The Baltic 100K Challenge Sees A Low Turnout For Free Money
As a follow up to our post from last April, Toivo Annus claims to have "no tangible results to evaluate" on his chalenge for a Baltic startup to create a public service application that would attract 100 000 active monthly users from Baltic states by March 2012. The winner would get a $20,000 cash prize with no strings attached.
Skype Co-Founder Toivo Annus and Herty Tammo Invest In smartAD
Skype founder Toivo Annus’s and Herty Tammo’s joint tech investment venture, Poohtech AS, announced today that it closed a deal with smartAD, a Baltic advertising network that services many major brands for the region. CEO of smartAD Rando Rannus tells us that the size of the funding round cannot be disclosed, but that in 2011 the company was able to double revenue to 1 million euros. The funding round will be used for geographical expansion, where in Finland and Sweden they will first try to partner with ad networks and agencies and who are trying to help companies expand out of their local market.
The 20K for 100K Challenge
This week Toivo Annus, founder of Ambient Sound Investments and an angel investor from Estonia, challenged start-up communities in the Baltics to create a public service application that would attract 100 000 active monthly users from Baltic states by March 2012. The winner would get a $20,000 cash prize with no strings attached. The initiative is driven by Toivo's frustration with the fact that few start-ups in the region aim high and by his desire to encourage entrepreneurs build truly useful applications for a wide audience. The three main criteria for submissions are to make use of public data, to reach said number of users and to offer high value for the public like help save lives, reduce government spending and engage users in a meaningful way.
Poohtech Enables Newsstand Bill Payment in Latvia
[Via Toivo Tänavsuu's TigerPrises.com]
Estonian 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.
