Rating of start-up companies in Georgia in 2020

Phubber App

Founders: Anano Dolaberidze, Giorgi Chugoshvili

Phubber is a c2c platform that allows users to sell and buy branded clothing, footwear and accessories. With the mobile app, you can create your own collections and track other consumers or merchants. Phubber resembles Instagram, but consists only of expensive and unique clothing posts. The marketplace is aimed at users looking for or selling items from Georgian designers, vintage or limited collections of mass market brands. Phubber benefits: Free shipping, quality control, and user transaction management. For example, moderators track posts of fake items and remove them. In recent years, the fashion industry market has been growing in Georgia: more and more concept stores and showrooms appear, as well as international fashion shows. Tbilisi’s leading concept stores are already selling their clothes through the Phubber app. In September 2019, the startup received a grant of 100 thousand lari (about 840 thousand from GITA (Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency). Phubber plans to enter the international market.

QvevriXYZ

Founders: David Mizandari, Nika Gudzhejiani, Giorgi Mamasakhlisi, Oliver van Herpt

QvevriXYZ is a project to produce Georgian traditional clay vessels for making qvevri wine using 3D printing. Winemaking is one of the leading sectors of the Georgian economy. In recent years, the demand for wines produced according to the traditional Georgian technology in qvevri has been especially growing (amber / orange wine is especially popular). However, there are few vessel-making specialists in Georgia. Another problem with qvevri is its unstable quality. These factors pushed the founders of QvevriXYZ to create a company that provides a full production cycle – from creating a clay vessel to roasting and drying in an automated oven. For comparison: the production of one qvevri takes about a month, while using a 3D printer it takes only a few hours to produce it, another week is needed for drying, and a day for firing in the oven. The founders of the project believe that qvevri should be available to all winemakers, and promise that their technology will not only simplify the purchase of containers, but also make them cheaper. The team focuses on wineries producing between 500 liters and 1 ton of wine per year. While the project is at the initial stage of production and the “printed” qvevri are not yet available for wide sale, but on the site you can already leave a request to order a vessel.

Optio.ai

Founders: Shota Giorgobiani, Giorgi Mirzikashvili

Optio.ai is a fintech startup that acts as a personal financial assistant, helping to manage the budget. Optio connects to bank accounts and uses artificial intelligence to analyze income and expenses, and provide recommendations on how to optimize expenses. In 2016, Optio won the Startup Georgia competition and received funding in the amount of 100 thousand lari, after which the project went for acceleration to American Techstars. Over the next few years, the startup developed additional tools, such as the Optio Discovery platform for bank classification of financial transactions. This allowed Optio to receive a grant of 100 thousand GEL from the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency and the World Bank in 2019. Optio is currently cooperating with two Georgian banks – Terabank and Liberty Bank – and is preparing to enter the international market.

Treepex/Treespond

Founders: Bacho Khachidze, Lasha Kvantaliani

Another pride of Georgia after fashionable clothes and wine is nature. In 2016, a startup called Treepex was launched, which allowed anyone who wanted to plant a tree in a nature reserve or national park. Entrepreneurs are trying to make the world greener – this is relevant given global warming and rising CO2 emissions around the world. In 2017, Georgia Business Information Agency and startup Treepex launched the Agadgine campaign – and planted trees in Borjomi National Park, which was damaged during the 2008 fires. Then, at the height of the Russian-Georgian war, about 250 hectares of forest were destroyed there. Thanks to these efforts, almost 35 thousand trees were restored in the first year alone. The entrepreneurs stated that their global goal is to clear the Borjomi reserve from garbage and plant 750 thousand trees by 2022. On the Treepex website, each user can “buy” a tree, which volunteers will then plant in Borjomi. Tbilisi, the Caledonian Forest in Scotland and the Sierra National Forest Park in the United States also joined the platform. Treepex takes 15% of each purchase as a commission. The platform became famous in the West for advertising a special air-purifying device that is worn on the nose. The device turned out to be a fake, but with the help of the video, the founders of the startup drew attention to both the environmental problem and their project – Inc., Mashable, HuffPost and other publications started talking about the startup. Now the Treepex team employs not only Georgians, but also Americans, Dutch and Singaporeans. The company itself is registered in the UK. In 2018, the founders of the startup probably went their separate ways. Lasha Kvantaliani moved to New York and launched a similar Treepex project called Treespond. He is also involved in the Oxyn blockchain platform, which should allow secure transactions between green business-oriented corporations and environmental organizations.

RehabGlove

Founders: Georgy Tskhovrebadze, Dmitry Tskhovrebadze

RehabGlove is a “smart glove” that helps people who have suffered a stroke or severe physical injuries to recover. The device develops the hand when it is still difficult for the patient to move it, in particular, the glove helps to extend and flex the fingers to maintain muscle tone. Thanks to the device, you can reduce the costs of recovery from a stroke, entrepreneurs say. In 2017, RehabGlove entered the top 10 startups shown at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona. RehabGlove is now legally registered in the Netherlands and is awaiting further funding to bring the device to the global market.

Swoop

E-commerce startup is a service that was launched on the Georgian market and is a resource that collects information that is interesting for consumers about discounts, great offers, promotions in areas such as food, recreation and entertainment, personal care, sports, technology, furniture, travel.

Cnick — “умные кольца”

A multifunctional ring that serves as a pass, and also contains the owner’s personal data (blood type, past diseases, allergic reactions). Now sold on Amazon, the product is popular in the United States (60% of sales), in Asia (40% of sales). The startup was created by students of the Free University of Tbilisi. The data in the ring is entered and updated via the Android application. The project received funding from the “Startup Georgia” program.

SpotThatFire

Service for detecting early forest fires. Using the application, anyone with a smartphone and access to the Internet can notify of an impending natural disaster. Information, along with geolocation, is automatically sent to the local emergency response service.

Shift Technologies

Online p2p marketplace for buying and selling used cars. The startup has been launched in the USA and has already raised $ 110 million. The service promises customers to deliver the car of their choice for a test drive to their localities, guarantees that all cars presented on its resource pass a strict selection for technical condition, promises help with the development of documents and with financing options if the client does not have enough of his own money. The service promises sellers to promptly – within a few minutes – give the market value of the car, as well as help with paperwork.

TTM Group

Startup Total Traffic Management Group (TTM Group) creates innovative equipment for limiting the speed limit of vehicles on highways. The project received $ 35,000 from the Georgian Agency for Innovation and Technology and the World Bank.

Skitty

Secure and simple authentication technology, when access keys are stored in an electronic tattoo. The development allows making payments, access, information exchange, unlocking the computer with one gesture. The startup is one of the winners of the GENIE program, which provides funding for the best projects.

Cardeal

Online platform dedicated to auto-import service. The service is available in three languages: Georgian, English, Russian. In addition to the car catalog, services of checking data about cars by VIN number and consulting, the startup’s website has a blog dedicated to the topic of car import.

Source: uaspectr.com, startupjedi.vc