May 28, 2023
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MVP Academy proudly presents its class of 2015
alexandrac Posted On March 30, 2015


13 finalists are now part of MVP Academy Class of 2015 and are working on products in fields such as security, mobile commerce, ecommerce, analytics or fashion tech and have differentiated  themselves through their experience and professionalism. “We are very impressed by the quality of the applicants for this year’s edition,” said MVP Academy Programme Manager George Dita who praised the team’s commitment and experience. “The finalists are the most well prepared and driven batch of startups we’ve had so far. This is a huge step forward and an important signal regarding the evolution of the ecosystem,” he told inventures.eu. The finalists will spend the seven weeks of the pre-acceleration programme on taking their projects to the next level, building valuable connections in their respective industry and taking advantage of various educational opportunities, as workshops and mentoring sessions.

Meet the judges

The finalists are the most well prepared and driven batch of startups we’ve had so far. This is a huge step forward and an important signal regarding the evolution of the ecosystem. 

The selection procedure took into account the team fit and experience, the market size and industry trends, market validation and traction for the startup’s offering, the international potential and impact, as well as the overall feasibility of the product. Bogdan Iordache (Investment Manager, 3TS Capital Partners and Board Member, How to Web & TechHub Bucharest), Cosmin Ochișor (Business Development Manager, hub:raum, that has evaluated the teams on behalf of hub:raum and Telekom Romania) and Alex Negrea (cofounder, docTrackr) were part of the jury that selected the finalists.

What’s in store for the finalists

In between March and May, the 13 teams will pass through a complex pre-acceleration process, customised to fit their specific development needs. During this time, startups will foster relationships with mentors and industry leaders, among which are Jon Bradford (Managing Director, Techstars UK), Mike Butcher (Senior Editor, TechCrunch Europe), Alex Barrera (Co-Founder, Tech.eu & Press42), Ivan Brezak Brkan (Editor, Netokracija), Olaf Lausen (Chief of CEO Staff & Business Development Director, Telekom Romania) or Florin Talpeș (CEO & Founder, Bitdefender). A complete list of mentors is available here.

Moreover, teams will discuss their business models with representatives of international accelerators (Techstars, Startupbootcamp, Startup Wiseguys, Ignite 100 or LAUNCHub), angel investors and early stage investment funds that are active in the region (Early Bird, 3TS Capital Partners).

The pre-acceleration programme concludes on with a Demo Day, where the 13 startups will pitch their products and showcase their progress in front of an audience comprised of investors and leaders of the professional tech community from Europe and beyond.

Meet the MVP Academy Class of 2015

The startups that are now part of the second batch of the pre-acceleration program are:

Accelerole: pay-as-you-go management software that helps freelancers and agencies master the bill-by-the-hour structure & better manage their internal processes.

Catwalk15: mobile app that helps you get instant fashion advice and find style inspiration.

Clepsisoft CyberFog: proactive cybersecurity solution which can deflect cyberattacks targeting your company;

CloudHero:  management and reporting product that empowers teams and individuals to manage their infrastructure, deploy new services and control the costs from one single place;

Conversion Network: integrated marketing software that enables affiliate marketers to build and scale their business with less effort and better results;

InnerTrends: web analytics solution for web apps and ecommerce websites focused on tracking customers;

MyDog.xyz: platform that interconnects dog owners, dog service providers and parks;

SafeDrive: mobile app that improves the traffic safety by rewarding the users that don’t use the phone while driving with points that can be converted in products and services;

Seeds: unified survey platform for heavy data gatherers;

Squady: platform that helps people discover, join and create social activities in an easy and intuitive way;

Swapr: easy to use mobile app that allows women to exchange clothes with each other anytime, anywhere;

SwipeTapSell: single-page browser-based app that offers a streamlined mobile and tablet experience, helping online stores to engage and convertmore;

Unloq: a new way to authenticate and authorize transactions that replaces passwords with devices, thus offering its users increased security, simple & free.

We wish the 13 finalists the best of luck in this programme and we’ll keep you updated on how they progress.


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Petcube raises $1.1M seed funding
alexandrac Posted On March 25, 2015


With the goal of expanding worldwide sales distribution for its interactive pet camera, Petcube has closed a $1.1M seed funding round with AVentures Capital and Almaz Capital, with participation from SOSVentures, Mint.com cofounder and CTO David Michaels and former Chief Malware Researcher at Facebook, Nick Bilogorskiy. Participating investors will also support Petcube by sharing their experience, with Yevgen Sysoyev from AVentures Capital being on Petcube’s board of directors.

