Challenge
KALM:IT started as an internal project at Omnius, an IoT platform for traffic monitoring in a city district. To grow the prototype into a product that can be offered on the market, we needed:
- External validation from experienced mentors outside our own echo chamber
- Training in presentation and sales skills, a good technical solution alone isn't enough
- Feedback from judges who see dozens of startups every year
Solution
We entered KALM:IT into two independent accelerator programs:
Bootcamp ftrnw powered by HUBHUB (November 2021)
We advanced into the bootcamp, where we received valuable feedback and had the opportunity to practice our pitch in front of an audience. It was the product's first serious confrontation with mentors outside our team.
Challenger Green & Digital Accelerator by Slovenská sporiteľňa (2022)
It would never have occurred to us that on our first attempt, after the demanding Bootcamp, we would be selected as one of 8 startups with the chance to take part in this prestigious program.
Over more than 120 hours of consultations with professionals from business, marketing, and presentation, we refined our strategy and took our skills to a new level. These experiences gave us new perspectives and helped us better understand market dynamics.
The culmination of this effort was the grand Demoday event. Amid fierce competition, we presented our solution and won the prestigious Slovenská sporiteľňa Award 🏆.
Result
The award was confirmation for us that KALM:IT solves a real problem and has the potential to succeed on the market. After the accelerator program, we:
- Finally nailed down our product positioning, IoT for transport, safety, and smart city
- Professionalized our presentation for sales meetings with cities and local governments
- Expanded the platform into verticals (pharmacy, energy, industry) based on external feedback
Today, KALM:IT runs in 400+ pharmacies, supports smart city projects in Bratislava, and forms the backbone of many of Omnius's customer deployments.
Conclusion
This case study isn't about a client project, it's about a product that refused to stay in the drawer. If you have an internal tool that could be a product, but you don't know whether it has market potential, external validation from mentors and judges is short, cheap, and eye-opening.
Built your own tool and considering productizing it? Let's schedule a short consultation, we'd be glad to share what worked for us and what didn't.