The Warsaw startup scene is moving into high gear. In January, we featured the city’s startup hubs, accelerators, VCs, angels, and tech events in Warsaw’s startup ecosystem at a glance, and CEO World’s readers voted Poland the seventh most startup friendly country in the world. Here we list ten Warsaw startups to put on your watch list.
AioCare has developed an ultraportable spirometer (a device that measures inhalation and exhalation) that helps children and adults suffering from asthma and other pulmonary disorders. Connected to the web and a smartphone app, the spirometer measures lung capacity and airflow rates, and allows parents and doctors to regularly monitor the lung health of patients and avert critical episodes that can lead to hospitalization and worse. AioCare received a $1.1 million investment from the Joint Polish Investment Fund, and its device is now being internationally marketed.
Offices can be dreary places, but 4NatureSystem has developed a natural solution. Since it was founded in 2016, the company has designed and installed over 600 metres of vertical gardens, mostly in indoor office spaces. Using modular planters made from recycled plastic, a variety of plants can be used to cover a wall, from mosses forming a corporate logo in indoor spaces to sun-loving plants in exterior installations. In colder climates like Poland, indoor installations are the norm, where a constant environment and an integrated automatic irrigation system makes the installation virtually maintenance-free. Additionally, plants are a breath of fresh air in the deadest workspace: they produce oxygen, cleanse and moisturize the air, absorb dirt and dust, suppress noise, and suck the stress out of every little crisis in the business day. In April, 4NatureSystem closed its first seed round with a pre-money valuation of €3.5 million.
RemmedVR – If not treated, a child’s lazy eye, crossed eyes, or lack of stereoscopic vision can lead to further problems including speech impairments, learning problems, athletic disability, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, and even depression. Vision therapy used to require visits to special laboratories in hospitals or eye clinics that were too far away and too infrequent to be truly effective. With financing from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the European Regional Development Fund, RemmedVR has developed dedicated VR goggles and apps that give patients access to vision therapy at home. Through RemmedVR’s platform, doctors can adjust eye exercises to the patient’s particular condition, and track the whole treatment process completely remotely. Apps are specially designed for kids and adults to treat eye conditions including amblyopia and strabismus. Founded in 2016, the system is currently being test-marketed to eye clinics.
Packhelp is an online seller of customized packaging materials that help small brands stand out. Through its platform or app, anyone can design and order their own packaging in just a few clicks. Customers can choose from a wide variety of packaging options, including cardboard boxes and tubes, poly bags, and envelopes with custom logos, lettering, and designs. Orders of 30 or more pieces can be delivered for free to destinations in the EU. Packhelp was founded in 2015, and already employs 60 people, with over 10,000 customers in more than 30 countries, and major clients including H&M, Google, and BMW. The startup has so far raised €11.3 in funding, including €8.8 million in March in one of the largest Series A rounds in the CEE region.
iPOS – Founded in 2016, iPOS announced a €360k angel round in March to replace cash registers in SMEs across Poland and the EU with their Duet payment system. Securely connected to the web, the Duet terminal combines the functionalities of a fiscal tracking device, payment terminal, and remote store management software. It allows SMEs to monitor and analyze sales while increasing access to non-cash forms of payment. No long-term contract is required.
ACR Systems – When the web started ‘pivoting to video’, our eyes started getting dizzy from all the shaky camera work. So in 2017 Max Salamonowicz and Justyna Wodzyńska founded Advanced Cinema Robotic Systems SA. The startup manufactures something called gimbals: modern, advanced, high quality devices that help cinematographers hold steady. Their products include the Beast Gimbal, an advanced digital 3-axis camera stabilizer, and the BeSteady mini gimbal, which comes in both a grip and a ring-frame model. These are devices for serious videographers: ACR Systems provides a full suite of accessories including both and bluetooth controls and a 2.4GHz transmitter-receiver pair with a 600 metre range. ACR Systems has received funding from Cobin Angels.
Nethone is a data science company specialized in AI-driven business intelligence and fraud prevention. Founded in 2016 by a team of experienced data scientists, risk managers and commercial security specialists, the company operates globally to distinguish fraudsters from legitimate cardholders, new shoppers from return customers, and brand loyalists from discount hunters. Nethone utilizes diverse state-of-the art technologies, including in-depth user profiling (with 5000+ data points), behavioural analytics, device fingerprinting and more, gathering and crunching data into actionable information. “In effect, we can thoroughly x-ray each individual on our clients’ websites, discover links between thousands of apparently unrelated variables and accurately predict actions their users will undertake,” said the company. In April, the startup raised $1 million in a seed round from Innovation Nest.
Indoorway uses IoT and indoor positioning technology to help Industry 4.0 companies improve productivity and safety. Indoorway specializes in the real-time tracking of moving and relocatable assets such as forklifts and inventory. To promote safety, workers themselves can be tracked with easy-to-carry tags, and critical conditions can automatically generate warnings. Indoorway infrastructure consists of Hubs installed on walls or ceiling that collect accurate location data from small Tags, which are carried by people or attached to objects. Indoorway uses Ultra WideBand (UWB) technology to ensure high accuracy and spatial resolution, and its inSites 4.0 dashboard has been specially optimized for industrial sites and applications. Indoorway was founded in 2017.
Talentuno is an AI platform that recommends candidates for positions. People looking for a job can list themselves on the Talentuno website, and employers looking for talent can list job openings. Talentuno also offers a “MatchMakers” crowdsourcing portal that allows headhunters to recommend candidates. Similarly, Talentuno will host in-house employee referral programs for companies. The company currently has listings for Poland and Hungary and offers two pricing models to employers: paying for recommended employees or for employees actually hired. Contacts, interviews, and prospective employee testing can also be conducted via the Talentuno platform. Talentuno was founded in 2016 and has so far raised €5.5 million.
Fluentbe is an online language school that targets professionals with a need to learn English. Fluentbe creates unique value by combining both the advantages of a traditional school with the latest advancements in tech. Classes are conducted live by carefully selected teachers in virtual classrooms. Students participate individually or in small groups, interacting with each other and the teacher, with a focus on developing speaking skills through conversation. Fluentbe raised $800k in a seed round in January 2019 from bValue Venture Capital.
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