Estonian beverage manufacturer Punch Drinks started manufacturing disinfectants in order to help contain the spread of COVID-19 virus in Estonia. The sanitizers are available in e-shop, Bolt Food and soon pharmacies across Estonia.

„In the light of the corona virus we decided that it is our duty to help our country and people in these difficult times. We had the production capacity and capability, so shifting temporarily our strategy seemed the only reasonable thing to do,“ said Kristjan-Walter Kask, the CEO of Punch Drinks.

Punch Drinks, whose main products are organic craft soft drinks and cocktails, quickly familiarized themselves with the regulations and requirements needed for the disinfectant manufacturing and rearranged their current production processes. “We didn’t hesitate in the production for a second, but were dependent on how we could obtain the needed permits and certificates. We’re glad that the Health Board was on board from the minute we contacted them and fastened the bureaucratic processes to issue the certificates,” explained Kask.  He added that Punch Sanitizers are officially approved by the Health Board, for which the biocidal product registration has been issued.

Entrepreneurs share the responsibility to help during crisis

To increase the production capability, Thomas Padovani together with the Webinfluence Group and Bellone Invest made a quick investment decision, when heard that Punch Drinks wanted to expand their activity. “I strongly believe that all entrepreneurs have a responsibility to help to fight this virus, if possible. We appreciate Punch Drinks’s commitment to contribute to the community and safety of all of us,” explained Thomas Padovani. He added that even though they currently invested to help to increase the production of sanitizers, they see great potential of Punch Drinks becoming a strong player. “The ambitions of Punch are strong in our region. There is a clear market demand for organic crafted drinks elaborated by top bar tenders,” noted Padovani.

Padovani brought out that during the crisis they try to be there for all their current investments and partners to go through the crisis together. “Nobody knows at the moment how deep the fall will exactly be. One could never imagine that the world and economy could be paused like this, so this is completely a new situation. Therefore, we do our best to help to ease the situation for our partners,” said Padovani.

Available in e-shop, Bolt Food and pharmacies

Punch Sanitizer antiseptic sprays effectively kill bacteria, yeasts, mold and viruses. In addition, the product is colourless and fragrance-free, and suitable for both professional and home use. “Today we are able to produce around 4000L of sanitizers a day, but we hope to increase that up to 6000L a day. We do our best to ensure the supply of raw materials, which is very unpredictable in today’s circumstances,” said Kask.

He noted that if they find a partner abroad they could also start exporting. “At the moment we have the biocidal product permit only for Estonia and currently there is no single Estonian company who has been listed as biocidal producers abroad. If we find a partner, who would have needed licenses, then we would be ready to export,” explained Kask.

Currently the sanitizers are sold in Punch Drinks e-shop in different sizes and quantities, but soon also available in Bolt Food and pharmacies. “We have sealed a deal with Magnum Medical, which means that our sanitizers will be available in pharmacies across Estonia. We’re actively searching for new retailers to make the product available to all citizens and companies in need,” stressed Kask. He added that their goal is not to earn easy income during the crisis and therefore have kept their pricing reasonable and competitive.

Additional information: https://punch-drinks.com/sanitizer

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Adcash founder Thomas Padovani was one of the investors who invested €600 000 through his investment company Bellone Invest into Estonian new startup ProcurementFlow, which aims to digitise procurement process with its cloud-based software and therefore turn the biggest cost function into a profit generator.

“Procurement is one of the most critical cost function of each company or public institution, which can cause production to stop, quality issues, performance issues and all lead to financial impact on the companies. The power of AI and the evolved knowledge about User interface management force all the industries to rethink themselves. There is room in many industries today for modernising the tools companies are using. ProcurementFlow is solving a real problem and participating to this modernisation process, that’s the reason why we investe in it,” said Padovani.

Innovating the future of procurement

ProcurementFlow is an Estonian Software as a Service (SaaS) provider that aims to digitise the entire procurement process and therefore not only bypass the frustration that comes with it, but also save money. CEO of ProcurementFlow Tarmo Saidla, who previously led the sourcing and supply chain analysis at the global industrial group ABB, said that sourcing and selecting goods involves usually many rounds of research, requests, negotiation and approval, which is a lot of room for miscommunication, misalignment and confusion. “Europe has about 30 000 manufacturers that tailor-make products based on customer requirements, and each purchase must go through a procurement process. On average 43 percent of all costs go through procurement function making it the biggest cost function for each company,” said Saidla. He stressed that with the new service companies not only save money but can also reduce time-to-market for new products and services as well as enable supplier-led innovation.

Contributing to the Estonian digital success story

After leaving the position of Adcash CEO Thomas Padovani has been actively investing to different ventures through his investment company Bellone Invest. The investment strategy is focused on yield generation and long-term investment performances. “When choosing our next investments, we always strive for entrepreneurs that are solving real problems, this is what the market is always buying : cost effective or yield generating solutions” explained Padovani. He stressed that investing to Estonian companies is close to his heart as considers Estonia to be his home. “I’m very proud of participating to the Estonian digital success story before with Adcash and now by helping promising ventures to grow. “ said Padovani. Bellone Invest has also invested in other Estonian companies like Natufia, Zlick, Modera. Padovani and Webinfluence Group are one of the first investors in the Estonian Unicorn Bolt.

The investment round for ProcurementFLow was led by Lemonade Stand, a new angel investment fund in Estonia together with well-known investors like Pipedrive co-founder Martin Henk, Bolt co-founder Martin Villig, Skeleton Technologies founders Taavi Madiberk and Oliver Ahlberg, Katana MRP co-founder Kristjan Vilosius and Stagnation Lab. In total the company raised €600,000 of funding.

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Competition in Europe’s food delivery market is getting even more heated.

Uber rival Bolt announced Wednesday it will launch a food delivery service in Tallinn, Estonia, where it is headquartered. The Estonian start-up said it would expand the service to Latvia, Lithuania, and South Africa later this year before launching in more markets in Europe and Africa in 2020.

Bolt, formerly known as Taxify, is entering an already-crowded field of competitors in the European food delivery market. Uber Eats and Amazon-backed Deliveroo are aggressively expanding across the region, while Britain’s Just Eat recently agreed to merge with Amsterdam-based Takeaway.com to create the biggest food delivery company outside of China.

Bolt Chief Product Officer Jevgeni Kabanov said in an interview with CNBC Wednesday the company’s strategy with food delivery will be to build on its existing 25 million users and to offer lower delivery prices than competitors. Kabanov added the company will also pay “higher earnings for carriers.”

The company has taken a similar approach in the ride-hailing market, offering steep rider discounts and higher driver commissions. Bolt said the food delivery service would be available through a separate app called Bolt Food.

The Estonian unicorn, which was valued at $1 billion last year, currently operates in 30 countries. Its investors include Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing, German automaker Daimler and the entrepreneur and investor Thomas Padovani.

Ride-hailing companies have struggled to cook up profits in the food delivery market thanks to high overhead costs. Earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he doesn’t expect the company’s Eats business to be profitable in the next two years.

“We would not do it if we did not believe that we have the opportunity to build a profitable business,” Bolt’s Kabanov said.

Source

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