboards and other useful tips.

Vumonic

Many companies struggle to find useful data on purchasing power. However, Vumonic uses all junk emails and turns them into insightful metrics - how much and what was bought, without revealing purchaser's identity.

NoNoNo

Consumers and businesses can work together to resolve issues and build better future customer experiences for both parties. This bold idea is tackled by NoNoNo - a platform where customers can now file a complaint that will actually receive a personal reply from the service provider.

Powerup-tech.com  

Batteries are very important for marine people. This startup builds a lightweight hydrogen energy provider. The first products are out there and gaining initial traction.

Outvio

Last but not least - the winner of StartupDay. Outvio helps online shops with all the delivery hassle. A truly beneficial solution for all European SME’s.

Reach us if you want to know more: https://deltaheroes.com

After the successful 2017-2018 for Estonian entrepreneurs, it’s time to look at what 2019 holds.

Startup Landscape and Lifestyle

For the past years the growth hasn’t slowed down. Despite the economic turmoil that is expected to happen, Estonian founders will still open companies. This is due to the fact that starting and running a business is relatively cheap. Further, living costs increased (especially in Tallinn) but remained within the reasonable amount. This makes the life of a startupper quite bearable. Innovation and capital will be available whatever crisis might be happening. History shows - best companies are build in winter times. And winter in Estonia lasts forever!

Talent?

"We need developers” . That’s the mantra that most companies sang for the past 2 years.

As the pain becomes stronger, the talent hunt will really ramp up in 2019.

Couple of examples.

On average, a tech company lacks 10 developers - that’s a 3x increase only for a few years. Take also Veriff - the company is looking to reach 140 people by Q1 2019 and that’s huge compared to 10 employees they had in 2017.  Estonia has to keep attracting foreigners, otherwise it will be very hard to sustain the growth.  

On the governmental level, the pain is addressed and couple of initiatives started.

There is an expansion of Startup Visa and D type of visas which are designed for short work- related stays.

Work-in-Estonia successfully conducted a career hunt campaign. Eventually, quite interesting tech leads from Silicon Valley moved to Estonia.  

And despite the immigration quota, the hiring will increase, especially for highly skilled people, since they are exempted from the list. The numbers showed it as well. The ICT positions taken in 2017 numbered 263, and in 2018 there were already 455.

Capital?

"We need a bit of money” - That’s right. Startup fundraising will continue strongly in 2019.

Last yeast, approximately €300M got poured into startups, which is a new track record. Most of the money went to the proven players though.

2019 will be the year for the new kids on the block - with Feelingstream and eAgronom leading their own new rounds. Just recently, Feelingstream received €400K , eAgronom - €1M, Katana - €1,5M and the cute coffee robot - Yanu (1M during ICO).

As startup numbers grow, capital firms started opening offices in Estonia. They do understand the need to be closer to the Nordics and Baltics. The funds originate in US, France and Japan mainly. Thus, new local players in the ecosystem such as Superangel will bring more investment prospects in 2019.

e-Residency

“Do you have a card?”

The big move here is perhaps the stepping down of Kaspar Korjus from e-Residency. The head of the program decided to give way to the new. Frankly, the decision was correct and will bring new ideas on the table how to move forward with the program.

As the new team and leadership is formed, the program values remain solid. In 2019, e-Residency will be dedicated on building more access for foreign companies to grow in Estonia. Moreover, making those companies successful is one thing that e-Residency is seeking. With the beta launch of the community platform, the gap in entrepreneurial knowledge closes, allowing residents access to structured content and guidelines.  

And one more thing - Brexit is in full fiasco - This will further cause more citizens to apply for e-Residentship.

Crypto and Blockchain.

“Got bitcoins?”

Only in 2018, Estonia issued over 900 crypto licenses. This makes Estonia one of the leading crypto friendly countries.

As mentioned above, the license procedure is developing, and with €15K fee, organisations can get both operational license in crypto and FIAT (comparing to Malta with €40K).

Thus, the process will be closely monitored by the Estonian Financial inspection. They also actively participated in the latest crypto law regulations which are not just “guidelines” but real efforts to make the system transparent and fair.

