With the second program of Future Hub launching already in a couple of weeks, let's take a look at the Baltic enterprises joining the program! Future Hub is a co-creation accelerator which means that the challenges set by these enterprises for the soon-to-be-announced startups are the cornerstone of their collaboration. In fact, the goal of the whole program is for startups and enterprises to co-create solutions for the challenges set by enterprises. So, if you would like to get a glimpse of what demos to expect at the end of the program, it all comes down to these challenges.
First things first - careful preparation
The program is about to start on October 6; however, massive work has already been done to craft and shape these challenges for successful collaboration. Enterprises might have endless lists of things they would like to work on, half of them with the help of startups; however, not all are suitable for co-creation. Not just the challenge discovery, but startup selection itself is crucial for the success of the upcoming program. Our team has approached over 800 startups to select the final 9 for the program. Direct scouting, our own years' built database, extensive ecosystem partners' support, and media support has allowed us to find the most suitable teams for the challenges. Now, before we meet the startup teams, let's explore the challenges they will be working on!
4 enterprises, 7 challenges
Challenges by Future Hub 2nd program co-hosts Citadele bank, one of the leading banks in the Baltic region:
#1 Sustainable lending and investment products
Citadele is looking for teams eager to co-create various industry and activity-specific financial products to trigger the mindset change for bank’s customers on how people and businesses shall invest, borrow and monitor footprint. The team at Citadele is open to potential solutions across various industries and services.
#2 ESG data monitoring & reporting
Citadele is also looking for a startup team with an easily implementable solution that would enable the bank to monitor and interpret the ESG data of its corporate customers and share these data with the corporate clients minimize footprint, and drive customers towards a more sustainable lifestyle and business practices.
The leading and largest energy company in the Baltics Latvenergo has prepared two challenges for the program:
#3 Flexibility of the power system
Latvenergo and Elektrum are looking for flexibility instruments to orchestrate all possible flexibility sources - starting from industrial demand to small-scale demand, like offices (HVAC), heat pumps, or electric vehicles. Those instruments shall have the ability to modify generation injections and/or consumptions patterns in reaction to external signals to provide services for grid operators.
#4 Digitization of electricity production facilities
To increase the efficiency of the daily routines and reduce the amount of paperwork, it is needed to develop a digital solution that allows to unify the collection of the routine data, its reporting process and increase the quality of the processes. In addition, it is essential to consider various factors such as the state of the main equipment and give comprehensive statistics about the quality of the performed checks. Such solution requires the development of the software for the tablet or similar device (Android or another platform), selection of the solution for the unique checkpoint readings (preferably NFC technology), incorporation of the geolocation (GPS positioning) during performing of the checklist, and detailed digital report sending to the management.
Rimi Baltic (RIMI) is one of the leading grocery retailers operating in the Baltic States and has an ambitious challenge for Future Hub:
#5 Sustainable e-store packaging
Rimi Baltic Group is looking for an environmentally friendly solution that minimizes usage of single-use packaging in the Rimi e-store, improves customer satisfaction, keeps the same cost levels, and does not add to the operational complexity of the delivery process.
And the last two challenges come from Latvian Post:
#6 Processing of poor-quality data
Latvijas Pasts is looking for a digital solution, possibly in the AI field, that would improve the processability of data of suboptimal quality and eliminate or minimize the necessity for employee involvement in data correction. This solution would help Latvijas Pasts customers to receive notifications regarding customs declarations for their orders within 24h from the arrival of the parcel in Latvia.
#7 Delivery without the address
Latvijas Pasts is looking for a GDPR compliant and safe solution that would provide a system that allows each recipient to choose his preferred delivery location using only the phone number, name, or other ID of the recipient.
Up next - startup announcement!
If you are interested to find out which are the startups selected for the program, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn! The public startup announcement is coming on October 4, while we of course will contact the selected team individually prior to that. Good luck to the applicants!