Fruits of the SEB Growth Programme: the ‘taxi app’ for heavy machinery and the logistics sales robot

The SEB Growth Programme plays an important role in the success story of several Estonian companies, as it has helped them to increase their turnover and make their activities more efficient.

Alar Kolk, president of the European Innovation Academy and trainer of the programme, said that the SEB Growth Programme helps Estonian companies to find a new business model, with which growth takes place faster and more profitably than before. ‘The SEB Growth Programme provides the required skills and tools with which to experiment with new products and services, and by now, companies who participated in the programme have several success stories to show,’ Kolk noted.

For example, Iglusaun, one participant of the programme, entered the United Kingdom market and sold a sauna to football star David Beckham. Another participant, Verston Ehitus, created the start-up IntraFly, which offers a heavy machinery sharing service to construction companies. Instead of contacting one heavy machinery leasing company after another, site managers can now focus on organising tasks on the site, which, in turn, decreases standstills on sites. Owners of the machinery can add their fleet to the environment and find extra work without much effort, thereby increasing their client base.

Another success story of the Growth Programme was born from the cooperation of the logistics company DSV and the software robotics developer Flowit Estonia. During the programme, the companies established a synergy which resulted in the virtual sales robot Aitoldyou. The robot assists DSV in their day-to-day sales work, forecasting future sales with 85% accuracy and being applicable to the needs of different clients.

According to Kolk, digital business models are clearly the new rulers of the entrepreneurship world who are taking over the markets. If a company does not digitalise their business, they will not survive the competition.

Ainar Leppänen, Head of Retail Banking and Technology at SEB, said that the Growth Programme has supported a hundred Estonian companies. ‘When SEB launched the programme in spring 2017, its objective was to support companies in the development of their business activity and increasing their competitiveness. The programme’s popularity is also made clear by the fact that within two years, 50,000 external audience members have joined it, who have participated in public lectures or followed the live broadcasts via Facebook. Today we are happy to see that thanks to Growth Programme we managed to support enterprises in their growth in a more inclusive and engaging way.’

SEB is carrying out the Growth Programme in cooperation with the European Innovation Academy. Up to 15 companies will be selected to participate in the new round of the programme that will begin in autumn. Under the leadership of trainers Alar Kolk and Jeff Abbott, they will develop a personal action plan, with the help of which, the company can take the next step in their business within the next 3–6 months.

SEB expects applications to join the project until 11 September 2019. More information about the Growth Programme: https://www.seb.ee/ariklient/kasvuprogramm.