Despite the bear market, Blockchain development isn’t stopping. Hubs such as Blockhive are becoming more popular. Also, we expect that Blockchain funds are going to be more involved in the country by Q3 2019.

15 Startups to look after.

And finally, 2019 will be exciting year for all the ecosystem players. We, at DeltaHeroes will keep close eyes on startups. Do check them out, and if you want to learn more - contact us - info@deltaheroes.com !

1. Feelingstream

     - Bringing AI to customer success teams via text analysis.

2.  eAgronom

    - Inventory and work planning for Farmers.

3.  Katana

     - Project management for workshops

4.  Torqlabs

    - Knee injury prevention tracker. Team from Estonia, France and US

5.  Yanu

   -  Next-gen coffee robot

6. Monese

   - Mobile banking.  Probably the next Fintech unicorn

7.  SprayPrinter

     - Printer for artists

8.  MeetFrank

    - Anonymous job hunt app

9.  Festivality

    - Platform for Festivals to go mobile

10.  Sidekik.ai

      - A better you - your personal AI

11.  Change

      - Security and crypto exchange platform

12.  CoinMetro

       - Financial services on the Blockchain.

13. AplhaBlues

    - Chatbot and data analytics for support teams

14.  Wepower

     - Energy trading platform  

15.  PrepayWay

      - Escrow payments for real estate reservation  

Interested ? Visit our homepage for more info!

https://deltaheroes.com

The growing popularity of Estonia's innovation scene has brought many businesses and investors, who are willing to discover new simple ways in doing business, managing and operating complex systems. In November, we were pleased to organise a tour for a delegation from Japan,  in collaboration with Kick-Start Projects RN Inc (Japan).

Participants included business owners and specialists from various backgrounds ranging from real estate and IT development to copywriting and graphic design.

On the very first day of the tour, after a bus ride to Tehnopol Ülemiste center, Georgi and Richard from DeltaHeroes presented e-Estonia to the Japanese delegation and gave overview of the Estonian innovation scene.

The next stop had to be the office of Pipedrive – Estonian startup who developed CRM program showing and structuring sales processes. Pipedrive was established in 2010 in Estonia, and is currently one of the leading CRM programs in the world. Pipedrive received altogether funding in the amount of $91.3m and currently has 170 employees.

In the evening, after the Estonian autumn sun had set, we organized a dinner and presentation with Funderbeam - a platform for investing in startups. The company introduces tradable private investments, allowing its users to plug into fast, standardised deals in highly curated companies. As of January 2019 Funderbeam received $9.5m in funding and currently has 42 employees. The company presentation was held in Tallinn’s hip neighborhood Telliskivi, where we had a great lunch organized by Kivi Paber Käärid (Rock Paper Scissors - eng.) restaurant. The startup’s founder and CEO Kaidi Ruusalepp took the stage at Slush Tokyo 2017 where she announced that they have secured 2 million euros from Mistletoe, led by Japanese renowned entrepreneur and angel investor Taizo Son, and will seek to advance into the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, under a strategic alliance.  

On the second day, Roman from DeltaHeroes gave presentation and a tour at TransferWise – money transfer service, that is also Estonian unicorn startup. TransferWise is one of the companies that stand out in the Estonian startup scene – the company has such seasoned investors as Andreessen Horowitz, and was founded by creators of Skype and PayPal. Roman, who has worked in the company for over a year, gave a presentation on company’s worldwide operations and future plans. Once the presentation was over, the group was given a tour of TransferWise office, where they learned that Pipedrive is not the only startup office where employees' dogs are allowed to roam freely around the office space.

Later that day, the tour continued to Mektory innovation center and Tehnopol incubator, a science and business campus for innovative tech companies. Mektory innovation center unites scientists and students with entrepreneurs in order to generate new ideas and to solve practical problems in product development. The center is working closely with Tallinn University of Technology.  

Tehnopol science park, a smart research campus, is forming one big campus area with Tallinn University of Technology. In the campus they have well-regarded technology companies such as Skype, Cybernetica, Starship Technologies, Ektaco, and SMIT. For example, SMIT is an organization managing and developing the information systems of the Police and Border Guard Board, the Rescue Board, the Emergency Response Center, the National Defense Academy and the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia. In total, more than 200 innovative technology-based companies have found a new home here. Tehnopol Startup Incubator meanwhile helps technology-based startups to develop their business and get investments, using mentors from Estonia and Europe.

