Georgian Startup Pevaton to Connect Retailers with European Brands
Pevaton is starting to improve the algorithms and develop the website with the 100 000 GEL grant by GITA.
Pevaton is a platform that connects Eastern European brands and small independent stores. Its founder Levan Asanidze told Business Partner that 30% of the 100,000 GEL grant from the Innovation and Technology Agency will be spent on product development, refinement of algorithms and website development, while the rest will be spent on attracting companies and transactions.
"The GITA grant is our initial capital, to get additional cash resources, we work with private investors and plan to invest a total of $ 150,000.
At this point, we started operating with clothing brands. For example, clothing boutiques find it very difficult to sell products, often most of the goods brought in remain for sale. Through our platform, it is possible to take the desired product in 30-60 days, sell it and reimburse the cost, otherwise return it to us, so that we can resell the product with our secondary partners. The most important thing is that boutique shops will have access to the database, which will be done with the help of artificial intelligence, and they will know exactly when it's the good time for sale and what kind of products are trending, ”said Levan Asanidze.
Communication between brands and retailers will be possible through a web platform, which is currently running in test mode. A full version of the platform will be available in about 2 months, though the company has no plans to launch a mobile app yet.
"The experience gained during the grant competition helped me a lot and showed me differently how to set up a startup, talk to an investor, etc. I also met people who are ready to help us internationally. Prior to the grant, Pevaton spent up to $ 45,000. We plan to mobilize another $ 100,000 for rapid growth and development, ”said the startup founder.
The Georgian Agency for Innovation and Technology (GITA) has announced its sixth co-financing grant program under the World Bank's National Innovation Ecosystem (GENIE) project on November 17, 2020. Out of 303 applications, 20 winners were nominated by the International , Jonathan Tower, Tim Wagner, Anil Gejuan, Shalva Daushvili.
95 startups have already been funded under the five rounds of the co-financing grant program.