Montenegrin ICT Startups presented their innovations at the largest IT exhibition in Lisbon
In the previous weeks, Lisbon was the epicenter of technological innovation. Over 70 thousand participants from 161 countries, 2696 startups, 1050 speakers, and 1081 investors gathered at the largest technology conference in Europe – Web Summit. Thanks to the Capital City and ICT Cortex, Montenegrin startups also had the opportunity to present their innovations at this event. Listen to the statement of Džemal Lekić, director of CIS, about the project implemented for the second time by the capital and ICT Cortex. The biggest attention was attracted by the startup Spectro Solutions, which presented an intelligent fire detection service, which entered the shortlist of 105 startups, out of a total of 2,696, and presented itself to potential investors as part of the Siemens Pitching competition. It is software based on artificial intelligence algorithms that functions as an upgrade to any type of monitoring tool, making it intelligent in the way of providing feedback to the client about the situation on the ground being recorded, in terms of fire. The goal of the software is a reliable, fast, and affordable form of early fire detection. Behind the idea and the first version of the software is a five-member team of young startups: engineers, programmers, and managers, who have already established the first digital AI assistant for monitoring fires on the Luštica peninsula. Read about all the activities Spektro participated in at the Web Summit from Ana Ašanin’s statement. Medpack, a startup that aims to increase proper adherence to therapy, and thus the long-term quality of life of the patient, also had a notable performance at this IT fair. Medpack consists of an application and a smart box. With the help of the application, the user will define his schedule, and which medicine is in which compartment. It is envisaged that the application will contain a database of drugs available on the user’s market, which would facilitate the creation of a schedule and help users to take the drug correctly, and would inform the patient and his doctor or guardian if a drug is not taken correctly (too long, too often or in a way that can be harmful). Also, it is planned that the application learns from the user’s habits and accordingly modifies his schedule. See what the impressions of the members of the Medpack team from Lisbon are. The representatives of the Fintech startup Flash were also part of the Montenegrin startup delegation. Flash connects banks, merchants, and customers through a single platform, increasing their efficiency while reducing costs. With the Flash mobile application, clients can make cardless and cashless payments at merchants, in stores, or online. Clients can centrally manage all their bank accounts, transfer funds, request a loan or return of funds from another client, share an account with another client or define a payment at a specific time based only on a phone number. Flash is the beginning of the digital banking revolution and aims to transform traditional payment approaches. Milica Gazivoda shared her impressions from the Web Summit. At the Web Summit, the startup Guidi was also presented – a platform designed to enable a completely new way of visiting famous places. The app is used to correspond with historical figures and characters specific to each location, while a fictitious guide talks about history from his point of view making the experience more personal and real. Guidi helps users experience the era and tourist destination they are visiting. According to their team members, Guidi is actually a virtual friend from the past. In the video, learn more about this start-up and listen to their impressions from the Web Summit. The digital accountant is another Montenegrin startup that presented itself at the Web Summit. It is a solution that improves business through the digital transformation of administrative and accounting business processes in companies. The platform enables a simple exchange of documents between the company and the accountant by taking a photo of the document at the time of its creation via a mobile application or by uploading it directly to the Tiramisu ERP information system. With any of these actions, the accountant receives a notification and validates the structured data from the document for further postings, which will automatically be reflected in the reports on the company’s operations that are available live in the system to their owner. In the video, listen to Zoran Mastilović from the company Data Design about their participation in the Web Summit. Montenegro also had a startup in the field of the green economy – Prezla, a startup that aims to raise awareness towards reducing food waste, a healthier environment, and a happier society. Their team developed an application that connects everyone who has surplus food (hotels, supermarkets, restaurants) with those who want to buy that food for themselves or those who want to donate it to others. With one move, the user can influence the solution of the pressing problems of food waste, environmental pollution, and the increasing growth of the malnourished part of society. The company Oykos Development presented its startup, Dixi Digital, at the Web Summit. Dixi digital is a social network where all users earn money. All content, interactions, and time spent on this social network are a direct source of income for users – both creators and audiences. In the video, you can learn more about this startup from the founder of Dixi Digital and the CEO of Oykos development, Filip Anđelić. Startup Flourish is at the Web Summit for the second time, this year as a BETA startup. Flourish is a smart assistant for the development of the emotional intelligence of employees, a software solution that develops and maintains emotional intelligence through personalized educational exercises. Jasna Pejović, co-founder and CEO of Flourish, spoke more about the Flourish startup and their second participation at the Web Summit. In addition to startups, the Montenegrin delegation at the Web Summit also included representatives of the executive office of the Montenegrin ICT cluster Cortex, who had the opportunity to learn
Montenegrin delegation at the largest IT conference in the world – Web Summit
The Web Summit officially opened last night. About 70,000 people gathered to attend this four-day event, which will host over 2,600 startups and a large number of world-renowned speakers. Thanks to the support of the Capital City and ICT cluster Cortex, 8 startups from Podgorica will also have the opportunity to present their ideas, the winners of the Competition for the Support of the Startup Community, which has been announced by the Capital City for the second year in a row: Prezla, Flash, Dixi Digital, Spectro, Medpack, Flourish, Guidi, Tiramisu AKT. Cryptocurrencies, climate change, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are the topics that marked the opening of the biggest technological event. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, drew the most attention when he talked about crypto-currencies and why he decided to invest in Twitter. The Montenegrin delegation is expecting three days of networking activities and many interesting lectures, and we hope that they will use as many opportunities as possible provided by the Web Summit.
Tender for support of STARTUP ICT business has been announced
That the signed Memorandum of Cooperation between ICT Cortex and the Capital City is not just a letter on paper is best demonstrated by the implementation of the planned activities. The first among them is the continuation of support for the development of the startup scene, which this year will also guarantee participation in the largest technology conference in the world – the Web Summit, which is organized in Lisbon from November 1-4. The Secretariat for Support to the Business Community of the Capital City has announced a Contest for STARTUP ICT business support, to which all legal and natural persons can apply and apply for the ALPHA or BETA program. The ALPHA program can be applied for by individuals or legal entities that were founded in the last 5 years with residence or headquarters in the territory of the Capital City and who want to start or develop their business ideas in the Capital City. A maximum of 3 participants (individuals or legal entities) who are among the winners of the previous Competition for the support of start-up businesses in 2021 can receive support for the BETA program. According to the Decision on the Budget of the Capital City of Podgorica for 2022, funds for EUR 40,000.00 are planned for these purposes, to support innovative products and services that are at least on the third level of the technological readiness scale (TRL3 – technology readiness level) in the areas of fintech; IoT (Internet of things); game development; health tech; smart technologies (cities, buildings, etc.); digital transformation (ERP systems, e-business, financial technologies, etc.); green ICT (reduction of emissions, energy saving, etc.); machine learning and artificial intelligence. The amount of funds that can be granted to one person under this competition is up to EUR 4,000.00 and can only be used for participation in the Web Summit 2022, whose topics are focused on IT and Internet technology and other types of new technologies. In addition to fulfilling the conditions of the Contest, the participants of the contest must also meet the quality standards prescribed by the Web Summit. The application form for the competition can be downloaded from the link, and the deadline for submitting applications is July 22. As a reminder, thanks to the initiative of the ICT Cortex cluster and the support of the Capital City, last year Montenegro had an unprecedentedly large delegation at the Web Summit, where as many as seven Podgorica start-ups were presented.