The jury selected Bdetect, a company offering an AI-powered multispectral device for early diagnosis of skin cancer, as the Latvian winner. The device is suited for both medical professionals and the general public, making detection faster, more accurate and more accessible.
The winner of the Latvian finals received a special glass cup designed by a Latvian artist and entry to the global Entrepreneurship World Cup Accelerator. The five participants in the national finals were provided with free 'elevator pitch' training under the guidance of an experienced speech coach, as well as video business cards to introduce the company's activities and business idea to the Latvian public.
After winning the Latvian national finals, the start-up Bdetect will continue its journey in the global finals, competing against winners from 200 other countries to be among the top 100 companies. To better prepare for the Entrepreneurship World Cup global finals, Bdetect will participate in a special online training which will include mentoring sessions with international mentors aimed at better understanding the start-up's current stage of development and potential growth opportunities. The global finals will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of this year, bringing together top 100 companies to pitch their idea in person.
“Latvia is a wonderful place for developing new business ideas and springboarding them onto the global stage. Previous years have proven that we can successfully compete with ideas from all over the world, so I am confident that Bdetect, the winner of the Latvian national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup, will also prove to be a worthy competitor in the grand finals. Over the past months in this competition, through supporting and sharing knowledge with young entrepreneurs, we have seen the importance of our role as a supportive and encouraging partner on the road to success – by providing the tools and boosting the confidence in their own abilities to encourage every young entrepreneur to write their own success story. So, we will continue to be there for Latvian entrepreneurs – supporting them in their day-to-day operations and in matters relevant to them,” says Jevgenijs Ivanovs, Board Member and Head of the Corporate Customer Division at Swedbank Latvia.
"Bdetect has its roots in a research project as part of doctoral studies, and our team is a mix of people with both scientific and entrepreneurial expertise. Winning the Latvian final of the Entrepreneurship World Cup is major milestone in Bdetect's development. It is a unique opportunity to speak to a huge number of potential investors, which is one of our top priorities as a start-up to continue our rapid development. Our solution allows to diagnose skin cancer risks at a very early stage, making screening affordable and widely accessible," says Kaspars Eiduks, Head of Business Development at Bdetect.
Around 1700 people voiced their opinion in the viewer’s vote which was open at blog.swedbank.lv since the start of June. Ecengo was named the winner of the viewer's choice award, receiving a coffee machine from the local brand Es Mīlu Kafiju (I Love Coffee) as the prize for the company’s whole team.
Five companies – Bdetect, GaloGroup (product PLAI Cube), Zekants (with the product Pupuchi), Designed to Live Otropēdija and Ecengo – competed in the Latvian national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup.