A pitch contest for startup companies was held yesterday, Wednesday May 30th, at the PulPaper exhibition held at the Messukeskus Expo and Convention Center in Helsinki. The winner Lumir, a producer of acoustical surfaces, was selected from among eight contestants. The winner was awarded a €5000 stipend donated by the Finnish Fair Foundation.
Eight startups from Finland and Sweden competed in the pitch contest’s semifinals. Following a very competitive semifinal, four companies advanced to the final. The winner of the contest, Lumir, was awarded at the PulPaper Party held last night. The criteria considered in selecting the winner included the innovativeness and originality of the business idea, the identified need and market potential of the product, the credibility of the business plan and its execution, as well as the quality of the pitch itself.
Lumir designs and manufactures acoustical surfaces for walls and ceilings designed to effectively prevent reverberation. These surfaces can be used in homes, public spaces, schools, offices, and commercial properties and are suited to new and renovation construction. These surfaces have been installed in the Parliament House and the National Library, among other locations.
According to the panel, Lumir has a finished, concrete product and strong references from users of the product. Lumir offers a clear solution to existing needs.
The audience also voted on their favorites in the final round of the pitch contest. The audience named as its favorite cleantech-industry startup Aeromon, who have developed a monitoring platform for airborne emissions. Aeromon was awarded an honorable mention in the contest.
A total of eight startups competed in the pitch contest, they were Teqmine, Koepala Packaging, Lumir, Woodio, The Infinited Fiber Company, Crosser Technologies, Aeromon, and Quva. Of these eight, Teqmine, Koepala Packaging, Lumir, and Aeromon were selected to compete in the final round on the PulPaper exhibition’s Future Square stage.
The contest’s panel of experts included Christine Hagström-Näsi (Clic Innovation), Timo Heikka (Stora Enso), Helleke Heikkinen (FIBAN), Jussi Manninen (VTT), Kaija Pehu-Lehtonen (Metsä Fibre), Antti Lindqvist (PI), and Marcus Bergström (Messukeskus).
www.pulpaper.fi #pulpaper2018