Event Reports

TOP 15 Fintech companies in the Baltics

The German Business Award is awarded annually by the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce to innovative companies in the Baltic states. It is known worldwide that the Baltic states are regarded as pioneers in the field of start-ups – and that they are also home to young and promising companies in the field of the digital transformation of the banking and financial sector. Estonia and Lithuania make it into “Fintech’s Top 10” country ranking ofthe “Global Fintech Index City Ranking 2020”. Estonia ranks 10th, while Lithuania takes fourth place. This year’s events took place in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania under the motto “Fintech of the Year”. But what exactly is a “Fintech”? Fintech companies have three characteristics: they offer financial services to the financial sector, their business model is based on information technology, and is therefore strongly linked to IT and lies outside the traditional financial sector. During the business award ceremonies, the audience witnessed the great pitches of all the participants and was able to see for themselves the extraordinary quality of the young companies. Here you can see all winners and finalists of the business awards and their business ideas in our Fintech portraits! PH

LATVIA THE WINNER: Mobilly TX is an innovative GovTech company that offers an advanced solution that allows state and local institutions to offer indirect social benefits to citizens. The grants are made available in real time as soon as the recipient receives the service. Mobilly TX works quickly and eliminates the administrative burden of manual processes and the human error factor.

THE FINALISTS: Crassula – an open banking software platform that offers FinTech products as white labels. Its main customers are financial institutions whose main business areas are merchant payment processing, banking, card issuance, wallets and more. Mintos – a global online marketplace for credit. The company offers private investors a simple and transparent way to invest in credit. Nordigen – a global provider of account data analysis that helps banks and lenders improve the speed and accuracy of their lending decisions. UX Design Agency (UXDA) – the first Fintech design agency to specialize exclusively in financial UX / UI solutions.

Valdis Bergs, CEO, Mobilly TX explains his company and its business idea to the jury and the audience

LITHUANIA THE WINNER: Ondato is a complex information system about the customer (KYC – Know Your Customer) and the company (KYB – Know Your Business) based on the analysis of big data and artificial intelligence. The “Ondato” solution is unique in that it is one of the first on the market to use the fastest, most flexible and accurate biometric tools required by any company obliged to identify customers in accordance with public and private sector law.

ESTONIA THE WINNER: Veriff is an innovative start-up that helps companies quickly verify their customers. It uses a combination of machine learning and specialists to ensure fast and reliable verification. Artificial intelligence speeds up sessions with immediate feedback, while manual reviews by employees minimize further risks. With features such as real-time user feedback and background live checks, more users can be involved without compromising security.

THE FINALISTS: Admiral Markets Group AS – is a broker offering Forex & CFD trading on indices, metals, energy, equities, bonds and cryptocurrencies. AlphaBlues – offers companies AI-based virtual assistants and live chat. If the virtual assistant is no longer able to help, the chat is automatically transferred to the live chat system, so that the relevant contact person takes over. Bondora – is an online investment platform that offers various financial investment opportunities. EstateGuru OÜ – is a platform for financing mortgage loans. The company is the leading European marketplace for short-term loans secured by real estate.

THE FINALISTS: ConnectPay – a financial services provider for fast-growing, internet-focused businesses that have not been served by established banks for a long time. iDenfy – an online identity verification company that helps reduce fraud and make businesses smoother and more profitable. NEO Finance – the operator of one of the leading crowdfunding platforms (P2P, peer-to-peer) in Lithuania. It is the first and so far only Lithuanian P2P platform operator to hold the full EMI license. SME Finance – currently the leader in the Baltic states in non-bank alternative financing. Financial services are provided quickly and easily, and existing customers have access to the self-service system.

Mikron opens factory in Kaunas

At the end of September, the Mikron Automation division opened its new factory in Kaunas, Lithuania. Automation equipment for the automotive industry is produced here on a total of 1300 m 2 . Based in Switzerland, the Mikron Group develops, manufactures, and sells automation systems that help run highly accurate and productive production processes. It has production sites in Germany, Singapore, China and the United States of America. The number of employees in Kaunas is to be increased in the future – the company already employs 15 people with plans to recruit up to 50 specialists in the next few years. PH

The best start-up game selected

The best Baltic Sea start-up game of 2019 is an adventure game Weakless! AHK was delighted to organise the Baltic Sea Games Award as a part of the BGI project to strengthen and promote start-ups and their games within the Baltic Sea Region. This great event was held during the high-quality games expo GameOn in Vilnius. Start-ups from 8 European countries around the Baltic Sea submitted their games to the online competition. An online jury of game experts chose 4 winners – Area 86, Weakless, Hexagroove and Wanderlust Travel Stories. These 4 finalists pitched their games in front of a group of distinguished investors and publishers as jurors, as well as a live audience at GameOn in Vilnius. AHK organised also the online voting and live voting during the Baltic Sea Games Award ceremony. Baltic Sea Games by the Baltic Game Industry project was financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund, within the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme. LM

