The morning dawned rainy in Lisbon – the kind that makes you wanna stay on the sofa all morning, but for our Lisbon Challenge teams that was not an option – they just got to the busiest part of the challenge.
Lisbon Challenge wraps up today its Product Phase. After Validation Phase – where the teams worked on improving their understanding of the problem they are trying to solve and (re)validating their customers (how they feel, interact and behave around this problem in the) – they started Product Phase, where they went on to work through how their products deliver the benefits that solve those problems.
Turning Pains into Gains
The product phase focuses solely on the startup’s solution. Are they delivering the benefits their customers require? It’s all about taking the pains identified during validation phase and the benefits that solve them and turning them into product features that deliver what the customers want.
But more than just features (and having the right features), it’s about understanding and building a journey through the product that takes them straight to core value.
Taking a page from Andrew Chen’s Engagement Wall and “next feature fallacy”, the teams focus on understanding what is working and why, and also what they should just stop doing, instead of just building new things. So, it’s about weeding out the unnecessary stuff and getting as close as possible to the #nobullshit product that makes users fall in love with it.
A Mentorship Driven Program
As their Lisbon Challenge journey takes them closer and closer to a product-market fit, the teams are lucky to have a strong network of mentors, who have been through the same processes and similar experiences as entrepreneurs themselves. They stepped up to the challenge to give serious, honest and helpful feedback to our teams.
Rita Ribeiro da Silva, from SKOACH, detailed the challenges of the phase:
This has been, so far, the most challenging phase. The problem with creating a product is that there are many opportunities and you have to decide on what exactly do you want to choose, and where you want to focus. And the temptations are huge, and sometimes it’s hard to keep the focus on creating a product that is focused and having a focused message of what it is. It’s hard to keep it simple.
The team, who is tackling the challenge of high employee turnover with a solution that enables high-performing teams through gamified change of individual behavior, has taken full advantage of the mentors’ advice:
“I would say that the best advice has been from people who have used products that have tried to solve the same problem, and we’ve got some feedback about the pitfalls, the mistakes that they made, and that’s helpful so we don’t… do them (laughs)”, completed João Ferreira, also from Skoach.
What’s next
Next up, the teams will focus on finding the right metrics, messaging and channels for their product. But for now, we celebrate the end of the phase and the great group of mentors that imparted some of their knowledge and experience, with the incredible Beta-i community experience – this time delivered through the feature of brazilian-style-mouth-watering-BBQ.
These energy startups are all alumni from open-innovation programs powered by Beta-i. We’re proud to see their achievement, as we were of the collaborations and projects they worked on while in the programs. They were distinguished in the categories of Intelligent Grids, Innovative Mobility and Energy Efficiency.
Free Electrons Alumni
ADAPTRICITY AG
Category: Intelligent Grids
Country: Switzerland
Adaptricity offers data driven grid analytics tools and services that enable distribution system operators to better understand grid behaviour, leading to smarter grid planning and asset management. The highly automated, intuitive system allows for better investment decisions requiring less engineering time.
Chakratec has developed a special energy storage device – a kinetic battery with unlimited charge cycles, 100% DoD, instant reaction that is sustainable. They aim to speed up battery charging through a unique floating flywheels suspended in mid-air by magnetic levitation technology.
envelio provides the software as a service solution Intelligent Grid Platform (IGP) to make grid operators ready for the future. By digitising and automating essential grid planning and operation processes, the IGP is a key component for the implementation of smart grids and the integration of distributed generation.
Equota’s services cover both the energy supply and the demand side, including energy efficiency optimization, operation & maintenance monitoring, carbon emission management, energy planning, electricity trading services, micro-grid services and other technology solutions in the industrial chain.
Description: Hygge Power combines smart sensors, tier-1 lithium ion and AI to create the next-gen storage that people want in their homes/offices. Real-time data is collected and transmitted to an encrypted repository to integrate energy partners & Hygge’s own web-based dashboard.
OneWatt, focuses on predictive maintenance for industrial motors. They use their Embedded Acoustic Recognition Sensor (EARS), machine learning, and frequency analysis to detect and predict motor faults before they occur.
