GapMinder finances with € 50K each a startup from Techcelerator and best startup of the Upgrade 100 Elevator Pitch
On Friday, June 14, 2019, seven of the startups of the third batch of the Techcelerator acceleration program were on the UPGRADE 100 technology festival stage, within the Demo Day section dedicated to them, for a pitching session in front of the general public and new potential local investors. Also, two of the Techcelerator’s alumni gave presentations to get an additional round of investment.
During the Demo Day event, xVision from Timișoara, one of the Techcelerator alumni got a new round of investment totaling € 50,000 from strategic partner GapMinder Venture Partners BV, co-funded through the Competitiveness Operational Program 2014-2020. The investment was granted in the form of additional convertible notes (a form of loan, non-reimbursable, convertible into shares at a future company rating).
The assessment was based on companies’ developments in recent months, the impact of the solutions to address market challenges, team performance, and startup’s strategy. Within the event moderated by Octavian Palade, Events&Content Strategist at start-up.ro, Cristina Ţoncu, Techcelerator Director, summarised the evolution of the program and the contribution of its main partners.
During the third batch of Techcelerator, 7 startups received a first round of investment of up to € 50,000/ company.
The Demo Day Techcelerator was followed by The UPGRADE 100 Elevator Pitch event, where GapMinder Venture Partners offered an extra € 50,000 convertible note for the most convincing startup on stage. Out of the 15 startups that were pre-selected for the 200-seconds pitches, the winner was Antifragile, which develops a system of intelligent labels for remote monitoring of the packages during transportation. The startup was selected by a jury consisting of representatives of capital funds and other potential investors. Among them was Dan Mihăescu, one of the founding members of GapMinder Venture Partners.
The two events were preceded by the “Agora Investors – Meet Future Partners” debate at the UPGRADE 100 festival. GapMinder was represented on stage by Cosmin Ochişor, one of the partners of the venture capital fund.