Expansion and customer satisfaction

This investment comes after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013 where Petcube exceeded its 100,000 dollar goal by more than 250% thus becoming one of the most successful crowdfunding pet products in crowdfunding history. Before this campaign, cofounders Alex Neskin, Andrey Klen and Yaroslav Azhnyuk financed Petcube from their personal savings and an additional $70k in angel investments from Semyon Dukach and SOS Ventures, as a part of HAXLR8R program.

For founder and CEO Yaroslav Azhnyuk the investments feels like yet another step. “It seems to me that funding is so overrated and it gets too much attention as compared to all other activities that go into building a business,” he told inventures.eu. The validation of the product through the Kickstarter campaign and the positive feedback from customers are more important metrics for Petcube than the investment.  “Rather than an updated bank balance after the funding, we were much more thrilled with the first happy consumer feedbacks about the Petcube Camera,” Azhnyuk added.

Moreover, this investment will enable Petcube to reach customers faster. “We will use the new capital to expand worldwide sales to brick-and-mortar retail stores in the US and Canada, establish greater overall distribution and help more caring pet parents stay connected to their furry friends,” Azhnyuk explained.

A pup loving startup

Rather than an updated bank balance after the funding, we were much more thrilled with the first happy consumer feedbacks about the Petcube Camera.

The Petcube Camera is a gadget that lets pet owners watch, talk and play with their pet, no matter where they are. This device is equipped with a wide-angle, Wi-Fi-enabled camera with real time video and built-in laser pointer which is controlled through Petcube’s free iOS and Android applications. The company behind the Petcube Camera was founded in September 2012 by Alex Neskin, Andrey Klen and Yaroslav Azhnyuk.

The idea for the product is credited to Rocky the Chihuahua, the pet of cofounder and CTO Alex Neskin, Azhnyuk said. Because Rocky would create a ruckus every time he was left alone, Neskin created an Arduino-based robot that consisted of a web camera and a remotely controlled laser pointer to play with Rocky through a web interface, which distracted the puppy from barking. “That’s how the first prototype of the Petcube Camera was born,” Azhnyuk concluded.

Today, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Kiev, Ukraine, and Shenzhen, China, and the Petcube team consists of over 20 passionate pet lovers and geeks. To date, 1,758 backers supported Petcube on Kickstarter, and even more people pre-ordered the camera within the first batch through Petcube.com. “We shipped Petcube Camera to all of them and our first batch was completely sold out. We’re currently shipping the gadgets from our second production batch,” Azhnyuk said.


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Time to gear up for the CEE Digital Summit
alexandrac Posted On March 18, 2015


If you’re an entrepreneur in the Digital and Tech industry, you shouldn’t miss this year’s  CEE Digital Summit (CEEDS) by Webit which is taking place on 21-22 April in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the Paradise Center. Register here.

Each year, the Webit team strives to take the CEEDS event to the next level and for 2015 significant institutional support comes from the Andrus Ansip, VP European Commission for the Digital Single Markets, who will be a special guest and speaker. Moreover, many regional SMEs will be joining CEEDs this year, thus proving that the digital and technology industries are no longer only the territory of big players, but the play ground of companies of all sizes.

What to expect

For its seventh edition, the summit will encompass four separate events focused on boosting the regional startup ecosystem. If you’re a CTO, CIO or just a passionate innovator, then the Tech Summit is for you. Topics captured by the Tech Summit include IoT (Wearables, Smart Cities, C.Cars, Smart Home, mHealth, Education), BigCloud (BigData, Cloud, BI), Money and Payments.

The Marketing and Innovation Summit is targeted at CMOs, CIOs of advertisers, retailers, broadcasters, publishers and adtech solution providers as it focuses on topics such as Digital Transformation, Programmatic, Metrix & Data, Digital Entertainment & Media, Brand Social Strategies and  Mobile. For video content producers, there will also be a series of workshops on how to create viral content as part of the GoViral Academy.

Of course, Webit conference partners will also be organising a series of workshops, devcamps and roudtables. For startups, the CEE Founders Games, Startup Expo and the Accelerators Alley are of particular interest.  

