Nordic and Russian Finalists At CeBIT's CODE_n Innovation Contest
This year's CeBIT trade show will feature a brand new global innovation contest called CODE_n. Short for ’Code of the New’, the contest aims to seek out and promote the world’s most innovative startups involved in the development of new business models for the internet or mobile devices.
Six Nordic and four Russian startups have been selected into the Top 50 of this year's contest out of over 400 candidates. Each finalist gets a 15 square-meter presentation space at CeBIT and a chance to promote themselves at the world’s largest digital expo. A whopping 62% of the finalists are from Germany.
Meniga Signs Applicon As Its Vendor In Scandinavia
Meniga, the Icelandic personal finance management service, has signed Applicon as its partner in Scandinavia to offer its service to banks. Meniga is an Icelandic startup founded in January 2009 with a very similar plan in mind compared to the famous US company Mint.com.
With the signing of the contract and the press release associated with it, it has become clear how Meniga plans to position their product and get it to market. They have signed the contract with Applicon, which is a Swedish company closely affiliated with banks. Applicon offers its customers a combination of standardized IT software with the help of its 50 strong organisation.
Thoughts On Iceland And Its Startup Scene
I'm in Reykjavik, Iceland, hosting an ArcticEvening event for the local startup scene tonight. I thought I'd do a little write up of the thoughts and discoveries regarding the startup scene up here. First of all, to put things into perspective, you need to understand the size of things we're talking with. Iceland has a population of around 320 000 people and that's scattered across the island. On the other hand, they're a relatively wealthy bunch of people, despite the current economic crisis, with a GDP per capita a little over $40 000 USD for 2008. Talking about the econmic crisis, it is definitely the biggest subject in discussions these days. On my way to meet up with some local entrepreneurs last night, the cab driver said that he's sure there will be something happening in the coming months. According to him, "regular people are tired of paying the mess of the large companies." I can understand his rage completely.
