SEB’s new programme to open further opportunities for Baltic fintechs
SEB, in cooperation with Mastercard and NFT Ventures, is about to launch the Lighthouse programme in Estonia. Designed for smart fintechs, the programme allows one to further develop products and enhance cooperation with banks and investors.
The Lighthouse programme was launched in autumn 2018 in Vilnius, Stockholm and Helsinki. A total of 25 Baltic companies competed in the first round.
Baltic fintechs participating in the programme included Ondato (Lithuania), which simplifies the implementation of banking services by business clients, EveryPay (Estonia), which collects internet payments, PayTipTop (Estonia), which offers hardware designed for the emotional collection of charity payments, PayYap (Latvia), which simplifies card payment loyalty, and Poklet (Lithuania), which teaches financial literacy to children.
The Lithuania-based Ondato was declared the successful winner in the first round, awarded with meetings with heads of Scandinavian banks and a presentation at the startup festival Slush, with nearly 20,000 participants.
The programme is popular among companies, facilitating business growth. “A number of in-depth, open meetings with other banks and investors has significantly contributed to our business growth, opening new doors to Swedish and Finnish banks”, CEO of Ondato Liudas Kanapienis said (see photo: SEB meeting with the head of Ondato).
According to SEB’s Innovation Manager Siim Lepisk, the Lighthouse serves to connect Baltic fintechs with clients, partners and financing. “The winner of the Tallinn round will be awarded with a number of meetings with top managers and investors of Danish and Norwegian banks, as well as a presentation at the fintech event Money 2020 in Amsterdam.”
The next round of SEB’s Lighthouse programme will commence in February 2019 at the Tallinn Innovation Centre.
For additional information on the Lighthouse programme and application, please visit www.mclighthouse.com.
Additional information:
Evelin Allas
kommunikatsioonijuht
SEB
telefon +372 665 5649
mobiil +372 511 1718
aadress Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
e-post evelin.allas@seb.ee