Moreover, 20 to 30 startups from CEE region will get the chance to take part in the Founder Games, allowing them to exhibit for free at CEEDS at a special Startup Expo and to pitch on stage in front of investors, enterprise and European commission representatives. To apply for this opportunity, simply fill in the application form here.

Mingling with the big players

CEEDS by Webit is the right place to meet future clients and partners. 

Adriana Paneva of Webit

This year’s speaker list is comprised of successful startup CEOs, investors from the region and other influential members of the CEE startup ecosystem. Some of the big names include Eric Klinker, the President & CEO of BitTorrent, Mark Schmitz who is a partner at Lakestar, Uwe Kubach, VP at SAP, Dmitry Chikhachev, cofounder & managing partner at Runa Capital and Oliver Holle, CEO of SpeedInvest among many others.

For attendees to make the most out of their CEEDS experience, Adriana Paneva of Webit recommends that startups take advantage of the many networking opportunities presented to them. “This is something really important for us as organisers of CEEDS. CEEDS by Webit is the right place to meet future clients and partners. We will host a number of networking events among which is the traditional Webit Party with the support of Fashion TV!”

 

inventures.eu is a media partner


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Kick off for the second edition of MVP Academy
alexandrac Posted On March 4, 2015


Calling all tech CEE entrepreneurs! HowToWeb‘s MVP Academy is looking for 12 early-stage tech startups for their class of 2015. This pre-acceleration programme will give participating startups the opportunity to grow their product and build connections with potential business partners and investors. You can apply until 9 March here.

What to expect

The second edition of the MVP Academy will be focused on pushing its participants beyond their comfort zones. Throughout the programme, participants will attend practical workshops held by key industry professionals, as well as receive mentoring and one-on-one coaching sessions focused primarily on achieving product-market fit. Additionally, entrepreneurs will get personalised feedback and advice on their individual questions and challenges.

Participants will also be coached on how to confidently pitch to potential investors and strategic partners. Moreover, there will be excellent networking opportunities at local, regional, and international levels, as well as constant contact with and full support from the Bucharest tech community.

Making a long-term impact

We want help startups have a longer lifespan and prepare them to raise their first and second rounds of financing.

Irina Nicoleta Scarlat, Marketing Manager, MVP Academy

“In recent years, we’ve noticed a trend of regional startups coming out of accelerators in the west, yet many fail to raise a second round of funding,” explained Irina Nicoleta Scarlat, MVP Academy’s Marketing Manager. “We want to tip this balance, help startups have a longer lifespan and prepare them to raise their first and second rounds of financing easier.”

MVP Academy is already making a noticeable impact. According to their six-months follow-up report, four of the 14 pre-accelerated startups of the class of 2014 have been accepted into accelerator programmes in the UK and the US, while five startups have already raised a total of 207,000 euros in funding.

Who are the mentors?

As a community-driven programme, the MVP Academy is supported by mentors and partners who help participants improve their products and their business. Mike Butcher (TechCrunch Editor), Paul Smith (Co-Founder & Director Ignite100, UK), Olaf Lausen (Chief of CEO Staff & Business Development Director Telekom Romania), Marc Wesselink (Selection & Alumni Manager Startupbootcamp Smart City & Living, The Netherlands) and Calum Cameron (Managing Director Startup Wise Guys, Estonia) are just some of the mentors in this year’s programme. MVP Academy 2015 is organised in partnership with Telekom and Bitdefender, with the support of CyberGhost, Raiffeisen Bank, hub:raum & Microsoft.

The panel of expert judges includes Bogdan Iordache (Investment Manager 3TS Capital Partners & Board Member How to Web), Cosmin Ochișor (Business Development Manager hub:raum, which will also evaluate the applicants on behalf of Telekom Romania) and Alex Negrea (Co-Founder & CTO docTrackr).

Who should apply

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To be part of the MVP Academy Class of 2015, you should be a promising early-stage startup in your first two years of activity. To get the most out of this program, you should be fully committed to building your product and be available full time during the seven weeks of the programme (don’t worry, there’s enough time for you to be working on your startup). Moreover, you should have developed at least one working prototype for your product and you shouldn’t have raised more than 50,000 euros in external funding, nor have attended an accelerator with the current project yet.

If this sounds like you, then submit your application via F6S by Monday, 9 March! Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview. To increase your chances of being selected, you can take a look at the evaluation criteria here.


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