The first time Startupbootcamp network acknowledged the potential greek startups have and paid the rising greek startups scene a visit was back in May when Lars Buch and Startupbootcamp Mobility Copenhagen program organised an Athens pitch day.
A few months later, in September, Startupbootcamp HighTechXL Eindhoven’s Guus Frericks also visited Athens to find that greek startups are not only about mobile and web, but high technology, nanotechnology, organic electronics and robotics too. In fact, SBCHTXL’s event was that successful, that three participated startups were invited to its selection day and two of them were selected to join the 10 teams that have started the acceleration program in High-Tech Campus, Eindhoven .
Yesterday, it was Startupbootcamp Amsterdam program’s time to explore the possibility of adding more companies to its portfolio of greek-origin companies, next to Kinems, a learning games for children with disabilities developing company that graduated from its 2013 program.
Startupbootcamp Amsterdam organised a pitch day in Microsoft’s Innovation Center in Marousi, Athens. In total, 12 teams were invited (with a 13th one as a last-minute addition) to pitch greek entrepreneurs, investors and advisors as well as Startupbootcamp’s Alumni Manager, Marc Wesselink. Teams were separated into groups of 7 and 6, pitched for 5 minutes each and then had the chance to meet one-on-one with the selected group of mentors.
The 13 teams that pitched were:
– nimbata, a global enterprise analytics company specializing in voice applications on the cloud. Its SaaS architecture empowers enterprises to transform raw data into intelligence and to dig deeper into useful campaign data, tracking the efficiency of each advertisement and investigating calls that generate the most sales, the audiences that respond the best and more.
– tradeNOW, the first integrated bartering platform in Greece. Recognizing the need for alternative ways of trading, tradeNOW has developed an automated web barter trading platform for individuals and businesses.
– LazyPub, a low cost solution that allows individuals and businesses to easily distribute their PDF, HTML or EPUB publications through their own branded universal iOS or Android app, manage their publications, add new ones and have access to detailed statistics and insights about their readers reading habits. Readers can download free or paid publications in PDF, HTML or EPUB formats or read them in LazyPub’s web reader.
– SpeakerZen, a mobile app that helps its users become better speakers by engaging with their audience. It offers a speaker-centric tool that can measure the impact of a speech on the audience. It allows users to set their questions and KPI’s, get live feedback from the audience after the speech and compare it to their previous speeches in a quick and easy way. Speakers can gain insight by identifying the weaknesses and strengths of their speech and improve it for the next time.
– eXis I.T., a 10-year-old company that offers integrated solutions and business applications by designing and developing specialized software systems and e-business solutions. The firm mainly focus on sectors like Debt Collections, Credit Control, Order Management, Campaign Management and more.
– Kerverus IT, a software service providing company in Cyprus offering all kind of IT services to the clients: web development, software/application development, SEO, e-commerce shopping cart development, hosting, domain names and web templates solutions.
– UniNotes, a university note-sharing platform, aiming to involve university students in a common and well-organised marketplace where they are able to share personal notes with other peers. Each user can trade and share personal notes with their student communities.
– Tutorizon, an educational meeting point for private tutors and students with a focus on high school, undergraduate education and foreign languages.
– Music-Bond, a marketplace matching artists, singers and songwriters with venues looking for musicians. It also allows artists to connect and interact with their audiences and music fans to discover new artists and new genres of music.
– MotionFX, a hardware company providing advanced products, services and consultation to cinematographers, producers, broadcasters and post production facilities.
– IRISena, smartphone based messaging system that allows small or large businesses to communicate quickly and easily with their audience or other defined user groups via their mobiles.
– Petradaki, an advanced real-estate search engine, offering multiple search criteria, reducing the time of finding the most suitable property to rent or buy.
– tizU, a free iOS app that allows users to tease their friends by sending them “told you so” messages
The mentors list included:
– Nick Kalliagkopoulos (Financial Analyst, Dutch Expansion Capital, Investment Manager, Startupbootcamp HighTechXL)
– Michael Dimitropoulos (Investment Manager, PJ Tech Catalyst Fund)
– Nikos Antoniou (Investment Manager, PJ Tech Catalyst Fund)
– Marc Wesselink (Selection & Alumni Manager, Startupbootcamp Amsterdam)
– Fotis Draganidis (General Manager, Microsoft Innovation Center Greece)
– Panayiotis Papadopoulos (Director of Product Development, Splunk)
– Symeon Retalis (Professor, University of Piraeus, Department of Digital Systems)
– Michalis Boloudakis (Co-founder & CEO, Kinems)
– Vassilis Papakonstantinou (Co- founder & Chairman, MIT Enterprise Forum Greece)
– Lydia Morazzani (Business operations Manager, Microsoft Innovation Center Greece)
– Vassilis Nikolopoulos (CEO & Co-founder, Intelen)