The Finalists of the Baltic Sea Start-up Games Award

The German-Estonian

Business Conference 2019

On 29 November, the German-Estonian Business Conference 2019 was held at the Kultuurikatel in Tallinn. The participants enjoyed interesting talks from high-ranking speakers, who also shared their expertise on a wide variety of topics with the interested audience in panel discussions. The focus of the event was on economic relations and business cooperation between Germany and Estonia. From the state and future of the Estonian and German economies, to the biggest drivers of the automotive industry of tomorrow, and the challenges of sustainable freight transport – the range of topics was broad. But the participants were not only supposed to listen to the speakers and debaters, but could also submit questions and make contributions to the event live via smartphone. The audience made good use of this opportunity, with many questions reaching the moderator Oskars Priede, who guided us through the event in front of the impressive industrial backdrop of the Kultuurikatel. The program offered the participants some important personalities from German-Estonian politics and business. For example, Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia, spoke alongside Christiane Hohmann, the German Ambassador in Tallinn, Ülo Kaasik, Vice President at the Bank of Estonia and Claudia Dörr-Voß, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, who greeted the participants by video message. During lunch and coffee breaks, the participants enjoyed the delicious food on offer and got the chance to expand their networks – many business cards were exchanged on this rainy day in Tallinn.

The evening gala following the German-Estonian Business Conference celebrated the 25th anniversary of the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce in Estonia. The gala included the awards ceremony for the German-Estonian Business Prize and was opened by Taavi Aas, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of Estonia. Christiane Hohmann and the President of the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce, Christopher Zimmer, also addressed the audience. The guests were able to enjoy an evening full of exciting pitches from the business award finalists and other interesting points on the agenda in the stylishly redecorated Kultuurikatel. The two coveted prizes “Member ofthe Year” and “Exporter ofthe Year” were also awarded during the event. The office manager of the Estonian office of the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce, Tarmo Mutso, and the CEO of the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce, Florian Schröder, presented “Kühne+Nagel” with the “Exporter ofthe Year” award. “Kaeser Kompressorid” won the title of“Member ofthe Year”. And guests who didn’t want to go home afterwards were taken to the Olympic Park Casino in the Hilton Tallinn Park hotel, where the anniversary was celebrated into the early hours of the morning, with buses chartered especially for the gala. PH

Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia

Christiane Hohmann, the German Ambassador to Estonia

Florian Schröder, CEO, German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce (from left), Christiane Hohmann, the German Ambassador to Estonia, Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia, Christopher Zimmer, President, German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce, Tarmo Mutso, Head of the Office in Estonia, German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce

Taavi Einaste, Partner & CEO at Nortal GmbH

Damir Tomicic, CFO of Axinom and Riina Leminsky, director of Enterprise Estonia in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Overhauling the renewable energy subsidy scheme

In Latvia, the production of electricity from renewable energy resources and cogeneration plants is supported by a complex surcharge scheme based on a feed-in tariff. Nominally meant to sponsor green energy, the so-called mandatory procurement component has been subject to abuse – and has led to high electricity bills that caused great discontent among energy consumers and industrial companies in particular. To put an end to manipulations that distort the subsidy system and discredit the idea of supporting renewables, the government has decided to hit the brakes and reform the controversial scheme. In a meeting with members ofGerman-Baltic Chamber ofChamber (AHK) on 13 November 2019 in Riga, the Economy Ministry’s deputy state secretary Dzintars Kauliņš outlined the steps that have been taken in this direction. Great interest and much discussion were also prompted by the National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021–2030 that Kauliņš presented as part ofthe long-term perspective ofthe Latvian electricity sector. AW

Dzintars Kauliņš, the Economy Ministry‘s of Latvia deputy state secretary

Significant steps to drive the Latvian financial sector forward

The new leadership ofthe Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) has tried to talk up its ongoing efforts to clean up the country’s banking scene after a spate of money-laundering scandals in recent years. In a meeting with members ofthe German-Baltic Chamber ofCommerce (AHK) on 30 October 2019 in Riga, the newly appointed FCMC chairwoman Santa Purgaile and FCMC council member Kristīne Černaja-Mežmale presented the series of actions that were taken by the FCMC to strengthen the supervision of financial institutions and have resulted in a significant drop in high-risk customers in the Latvian financial market. While ensuring that the banking watchdog is to continue rigorously implementing recommendations from international institutions such as Moneyval and the International Monetary Fund, both FCMC representatives also promised to step up dialogues with international investors in Latvia. Not least because some of the attendees voiced concerns about the current reticence of local credit institutions to lend and do business with foreign companies due to the regulatory clampdown. AW

Santa Purgaile, FCMC Chairwoman (from left) and Kristīne Černaja- Mežmale, FCMC Council Member

Discovering new business opportunities

From 11 November to 15 November 2019, the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce conducted a business trip to Estonia and Latvia on behalfofthe Federal Ministry ofEconomics and Energy (BMWi). The participants from Germany gained an insight into the Estonian and Latvian markets and learn about local conditions. In this way, contacts were established with local representatives from business and administration as well as with other important multipliers. The target group was representatives of German companies from the fields of analysis, biotechnology and laboratory technology for medical devices and pharmaceutical applications, the agricultural sector, environmental analysis and the food and beverage industry. Six German companies participated in the initiation process. The participants were brought into contact with potential business partners from the laboratory and medical trade, contract laboratories, research institutions, universities, the chemical, food and pharmaceutical industries as well as representatives from the responsible associations. The delegation was accompanied and supported by the AHK for the Baltic states. PH