Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) held its hybrid pitch competition event in Villamor Air Base, Pasay City 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 four ventures.
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 four-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,” said LTP president and chief executive 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.”
“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, vice president 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.”
“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,” said Block Aero founder and chief executive Todd Siena.
Block Aero (Thailand) has commercialized the world’s first blockchain-based asset management solution for the aviation industry.
Meanwhile, 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.
Aiir Innovations (Netherlands) provides the most advanced borescope inspections through AI and advanced digital tools for all inspectors to perform faster and qualitative inspections.
Augmenteed (Singapore) 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.
The four startups will be flown into the LTP headquarters for the opportunity to collaborate directly with the team and company.