Lufthansa Technik PHL announces winners of its international pitch competition

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Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) held its hybrid pitch competition event yesterday in Villamor Air Base for the 12 aviation innovator finalists of the LTP Startup Challenge. Block Aero (Thailand), Evitado Technologies (Germany), Aiir Innovations (Netherlands), Augmenteed (Singapore) emerged as the top 4 ventures that will be flown into the LTP headquarters for the opportunity to collaborate directly with the team and company. For more information about the program and its winners, visit https://seedsta.rs/LTPChallenge.

Powered by Lufthansa Technik Philippines in cooperation with Seedstars, the LTP Startup Challenge is a unique opportunity for innovators, coders, designers, and aspiring entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific looking to apply their ideas and solutions to aviation’s MRO (maintenance repair and overhaul) industry.

After launching a month-long open call and receiving over 100 applications, the LTP Startup Challenge narrowed down the selected participants to 12 ventures. The chosen startups were then given the opportunity to participate in a 4-day training program last week, where they were able to receive venture-building support and access to subject-matter experts from Lufthansa Technik Philippines.

“You’ve all made the first steps in developing your business ventures, embarking on a journey of trial and error that is expected from every entrepreneur,” shared LTP President & CEO, Elmar Lutter. “I pay my respect to all the startups here today for taking the risk and trying to solve something new. May you all succeed in your missions.”

The 12 participants of the LTP Startup Challenge were:

1. Augmenteed (Singapore) – Augmenteed is a platform where industrials can create their own procedures within hours and without coding. They can now deploy mobile applications to field technicians for MRO, inspection, or training.
2. Xennial Digital (USA) -Developed a virtual reality enterprise solution that enables aircraft technicians to be trained faster and more efficiently.
3. Evitado Technologies (Germany) – Revolutionizes the future of aviation by automating airside operations. Evitado mitigates the risk of collisions and increases the level of safety and efficiency whilst providing real-time data for optimizing operations.
4. AppSteer (USA) – Cloud-native business digitization platform for achieving sustainable competitive advantage by responding rapidly to changing market conditions/customer expectations.
5. DataMesh (Singapore) – DataMesh is pioneering the digitization of enterprises by utilizing digital twin and extended reality technology.
6. Aiir Innovations (Netherlands) – Provides the most advanced borescope inspections through AI and advanced digital tools for all inspectors to perform faster & qualitative inspections.
7. Telepresenz (USA) – A leader in mobile-first industrial digital transformation that is employing enterprise wearables, IoT, AI, and augmented intelligence technology.
8. Block Aero (Thailand) – Has commercialized the world’s first blockchain-based asset management solution for the aviation industry.
9. HACARUS (Japan) – Provides best-in-class artificial intelligence solutions for its clients.
10. Mowito (USA) – Mowito is a robust and precise solution for picking items in micro-warehouses (dark stores). It uses cutting-edge computer vision technologies and AI/ML algorithms to ensure speed, reliability, and accuracy.
11. Pinmicro (India) –  Provides real-time locating system (RTLS) solutions that enable a wider range of location-based solutions that can improve operational safety and the entire manufacturing process.
12. qualiTEAS (Canada) – qualiTEAS provides a digital inspection solution that can further augment the on-site visual asset inspection, as a part of a digital twin application that can ultimately complement predictive maintenance practices.

“This is a festival of innovation. At Lufthansa Technik Philippines, we always strive to be on our toes, looking out for ways to improve and innovate,” said Stefan Yordanov, VP for Finance, Strategy, and Corporate Projects. “To the brilliant minds of today, may you all continue to strive for your ideas and never give up.”

Yesterday, the participants of the program joined the final phase of the LTP Startup Challenge, where each startup had the chance to pitch its solutions. The hybrid event brought together the LTP team, industry experts, and all the participating startups.

The judges of the LTP Startup Challenge pitch competition were LTP President & CEO, Elmar Lutter; LTP CFO & SVP for Finance, Rubi Pioquinto; LTP Deputy CFO & VP for Strategy & Corporate Projects, Stefan Yordanov; LTP Vice-President for IT, Roberto Asuncion; and Seedstars Ambassador and startup coach, Artie Lopez.

The pitch competition concluded with the announcement of the top 4 ventures moving forward and collaborating directly with LTP to apply and further improve their solutions. The winning startups were Block Aero (Thailand), Evitado Technologies (Germany), Aiir Innovations (Netherlands), Augmenteed (Singapore).

Sharing about his LTP Startup Challenge experienece, Augmented CEO Erwan Bodescot said, “It was really interesting to meet the subject-matter experts in the field. It has been incredibly valuable to hear their opinions on what is missing in the industry as it gives us startups better understanding and opportunity to adapt our solutions to their needs.”

Block Aero Founder and CEO Todd Siena also commented, “It was amazing. We really benefited from the mentorship of LTP and Seedstars. Block Aero is incredibly excited to promote the Philippine startup ecosystem and we look forward to being a great innovation partner for LTP.”

For more information about the program and its winners, visit https://seedsta.rs/LTPChallenge.