Relectrify is an Australian start-up enabling uniquely capable, affordable and sustainable battery storage. They have developed advanced battery control solutions that give used batteries, including from EVs, a second life as energy storage in solar homes, businesses and the power grid.
WePower is the next generation green energy procurement and trading platform. Their platform is a one-stop-shop solution that provides companies with tools to help in understanding electricity consumption patterns, finding a best fit renewable electricity producer, contracting with them digitally and then monitoring generators.
Odit-e develops software for supervision and decision support, dedicated to distribution system operators. Odit-e builds an empirical model of low voltage electrical networks from smart meter data without using physical characteristics.
Enerbrain aims to revolutionise the market of non-residential Building Energy Management Systems thanks to its groundbreaking IoT innovation. Their solution make inefficient nonresidential buildings into smarter and more sustainable ones by using innovative IoT sensors, actuators and learning algorithms.
Google will be joining forces with Beta-i at Lisbon Investment Summit, where it will be the host of the Google Workshop Stage – dedicated to founders’ talks, workshops and hands-on sessions on specific technologies.
We spoke with Nuno Pimenta, Industry Head Travel, Retail & Start Ups at Google, to know more about Google’s hands-on approach to help digitize the market and its involvement in the entrepreneurial community.
RT: How do you see digitalization happening in the corporate world and how is Google contributing to it?
NP: Digitalization in the corporate world is happening though at very different paces in different industries and companies. We see that Digital Sales have been one of the main drivers of this change meaning that companies where digital already represents a bigger share of their sales are speeding up. Google has been partnering with companies from all industries to help them to take the most out of their data and to accelerate their transformation efforts.
RT: What attracted Google to partner up with Beta-i and #LIS?
NP: Start Ups, Tech and Innovation are important pillars of Google’s operation in Portugal. We’ve been partnering closely with Beta-i that has been pivotal in creating the right set up for these pillars to foster in Portugal.
RT: What will Google bring to LIS?
NP: With the Google Talks, we will (again) this year bring some of the most successful founders and CEOs of startups to share their stories and how they made it. We believe their stories are truly inspirational for both founders of new companies and experienced leaders of big corporates. Additionally, we will have very interesting sessions on Cloud and how this technology is changing the way companies operate in many aspects.
RT: Why should corporates attend LIS?
NP: Innovation (and threats) are coming from everywhere and leaders of big corporates need to pay much closer attention to this. Lisbon Investment Summit is one of the most important events in Portugal to get a good sense of what areas are being disrupted and to find new potential partners for the future.
We’re happy to share that Beta-i has been named one of the 25 Best Financial Innovation Labs, as part of The Innovators 2019, an annual initiative by Global Finance magazine.
As an ecosystem builder in Lisbon, we’re are proud of the achievement. In the words of Pedro Rocha Vieira, our CEO and founder:
It’s naturally rewarding to see Beta-i again on such a narrow and prestigious list, which validates the work we’ve done. We are helping to reconfigure the financial universe, via fintechs, setting up programs like Pay Forward, with SIBS, or Protechting, which involves partners like Fidelidade, Fosun and Hauck & Aufhäuser, a German investment bank. This is an area where we identify new market opportunities, and Portugal can serve as a ‘sandbox’ for new business models and concepts in the financial area – for example, Brexit allows us to glimpse new opportunities. Startups like Feedzai, James, or Keep Warranty, are also making their way into this arena, which creates a more relevant cultural environment.
He also reminded that Portugal has a lot of opportunities to act as an innovation lab on testing new solutions: “There is an opportunity for countries like Portugal to position themselves to allow controlled testing of these technologies, especially in the context of the digital transformation of banks and the financial system, and I believe that’s where the role of Beta-i is, as a result of its commitment to innovation. We are also well positioned to replicate this experience in other geographies, and integrating the newly created Cybersecurity Working Group also allows us not only access but also the ability to influence and support the development of good practices. “
In its seventh edition, The Innovators recognizes entities that regularly identify new paths and design new tools in finance – the full report will be published in June.
“Financial institutions and governments worldwide are creating new spaces and modes of collaboration to better execute on financial technology,” said Joseph D. Giarraputo, publisher and editorial director of Global Finance. “Hubs, labs, centers, whatever you call them, they support innovations that deliver benefits to banks, their clients and society at large, nurturing both upstarts and stalwarts that excel in breakthrough thinking.”
