After travelling across the continent each year for five years in a row, we have had an opportunity to witness a significant increase in the quantity and quality of tech solutions.

For the 2020/21 edition of the SSW Competition our online format brought us 3 more countries from the region: Estonia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Poland. And out of the 570 applications we received, we had selected 17 of the most promising startups in the batch to move on to the next stage.

A majority of the local winners are focused on HealthTech: Alter (Russia), SanoPass (Romania), PharmBonus (Belarus), Noomee (Armenia), and Elomia (Ukraine). Three edtech platforms ABC Planet (Azerbaijan), Okoo (Kazakhstan), and Tomyo (Mongolia) are also joining the regionals. Fintech startups offering solutions for payments, payroll, investment needs are Payze (Georgia), IMAN (Uzbekistan), Flipful (Latvia), and BrikkApp (Czech Republic). There are also HR tech startups, Zelos (Estonia) and HR Kit (Bulgaria), that are also moving to the next round of the competition. AgriTech MapMy Apple (Serbia) and retail solution startup Scan and Buy (Poland) complete the current list of local CEE winners.

Get to know the startup who made it to the CEE regionals:

Noomee (Armenia)

• Highlights solutions to the main problems that face children with ASD and also guides their parents and therapists.

ABC Planet (Azerbaijan)

• ABC Planet is revolutionizing preschool education with the magic of cartoons and mobile gaming

PharmBonus (Belarus)

• PharmBonus App connects all types of medical professionals in an educational, informational and communicative platform internationally.

HR Kit (Bulgaria)

• HR KIT is a tool for remote employees that includes all jobs wherein the employee does not prioritize computer use.

BrikkApp (Czech Republic)

• BrikkApp is a property investment marketplace that allows individual investors to find the best real estate investment from 100 EUR.

Zelos (Estonia)

• Task management for large horizontal teams.

Payze (Georgia)

• Payment gateway platform allowing online marketplaces to automatically split any number of transactions between any number of actors.

Okoo (Millenium Education) (Kazakhstan)

• Okoo is an educational platform for kids powered with advanced AI and analytics systems that helps to learn how to code.

Flipful (Latvia)

• Flipful helps companies to motivate employees by enabling them to advance their earned salaries whenever it is needed.

Tomyo (Mongolia)

• Tomyo is an edtech platform enabling customers to have affordable access to learn or teach from anywhere.

Scan and Buy (Poland)

• Provides mobile, cashless self-checkout for retailers

SanoPass (Romania)

• SanoPass is the platform that connects, digitizes and customizes the health benefits offered by companies to their employees.

Alter (Russia)

• Alter is a science-based service helping people to find a right and professional psychotherapist with proper method and specialization

MapMy Apple (Serbia)

• Predicts pests and diseases in apple orchards to save money by optimizing the number of spraying activities.

Elomia (Ukraine)

• Elomia is an AI that replaces a psychologist. It listens, understands, and provides psychological support 24/7 while being 40 times cheaper.

IMAN (Uzbekistan)

• IMAN is a marketplace that brings together merchants, shoppers, and investors at the point of sale using the principles of Islamic finance. 

Seedstars CEE Regional Manager Zarina Gabdolova shares, "We are beyond excited to have 17 local winners from CEE and Central Asia at the Regional Stage of the SSW Competition. I believe that participation in the Investment Readiness Program and the pitching competition itself will help our entrepreneurs to boost their knowledge and to grow stronger. I am cheering for our finalists and wish all of them good luck! Once again, I would like to thank all the participants and the partners of the local competitions and hope to see you in next year's edition.”

At the Regional Stage of the Competition startups will be joining the Investment Readiness program: modernized and personalized program helping startups get investment ready. It will consist of: action-driven webinars on key business metrics; online office hours, where startups can discuss challenges they are facing; domain groups and 1-on-1 mentoring sessions; investor meetings for potential funding opportunities; and peer-to-peer learning and networking sessions. This way the entrepreneurs will gain more knowledge, boost their products and raise awareness, as well as extend their networks.

We would like to thank the partners who supported us during the local competitions including Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency in Tbilisi, Lumnate in Kyiv, Startup Marketing Space in Ulaanbaatar and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Moldova.

What to expect from the Regional Stage?

For the CEE Regional Stage, the 17 startups competing will be featured in our Regional Stage Broadcasts. Stay tuned to watch the startups as they pitch and answer burning questions from the jury panel, all for a chance to move to the Global Stage in Switzerland. Expecting competitive and exciting broadcast.

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