Ukrainian AI startup Beholder clinched the top prize of 600,000 euros at the international conference Latitude59

Ukrainian SpaceTech startup Beholder has won the top prize of €600,000 at the international conference Latitude59. Beholder, a Ukrainian SpaceTech startup that utilizes neural networks to explore mineral resources and is working on a specialized hub for geologists, emerged victorious in the final pitching competition at the Latitude59 startup conference in Tallinn.

Founded in 2021 by Andriy Sevrukiv (CEO/CTO), Serhiy Lubkin (CMO/CFO), and Daniil Lubkin (COO), Beholder is a complex of neural networks aiding in mineral exploration. Additionally, the team is developing a specialized portal for geologists called Beholder Hub.

In March 2023, Beholder entered the top 50 at the 4YFN Awards. In the fall of 2023, the startup became one of the semifinalists at IT Arena 2023. Beholder is already registered in Estonia.

In 2021, the startup received its first investment of €150,000, and since then, the founding team has also made additional investments in the project. In March 2024, Beholder secured $940,000 in investments from the European fund InnoEnergy, focusing on energy.

Latitude59 finished on Friday, May 24, 2024. The final showdown took place on the main stage at Kultuurikatel, where five top startups from a pool of 526 contenders from 53 countries competed. The main prize of €600,000 was awarded to the Ukrainian AI startup Beholder.

Andriy Sevryukov informed SPEKA about the startup's plans, which include:

1. Streamlining the project team.
2. Setting up a central office in Tallinn, with Andriy considering the Tallinn technology hub Lift99.
3. Opening an account in a reputable Estonian bank.
4. Initiating projects in Indonesia and figuring out the technical aspects, including who will attend the Indonesian International Geothermal Conference in September 2024 in Jakarta.
5. Determining the future direction of projects in Africa, including scaling and execution, such as considering taking an African miner or five public through an IPO.
6. Exploring the expansion of the project's vertical and later horizontal components.

"We've already received many proposals on how to search for resources on the seabed. We are also asked what we have done for space after space has done so much for us (a significant portion of Beholder's data is built on satellite imagery). So we are considering adding some horizontal (project diversification) in the future," said Andriy Sevryukov.