The UNCHAIN Festival recently hosted its anticipated online event, Demo Day, marking a significant occasion in the Central Eastern Europe (CEE) fintech calendar. The event successfully brought together a diverse group of startups and investors from across the region, including Romania🇷🇴, Bulgaria🇧🇬, Greece🇬🇷, Ukraine🇺🇦, and Moldova🇲🇩. Here’s a look at what happened in case you missed it:
During Demo Day, fintech startups had the opportunity to pitch their solutions, engage in Q&A sessions, and receive valuable feedback from investors. The event concluded with a roundtable discussion, where the entrepreneurs engaged in deeper dialogue about the challenges and opportunities within the fintech sector.
One of the event’s key strengths was its geographical diversity, showcasing fintech innovation across multiple CEE countries. As the host noted during the opening remarks:
We bring startups from around the region, promising startups, and prominent VCs and angels together to find good contacts and startups from the region to come to UNCHAIN and explore their reach outside of their home markets.
At the heart of the event were the pitches from five dynamic startups, each presenting unique solutions that demonstrated the vibrant potential of fintech innovation across Central Eastern Europe.
Who Came and What Was Said
From Bulgaria🇧🇬, CREDiPORT’s Boris Galabov captured the audience’s attention with an overview of how their online platform is streamlining the lending and insurance sectors.
CREDiPORT personalizes access to lending and insurance through a single online contact point while supplying financial institutions with their targeted customers
He emphasized the platform’s ability to integrate with up to 30 lenders and 50 insurers, simplifying complex financial processes for consumers and institutions alike.
Following the theme of innovation, Ukraine’s🇺🇦 Object Control introduced its asset management system. Co-founder Andrii Gulyi detailed how their service ensures accountability and transparency in operations critical to the insurance and banking sectors. He highlighted the security features of their system, stating:
All generated electronic documents are embedded with photos and data including place, date, time, and the name of the performer, providing a 100% guarantee of the service’s execution.
Romania’s🇷🇴 contribution came from Stock.Estate, introduced by Vicentiu Vlad as the country’s first approved crowdlending platform connecting real estate developers with investors. Vlad described their innovative approach:
We only accept opportunities with the solid guarantees for example real estate mortgages you can lend as little as 100 euro and earn annual yields up to 20%. Later, you can choose to trade your loan on our secondary marketplace. After completing the onboarding process, you can add funds into your account. Then choose a campaign to invest in and allocate funds from your wallet. When the campaign is completed, you will start earning interest.
He showcased how Stock.Estate democratizes real estate investments, making them accessible and profitable for a broader audience.
CartaMefrom Moldova🇲🇩 was another standout. Founder and CEO Andrei Dylenok discussed how their fintech solution enhances the relationship between businesses and their customers. By integrating loyalty programs and marketing content into a unified application, CartaMe not only boosts retail efficiency but also enhances consumer engagement and satisfaction across various platforms.
We bridge the gap between traditional banking and modern fintech, offering users traditional Visa cards, physical or digital, through our banking partners. These cards work not only as payment tools, but also boost loyalty through the universal platform that simplifies and enriches consumers’ data for targeted offers.
Lastly, WOLI from Greece🇬🇷 brought a family-oriented solution to the table. Vasilis Zoupas, the Co-founder and CEO, shared their mission of redefining family finance through a smart money management app and Visa debit card for children and teenagers.
Combining a mobile app, a prepaid Visa, smart parental controls, and age-appropriate finance classes, WOLI empowers children to earn, save, and spend money responsibly within a safe environment.
Each startup not only reflected the innovative spirit thriving within the CEE region but also demonstrated significant market potential to impact various aspects of the financial services industry globally.
The Regional Landscape
The Demo Day showcased not only the vibrant innovations defining the CEE fintech scene but also shed some light on the intertwined challenges and opportunities facing startups and investors in the region.
Navigating market penetration remains a critical challenge, as highlighted by Boris Galabov from CREDiPORT, who noted the high costs associated with customer acquisition in a saturated market:
Financial institutions cannot acquire customers efficiently, with their customer acquisition costs rising up to €300 on average.
Despite these challenges, the region’s increasing technological literacy and openness to digital solutions offer fertile ground for startups. The potential to tap into new customer bases with scalable fintech solutions suggests substantial market opportunities. Galabov optimistically added:
Applying the starter 1% market share, we are able to generate 12 million of revenue each year.
Regulations are also a problem in certain regions, particularly for startups like Stock.Estate, which must navigate complex real estate investment regulations across different jurisdictions. Vicentiu Vladhighlighted these difficulties, emphasizing the need for strategic adaptation to varied international regulations. However, these challenges are met with opportunities for startups that can navigate these issues effectively, potentially leading to successful regional expansions and the ability to capture underserved markets.
Technology adoption is another area where challenges and opportunities converge. Andrii Gulyi from Object Control discussed the problem of integrating new technologies into traditional sectors, stating:
There are a lot of brokerages, most of them claim to be online but still cling to outdated methods.
Yet, he also pointed out the competitive advantage for startups that successfully implement innovative solutions, thereby enhancing their appeal to both new and existing customers.
As the event wrapped up, the air was charged with enthusiasm from all participants. Everybody left equipped with new insights and strategies, and optimistic about the future of fintech in Central Eastern Europe.
Looking ahead, the momentum from this event is set to continue, with two more Demo Days on the horizon. The next gathering will focus on fintech developments in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia, scheduled for May 9th.
Following that, another Demo Day will take place on June 6th, targeting Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. These upcoming events promise to further enhance the collaborative efforts and cross-border partnerships within the fintech community.
For more details and to participate in these exciting upcoming events, you can find more information on their respective LinkedIn event pages:
