Posts tagged:

latvia

BarCamp Baltics 2009 Gathering in Latvia in February

by Miikka Kukkosuo, December 30, 2008 — Leave a Comment

BarCamp Baltics 2009 will be held in Riga, Latvia, between 6th and 8th of February, 2009. That’s the place to be if you’re interested in Baltic and Russian ideas, views, and cooperation around mobile and web projects.

BarCamp is an international network of conferences organized around different themes, based on the idea that participants will generate the presentations and discussions for and in the events themselves. BarCamp Baltics brings together social networking and new media specialists, bloggers, podcasters, developers, designers, entrepreneurs, marketers, and mobile Internet professionals and enthusiasts.

The event will feature 5 to 6 simultaneous sessions, including presentations, workshops, messages and discussions, 30 minutes long each. Between 75 to 95 presentations in total will be held during a day. Participants can choose any sessions to attend and also the topics they want to present, and there will be presentations both in English and in Russian. Around 500 to 600 participants from the Baltic States and CIS, Central and Western Europe, and Americas are expected to be present.

BarCamp Baltics aims to to stimulate the development of new IT and media projects in Baltic states and CIS, and enhance networking and provide connections for international commercial and non-commercial joint projects. BarCamp Baltics 2008 gathered together more than 500 people from 23 countries, and was supported by the biggest media in Latvia.

BarCamp’s been arranged also in Helsinki, and there are a few other ones coming up: Odense in January and Århus in March, in Denmark, and in St. Petersburg, Russia, in May.

Microsoft Launches Tools For Startups – BizSpark

by Antti Vilpponen, November 13, 2008 — 2 Comments

BizsparkLast Friday, Microsoft launched a new program called Bizspark that offers startups of different ages and stages tools to take care of their software and hosting requirements. Technopolis Ventures, Veraventure, The Finnish Software Entrepeneurs Association and Venture Cup has partnered with Microsoft in Finland to accept participants into the program.

Startups must meet the following requirements to be accepted into the program:

  • Be actively engaged in development of a software-based product or service that will form a core of its current or intended business
  • Be privately held
  • Be in business for less than 3 years and
  • Have less than 1 million USD annual turnover.

Despite being a Mac fanatic, I have to give it to Microsoft for pulling this off. They are sponsoring a wide range of products that suit many companies working in the internet space especially. Also, the packages being offered are tailored for companies in different stages of their growth and thus are also bundled together with their capability to pay for the software.

For more information, visit Microsoft Bizspark. You can also find your partners in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Baltics through this link.

Poohtech Enables Newsstand Bill Payment in Latvia

by Miikka Kukkosuo, September 30, 2008 — Leave a Comment

[Via Toivo Tänavsuu's TigerPrises.com]

PoohtechEstonian company Poohtech has launched a service called Cmart (.swf link) in Latvia that enables paying utility bills in 99 local Narvesen kiosks. Poohtech is an Estonian startup focusing on electronic ticketing and payment solutions. Toivo Annus, the former lead engineer of Skype, has reportedly invested in the firm. Poohtech has earlier provided electronic ticketing for in public transportation in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Cmart service enables Latvians to pay their bills at local newsstand chain Narvesen. The barcodes of bills from different service providers (including telecom, security, energy , etc.), are scanned in and paid on the spot.

The value statement Cmart makes is letting people to pay their bills on the go makes their life much easier. Toivo Tänavsuu comments at least in Estonia most of the people pay their bills online (similarly in Finland), and probably in Latvia also, but on the other hand the service could be very valuable for elderly people.

Poohtech is aiming for international markets with Cmart, and mention they would like to hear from potential partners.