Treepex Named Georgia’s Best Start-up at Seedstars Tbilisi
In March Georgia Today reported on an innovative young company in an article entitled: Treepex: Plant a Tree at the Touch of a Button.
“Treepex is an innovative mobile application that will change the idea of purchasing. By buying a product with the Treepex logo, you will automatically be planting trees in Protected Areas of Georgia, thus promoting the growth of Georgian species of trees and improving the ecological background of the country” – the article reported.
On June 11, Treepex won the Seedstars Tbilisi competition and will go on to represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland to compete for up to USD 1 million in equity investment.
Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, brought its Tbilisi round to a successful close during Seedstars Tbilisi. The event took place on Saturday June 11 at Techpark Georgia with sponsorship from Alliance Holding Group in partnership with GITA and with organizational help from GSIP. 12 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of an international jury panel.
The event attracted interest from over 50 startup applicants and brought together entrepreneurs from Georgia and beyond. The local winner, Treepex, with its Green Loyalty Program, was selected as the best startup in Georgia for its unique approach to combining green incentive programs and CSR. Treepex will be participating in the Seedstars Summit to take place in Switzerland in March 2017, consisting of a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 60 winners as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of an audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning over USD 500K in prizes and equity investment.
Additional prizes for the winning startup at Seedstars Tbilisi included one-month unlimited access to fitness and wellness facilities for the top 3 startups at the New York Prolife Fitness and Spa and access to a co-working space at Generator 9.8. Vere Loft-1 also offered a one-month pass to a co-working space to their favorite startup, Fotorator.
Lingwing, a self-learning system for languages designed to serve the annual USD 5 bln e-learning market, came in second place. The 3rd place runner-up, Mosavali, provides farmers in emerging markets with learning, decision-making support and interaction with the agricultural value chain. The other startups invited to pitch were: Augep, an augmented reality menu and mobile application; Winker, a dating platform to enable people to meet in real life; GoTrip, a web platform to create and share your trip with other travelers; Investco, a banking platform that takes crowdfunding to capital markets; Pandora’s Box, hardware and software to measure drifting performance for drivers and racing competitions; MyStartupHelp, an all-in-one web-platform that offers startups informational, educational, promotional, programming, and consulting resources; Holo, a multifunctional holographic device for dynamic presentations; Fotorator, an interactive device for the photo printing vending industry; and QuickCash, an online capital provider for SMEs in Georgia with an innovative scoring platform and 30 minute processing time.
The 12 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury made up of Aieti Kukava, CEO, JSC Alliance Group Holding; George Kintsurashvili of GITA; Nick Tabatadze, Founder, L79 Ventures; Alexandre Stern, Senior Director and Innovation Man at Lowendalmasai; and Tiffany Obser, Senior Associate at Seedstars World. The event was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Star Sponsor Alliance Group Holding, Business Information Agency, and Georgia Innovation and Technology Agency. A panel discussion “Building a Robust Tech Investment Climate in Georgia” also took place in the intermission, featuring a host of international and Georgian speakers.
Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Baku, to select the best startup in Azerbaijan. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.
About Seedstars
Seedstars (seedstars.com) is a global organization based in Switzerland with activities in more than 50 countries around the world. Its mission is to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through entrepreneurship and technology. The company’s goal is to develop and foster startup ecosystems by connecting, building and investing in driven entrepreneurs. Seedstars connects the best entrepreneurs with investors, corporates and media, and helps them to scale to new markets. They build companies by bringing together resources, talents and growth techniques, and eventually invest in the most promising entrepreneurs. Sharing the values of trust, efficiency and diversity, Seedstars aims to support the whole entrepreneurial ecosystem from entrepreneurs to investors, passing through governments and corporates.
KATIE RUTH DAVIES