Latvian–developed shipment service “Zeew” has been recognised as the most promising start-up enterprise by the Latvian Business Angels Network (LatBAN) and Inno Energy initiative at the "Digital Freedom Festival” start-up pitch competition which took place this week.
The winning project — “Zeew” application — is based on the principles of sharing economy, providing fast shipment service within the borders of Riga and involving drivers similar to those of traditional taxi service applications.
The members of start-up pitch were selected by Latvian private investors and business angels at LatBAN's November Investment Session. Nine start-up companies in the pre-seed stage with a developed or almost-developed product prototype made it to the final.
Latvian and foreign investors evaluated the start-up projects at the “Digital Freedom Festival”, and particular attention was paid to the team’s motivation, as well as on the sales strategy of the developed product or service. The participants of the competition included “PhotoLab”, a facial recognition service, “Air Quality Tree”, an indoor air quality measurement product, “iDiscount”, a discount service, “Snowision”, a snow tracking solution for ski runs, “Kurp.es”, an application developed for travellers and frequenters of cultural events, “Erth Pumps”, next-generation geothermal pumps, “UpMatched”, a recruiting tool, and “Robotic Solutions”, a robotics solution.
Juris Birznieks, LatBAN Member of the Board: “The main prize was awarded to the project whose potential, quality and high added value was appreciated by Latvian and foreign investors — business angels. Startup pitch is an opportunity for new companies to showcase their strengths and to verify the viability of their developed products and services, the potential for attracting investment and the likelihood of developing business on the international market.”
The Zeew team received the main prize — a pre-paid trip to the impressive start-up business event “Artic15” in Helsinki, May 2018. The competition's main prize is provided by LatBAN in cooperation with Digital Freedom Festival and Inno Energy.
Start-up enterprises can still apply their team’s business projects for the LatBAN 2017 Financing Investment Session and investor assessment by 4 December. The LatBAN December Investment Session will take place on 20 December. More information on application procedures and requirements: http://www.latban.lv
About LatBAN
The association Latvian Business Angels Network was founded on 29 April 2014. Its goal is to expand and develop the investor network in Latvia and to support new and promising projects. Currently, 75 investors are members of the association. In 2016 LatBAN members made investments of EUR 8.4 million, of which 2.44 million were invested in start-up projects.
Additional information:
Aiga Kalbjonoka
Executive Director of Association Latvian Business Angels Network
Telephone: 26959806 | E-mail: aiga.kalbjonoka@latban.lv | http://www.latban.lv