By the end of the second day, after a delicious lunch in Umami restaurant, the whole group on to visit Cybernetica, based in Tehnopol Science Center – it is the organisation that developed Estonian e-government system; people behind the system explained us how their systems work and how the infrastructure of e-Estonia was getting built over time.  

Cybernetica is best known for development of Estonia’s X-Road and Internet voting system that’s being used in the country during elections, allowing citizens of Estonia to vote without the need to leave their own homes. X-Road is Estonia's solution for maintaining a modern state, and it is the backbone for e-government - 99% state services are provided online.

As the tour was getting to its final phase on day three, everyone relaxed at the Rummu holiday center and enjoyed the nature. Estonia is not only about new technologies and IT, it is also a great place to enjoy the pristine nature still intact in many places, with its numerous lakes and bogs. The obligatory sauna session and a hearty winter meal for everyone was a great final point for the tour.

If you'd like to reserve a tour, please write to roman@deltaheroes.com

Links:

https://cyber.ee/ - Cybernetica Institute

https://www.tehnopol.ee/en/ - Science Park Tehnopol

https://www.ttu.ee/mektory-eng - Mektory Innovation Center

https://www.ttu.ee/en - Tallinn University of Technology

https://e-estonia.com/category/x-road/ - X-road software

https://kick-start.jp/ - RI Inc. (Japan)

Startups:

https://transferwise.com/ - TransferWise international money service

https://www.pipedrive.com - Pipedrive CRM system

https://www.funderbeam.com/ - innovative investment platform

During Buildit’s previous round, the accelerator received 400 applications from various startups, and only 60 got picked for Skype interviews. After the interviews and a test, a 2-day bootcamp selected 30 startups. Finally, around 10 companies received investments, which would account to less than 3% of the initial number of participants.

Founders from the previous rounds spoke about their experiences with pitching on Slush and other conferences, and gave tips on how to make sure your start up is successful. Matiss from Squad Robotics explained how he founded the company, based in London, providing unique technology in autonomous cleaning machines. Those are the ones you see in supermarkets, driven by a person, however their design allows the machines to clean large spaces without the need for a human being to be present on spot.

Another startup founder from the Latvian startup mafia, Atis from Hackmotion, talked about their product providing wrist data and biofeedback for sports professionals, namely golf players. The wearable motion capture system captures every moment of the wrist; "the sensor system measures 3D wrist angles and is designed for both full swing and short game." Their products are being bought all over the world, with a number of great feedbacks on from professional golf players.

Joosep, co-founder and CEO of SmartVent, a company with a slogan "we will auto-pilot your indoor climate!", talked about his experiences and challenges during the early stage of his company. Joosep is just 22 and he started working on the company a couple of years ago, after finishing college, and he's been actively involved in its growth; from engineering to giving a great pitch. SmartVent's product is a cloud based software that brings all the data for building management to a mobile device.

Martin Vares, CEO and co-founder of Fractory, on-demand laser cutting service, finished the accelerator one year ago. The service provides easy to use instant quoting system for the user, and promises 3 days shipping.

One moment all of the speakers mentioned, when talking about how they had made a decision to go on with the company, was the need for all co-founders to leave their daily 9 to 5 jobs and fully concentrate on their project. Such remark seemed to surprise a couple of people in the audience, and it is one of the aspects that I find a lot of people do not understand - there would be no time for anything else in the beginning.  

Buildit accelerator usually invests 20,000 for a chosen startup, but, potentially, the investment could amount up to 280k in a single company. In the end, everything depends on you!

 EstLat accelerate: http://estlat-accelerate.eu

 Buildit accelerator: http://buildit.lv

 Startup Estonia: https://www.startupestonia.ee/startup-ecosystem

 Squad Robotics: https://www.squad-robotics.com

 Hackmotion: https://hackmotion.com

 SmartVent: https://smartvent.com

 Fractory: https://fractory.co