Daily Archives: October 16, 2017

Last week I tried out the software of the startup “LiveShop”. Based on my personal experience I want to write my impression.

The startup is helping companies bring their products and services to the internet in entirely new ways. Therefore they created a enhanced video chat where customers can interact with agents face-to-face, while products and service plans are displayed dynamically – by a stroke of the agent’s fingertips. On their website there is a possibility to test their solution. You just need to enter your email address and they schedule a live -LiveShop demo just for you. I tested their product and gave them a feedback. The ability to present products and services, fill out forms and sign agreements is really good. The design is functional and inspiring. That is why their solutions looks really professional. The graphical content was displayed through hand gestures such as swipe to flip and pinch to zoom. The agent simply clicked with his fingers to drag and drop products, forms and files on the screen. They showed me all the functions without any problems. What is really good that they create individual designs and functions for their customers to make sure that it meets their individual expectations. I think their solution is great because it can be used for many business areas. I could not find anything to criticize.

Would you also like to see how LiveShop works in action. Just enter your email address at their website and they will schedule a live -LiveShop demo for you (http://www.liveshop.se/)

 

Hi everyone!

Me, Michelle, Charlotte and Anouar made this venture pitch video! Take a look at it and tell us what you think.

Short summary:

IoT-EPI is a European Union funded initiative about Internet of Things (IoT) platform development with seven core projects: Inter-IoT, BIG IoT, AGILE, symbIoTe, TagItSmart!, VICINITY and bIoTope. If you are a SME, start-up, university etc. you can apply in a so called Open Call to get funded from 30,000 to EUR150,000.

Long version:

The concept of IoT or Internet of Things is to make it possible to connect every device that has an on/off switch to the internet or to each other. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be more than 10 billion connected devices. Anything with an on/off button such as cellphones, lamps, coffee machines or even components of machines for example the engine of a car will be connected, hence the name Internet of Things. How will this affect the day to day lives of people? Well, on daily basis the picture can look a bit like a sci-fi movie where most of your daily activities are automated. For example, by switching off your alarm clock in the morning, it will notify your coffee machine to start making coffee (Hopefully, it can also sensor if there is a mug ready, so it does not make a mess in the morning). On a broader scale IoT can help make cities smarter by offering endless opportunities like improving the efficiency of transportation networks. The following picture shows a wide view of a “smart world” is made possible by IoT.

However, there are many challenges on the way of IoT and the biggest one of them might be security. With billions of devices connected, how is it possible to make sure that hackers won’t be able to hack into your coffee machine for example and then gain access to all your personal information. Or how to make sure that no unauthorized person gets access to interfere with the transportation networks of a “smart city”.

 

Timm and I attended the IoT Innovation Night Stockholm at Norrsken Foundation, on October 9th, 2017 where a few companies working with the IoT concept presented themselves and you could learn how to get funded by the IoT-European Platforms Initiative. IoT-EPI is a European Union funded initiative about Internet of Things (IoT) platform development with seven core projects: Inter-IoT, BIG IoT, AGILE, symbIoTe, TagItSmart!, VICINITY and bIoTope. If you are a SME, start-up, university etc. you can apply in a so called Open Call to get funded from 30,000 to EUR150,000.Two projects that were represented at the event were TagItSmart! and symbloTe

TagItSmart is a company that wants to help people make smarter choices when it comes to purchasing goods by utilizing the NFC technology and QR code. Their objective is to connect real-life objects with the digital world. By scanning the QR code on the objects the costumer will be able to see information such as product name, manufacturer, date of arrival in store, tracked quality, authenticity, nutritional information, waste type and closest recycling point.

Another way of using this technology is in life cycle management where a reward system is used to increase the number of consumers who recycle and obtain valuable consumer behavior information. It can also be used for home services by managing the maintenance schedule of customer’s appliances.

SymbloTe

In our smart and connected world you can already interact with the environment via applications on your smartphone. SymbloTe is facing the challenge that you mostly must change the applications if your change the environment. For example, take smart lights: You can switch on/off your light at home with one app, in the garden with another and maybe in the office with even another app. SymbIoTe wants to create an interoperable platform where all the applications are bundled: a universal light switch on your smartphone to switch on/off the lights at home, in the office and in public spaces – wherever you can do so.

 

QR-Patrol

The presentations ended with a Greek company called QR-Patrol – they bring the Internet of Things technology to security companies, e.g. real-time monitoring for security guards and indoor location. They got funded by the IoT-EPI and shared their experiences – what to hand in, how to prepare and etc.

 

All in all, we think that this was a great event to get to know a possibility to get funded if you are working on a IoT technology. Often you don’t even know which opportunities are out there. It was nice to hear from both sides: the fund giver and taker.

Thank you for reading,

Shiva and Timm

 

 

 

Two weeks ago, Timo and I (yes, Timo and Timo again…) went to the largest monthly start-up event in Europe.

The STHLMTECH Meetup should give entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their ideas or product in front of large community and some invited investment companies. In our case it was Draper Esprit and Wellstreet. Since I was especially excited about the pitches I won’t supply any information about the investors hear.

The first Pitch was from “Live Shop”. Their idea is a special application for shops or banks where you can talk to your customer on a video chat in an interactive way. In my opinion I think this idea is not innovative enough to create a real value for the customer additionally there are several companies which try to achieve the same goal. I think another problem is that they couldn’t identify their final costumer yet also they are working on this project for five years now.

The second pitch from “Valossa” was far more interesting. Their idea is video artificial intelligence which basically tries to understand videos in a way human do. They want to provide their service to media companies. On that companies can improve the placement of advertisement or make proposals for customers what they would like. The presentation was very good and they seem to know their customers.

During that event I learned a lot about new ideas but also about the way of presenting your idea in a way the investors like it.

I can only recommend to go there! The event takes place every first Monday of each month in the Hiltion Hotel in Slussen. The only thing you must do is signing up only upfront. But don’t worry it’s free and totally worth going there.

 

Timo

On October 10th “jayway” was hosting their yearly event at their Stockholm office: “Tech Frenzy Sthlm – Machine Learning, Digital Assistants, AR/VR and more”. There, Timo and I (yes, Timo and Timo….) got the chance to learn all about future technology and try out the gadgets that will radically transform the way we think.

The event in Stockholm is part their yearly tour about future technology in Stockholm, Malmö, San Francisco and Copenhagen.

The office is big and nice. The open floors give the whole scene a real start up spirit. With snacks and beer, we got the chance to talk to some of the employees about their jobs at “jayway”.

The event started with general presentation about AI and future Technology and included two more keynotes about the topics home assistance and smart home. Since I am really into those stuff I always feel like we are very close to a bright future.

After the presentation, we had enough time to try out all the different gadgets “jayway” is offering. We tried everything from virtual reality, artificial reality, smart home gadgets and personal AI assistants. Here we the chance to get to know the current state of technology and we used the chance to speak to the developers and give them feedback.

Since “jayway” is cooperating with a lot of high-tech firms they were not allowed to talk about their current projects. On the one I could understand that they are not allowed to talk about such topics. On the other hand, I would love to know what they are doing now and I am curious about the process they are making right now.

If you get the chance and you are into AI and future technology I can only recommend going there next year!

 

Timo