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- May
2014
Franz Salzmann pitches Lock8 – the Airbnb for bicycles
Ecosummit TV: Franz Salzmann pitches Lock8 at ECO13 London. Their bikes got stolen frequently at Oxford University. To solve this problem, Franz Salzmann and his co-founder Daniel Zajarias-Fainsod developed Lock8, a sensor smart, GPS tracked and online bicycle lock. The Lock8 app locates available bicycles and functions as the wireless key for the smart lock – all you need to build a global Airbnb for bicycles. Berlin-based Christophe Maire (Atlantic Internet) invested early, followed by a couple of million Euro from Horizons Ventures in Hong Kong and Otto Capital. Lock8 is a cool product that works well on Kickstarter to aggregate pre-orders and safe cycling enthusiasts. All set for a successful market launch.
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- December
2013
Smart green dealflow: E-volo crowdfunding, Lock8, Yetu, Thermondo and Zim Plant Technology exit
5 startups that pitched at Ecosummit conferences in the past celebrate new funding rounds. Within 3 days, 9 hours and 52 minutes electric aviation pioneer E-volo raised €1.2M in a record-breaking crowdfunding event on Seedmatch. Just in time, the Karlsruhe-based cleantech startup managed the first unmanned flight with the prototype of their green Volocopter VC 200 (see video below). Ecosummit contributed €1K and joined a group of 750 fearless crowd investors that agree that this worldwide innovation is ready for take off. With the help of E-volo Seedmatch established firmly as Germany’s leading crowdfunding platform for startups having raised over €10M for 50 projects since August 2011.
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