The 2019 Innovators honorees will be recognized at the Global Finance Digital Banks and Innovators Awards Dinner on October 30 in Hong Kong. Here is the full list of honorees:
FINANCIAL INNOVATION LABS
CITY
Alior Bank RBL
Warsaw
Barclays Accelerator
Multiple Locations
Beta-i
Lisbon
BNY Mellon Global Innovation Centers
Multiple Locations
boostLAB Powered by BTG Pactual
Sao Paulo
Capital One Labs
Multiple Locations
Citi Innovation Labs
Multiple Locations
Cyberport
HongKong
DBS Asia X (DAX)
Singapore
Deutsche Bank Innovation Labs
MultipleLocations
Fidelity Center for Applied Technology/Fidelity Labs
The third edition of SIBS Payforward is on! The Bootcamp phase will occur from 13th to 16th of May in both Beta-i and SIBS headquarters.
Paying it forward
35 years ago SIBS started the startup way to turn into one of the World’s top Fintech innovators – SIBS has been providing new payment solutions and investing to perform in a constantly changing society, for the last 30 years.
Now it’s time to pay it forward by working with startups to test and grow in a global changing environment. That’s why SIBS is committing, for the third year, with a piloting program focusing on Fintech trends and payment solutions.
SIBS wants to embrace the possibilities of innovating together with other Fintech entrepreneurs, transforming the way businesses and consumers access and use financial products.
The Program
This open-innovation program aims to gather the best fintech startups to work in collaborating pilot with SIBS. For startups, this is an opportunity to join the most secure, modern, and reliable payment solutions player, who has a network of more than 300 million users.
For this edition, the program was looking for startups in technologies like Big Data, Machine Learning, APIs, IoT, AI and Cyber Security, that work in one of these for areas:
Security and Authentication
Client Behaviour and analytics
Payment Processes
Payment and future stores
The Bootcamp
The Bootcamp will happen between 13th and the 16th of May. To further improve collaboration between startups and SIBS, two days will happen at Beta-i, and the other two will happen at SIBS headquarters. Startups will get to know SIBS by being welcomed into their space.
The four days include workshops by the Beta-i team, on piloting and creating business case models, mentorship, talks by alumni of previous editions and several hours of co-work between the startups and SIBS.
The Bootcamp is an amazing opportunity for startups to get insights, mentorship and a potential partner. Like Denis Kiselev, CEO @SnapSwap, described:
We met amazing people. We learned a lot from them about the technology, about the market and about the product. So now we have a great user experience. It was mind-opening.
We can’t wait to meet all startups joining the program on this edition!
The third edition of Smart Open Lisboa (SOL), an open-innovation programme connecting some of the most relevant players in the residential and commercial real estate sector with startups to implement innovative solutions in the city of Lisbon, is currently in its pilot development phase.
This means the extraordinary startups that triumphed in the bootcamp are now developing solutions with the SOL Housing partners to be applied in the city of Lisbon.
Let’s meet some of these innovators and the solutions they are bringing!
Howz
Louise Rogerson, from Howz has a mission: to improve the living of elderly population so they can be independent for as long as possible. #SOLhousing #SmartopenLisboa
Publicado por Smart Open Lisboa em Quarta-feira, 10 de abril de 2019
Louise Rogerson, COO of Howz, has a mission: to improve the living of the elderly population so they can be independent for as long as possible. They developed a solution that measures an elderly person’s home electricity usage via clamps, sockets or from their smart meter and fuse this with data from other sensors. They then build up a pattern of daily behavior. Thanks to machine learning they identify unusual activity or trends and notify the family in case of abnormal activity.
Alfredo AI
Alfredo AI is a Portuguese startup that was born when its founders needed to find a house and couldn't find enough real-estate information. There are now innovating in SOL Housing.#smartopenlx #smartopenlisboa
Alfredo AIis a Portuguese startup that was born when its founders needed to find a house and couldn’t find enough real-estate information. They now provide real-estate stakeholders with a time-efficient and objective way to access the market and each individual property.
