While we are busy with the second round of the AtomLeap High-Tech Accelerator, we always find the time to catch up with teams that we have supported in the past. Such was the case earlier this week, when we sat down to talk with Daniel Seidel, co-founder and CTO of LiveEO.
If you’ve been following this blog, you may know that LiveEO is a Berlin-based startup working on a private real-time Earth observation (EO) application. Their software is intended for use in sectors like energy, infrastructure, and transportation to facilitate the monitoring and inspection of large structures using images obtained through EO satellites. The LiveEO team was part of the first round of our accelerator program, which ran from November 2017 until April 2018.
So if you want to find out what this promising team has been up to, read the Q&A with Daniel below. As always, get in touch with us using the contact form on our homepage if you want to learn more about our program.
Hi, Daniel. It’s good to see you again. How and what are you up to these days?
Where do I even begin? Our team has been expanding very fast. We went from four members in November 2017 to ten at the moment and we will continue the hiring spree in the coming months. We are particularly searching for new team members with a strong business background who can support our growth.
Aside from that, the biggest piece of news I would like to share is the fact that we now have a finished product that we can sell to clients! So we have progressed from the proof-of-concept stage, on which we worked during our time in the AtomLeap High-Tech Accelerator, to having a full-fledged offering.
Congratulations! In practice, what does this mean for the team?
In practice, this means that we are now beginning to secure customers. The first is Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany’s state-owned railway company and one of the largest such companies in Europe, with which we are in the last stages of negotiating a partnership. Aside from DB, we have finished a proof of concept for an optional SAP integration of our services and have been working with pilot customers active in the energy and insurance sectors. Our intention is to enter those markets as well in the near future and to do so not just in Germany, but also in the rest of Europe.
Finishing our product has also meant that we need more financing. At the moment, we are preparing a financing round that we want to complete by the end of the year and we are actively seeking investors.
Our team has, until recently, been comprised exclusively of software developers. The fact that even our CFO, who studied business engineering, can code has been a source of pride for us! But the composition of our team is changing to include more members with a business development background that can help the company acquire clients, secure financing, and expand internationally.
LiveEO has won several prizes in the past, including the Copernicus Masters prize and the second place in the European Satellite Navigation Competition last year. Have you won any more accolades since?
We have. In addition to being admitted into the Copernicus and DB Mindbox accelerators, both of which are very competitive programs, we also won the Founder Competition (Gründerwettbewerb) organized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) this spring.
And lastly, what are your plans for the coming months?
This fall, we will be active at different industry and startup conferences in order to promote our solution and meet investors. As I mentioned previously, we also want to organize a financing round by the end of the year. Beyond that, our intention will remain to secure new customers and conquer new markets.
Thank you Daniel. On our end, we wish you all the best and cannot wait to hear about LiveEO’s growth in the months and years to come.