Emerging Europe’s start-up scene is thriving, and has hit the 2021 ground running: new money is pouring into the market all the time. To keep you up to date with the latest investments, innovations, movers and shakers, each Monday Emerging Europe brings you a handy round-up of the region’s start-ups which closed financing rounds over the previous seven days.
Lithuania’s Attention Insight makes advertising testing faster with the help of AI
Attention Insight is a Vilnius-based start-up which has closed a 285,000 euros funding round led by two VCs in Lithuania and Poland, Movens VC and Open Circle Capital.
With its AI-powered pre-launch and design analytics platform for website and advertising campaign testing, the company stands to benefit from the recent shifts in consumer behaviour that make online shopping and advertising essential.
The company’s AI platform can automatically detect which design elements of a website, outdoor ads, or other environments attract the most attention. With the help of a database of 30,000 images assessed through eye-tracking studies, Attention Insight can offer instantaneous recommendations to clients. Fast analysis times means the clients do not have to invest in their own studies and research.
Already integrated with Adobe XD and Sketch tools, the platform also offers a Chrome plugin. So far, the company has attracted 5,000 users from US, German, and Scandinavian markets.
“We hope to reach 15,000 users this year – marketing professionals, agencies, news media outlets, and e-commerce companies […] we are not limiting ourselves geographically and look to grow around the world,” says the company’s founder Kamilė Jokubaitė.
This is Attention Insight’s second round of funding, following on from 421,000 euros received from the LVPA (Lithuanian Business Support Agency) last autumn.
Vok Bikes special courier-focused e-bikes hit the streets of Tallinn
In Estonia, Vok Bikes is making special vehicles aimed at couriers and postal workers. The Tallinn-based company has now attracted 800,000 euros from United Angels VC, Superangel, and a number of additional business angels.
The company’s first ‘pedelecs’, e-bikes with a range of 100 kilometres, have already hit the streets and are being used by the delivery services Wolt and Ziticity, as well as the Estonian national post company Eesti Post.
“Given that it’s way more economical than a car but still offers stability, safety and comfort, Vok really is a great go-between cars and bicycles. In addition, a capacious cargo compartment and a maximum speed of 25 km/h are perfect for swift urban deliveries,” explains the company CEO and co-founder Indrek Petjärv.
With the new investment, the company plans to manufacture another 100 e-bikes, and expand to several additional European cities.
Ziticity founder Laimonas Noreika, says that Vok Bikes are a great enabler for the courier business.
“Effective solutions to sustainably accommodate the growing demand for same-day deliveries is among our top priorities. We see Vok Bikes as a valuable partner to find the ways to have low carbon-emitting fleets operating in the cities,” he says.
Poland’s Pergamin is making managing contracts easier
Last week was good for the Polish start-up Pergamin. It snatched 660,000 euros to grow its AI-powered contact management platform. The round was led by JR Holding, with participation of a previous investor, Nunatak Capital VC.
Founded in 2017, the start-up’s platform lets users automatically create, negotiate, sign and store their contracts and exchange data with other tools, such as CRM or HR management tools.
This approach helps eliminate human error by allowing the contractor information to be automatically verified in external databases. Additionally, the platform comes equipped with a electronic signature function which makes the contracting process fully digital and does away with the need for printing documents and sending them by post.
Pergamin has managed to attract over 10,000 active users and 150 customers in Poland where the platform is being used by both enterprise-level companies and SMEs. The company is now implementing a project with Santander Bank, as a part of Accelpoint acceleration programme.
“Companies lose money due to inefficient processes and lack of automation of routine, repetitive tasks. With Covid-19, remote working has become the ‘new normal’ and companies have had to accelerate the digitisation process. Pergamin addresses these needs, by shortening the contract preparation process and streamlining negotiations,” says Jakub Barwaniec, the start-up’s CEO and co-founder.
Some of the largest real estate developers in Poland, including the publicly listed ECHO Investment are already using the platform to automate lease agreement processes.
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