Slovakia, the small country in the middle of Europe, might have been overlooked by investors in the tech industry in the past – but we might be surprised what startups were and are being born there. In 2014, Slovakia made headlines mainly thanks to AeroMobil , a flying car that perfectly makes use of existing infrastructure created for automobiles and planes. As a car it fits into any standard parking space, uses regular gasoline, and can be used in road traffic just like any other car. As a plane it can use any airport in the world, but can also take off and land using any grass strip or paved surface just a few hundred meters long (VIDEO). There are more cool projects in Slovakia.
1. Sli.do an award-winning Q&A platform for live and hybrid events that makes it super-easy for anyone in the audience to ask their question. Approved questions can be displayed live via presentations. Events participants can vote upthe questions they like the most, live polls allows to find out in real time what your audience thinks. And more features that make events and conferences more fun.
2. Pexeso is the newest project of Rastislav Turek, a matador of the Slovak startups scene who moved to the US. Pexeso helps find, track & monetize your videos or music on the Internet. Pexeso is able to find an audio track even if it was slowed down/speeded up or some filter were used. After the video is matched, the creator is able do one of these things – monitor the video and get comprehensive insights about the community, take down the video or place ads at top of the video and generate extra revenue.
3. Youstice helps customers who find it difficult to claim against purchased goods and provide a simple application that enables customers and retailers to communicate directly and agree on a fair solution. There are literally millions of complaints from customers worldwide, which remain unresolved or unanswered, and with a new incoming EU regulation that calls for online retailers to introduce an option of neutral third party decisions, Youstice will focus on retailers. First investors include DanubiaTel Group and the US angel investor Esther Dyson.
4. With JustInSign you don’t need a voice to speak. The first international sign language application will teach you how to express your mind only with your hands. Want to introduce yourself to a deaf person? Try “Basic questions and answers” section. Looking for directions? Try the “Directions” lesson. Got something else in mind? JustInSign has 131 lessons for you to choose from. JustInSign will teach you to communicate with hearing impaired around the world. Show others whatever is on your mind and understand what they are showing you. The “market” is huge – 1 in every 20 people in the world lives with disabling hearing loss. That accounts for 360 million people in the world out of which 32 million are children.
5. Liberty Headphones – a kind of silly high quality headphones that can rest on your wrist. Founders of the project just kicked off two month crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and plan to raise usd 150k. Modern and unique design. Inside LIBERTY there are two the most modern neodymium speakers with sensitivity of 115dB, which provide high-quality, clear and spatial sound. Li-lon battery has the capacity of 1500mAh, that means about 16 hours of listening the music and it is charged by a Micro-USB. The gadget can communicate with Android system using bluetooth 4.1, whose reach is 15 metres. I wish good luck to this project.