Picking the right name for your business is a complex task that will influence the entire journey of your business. When choosing THE name, you need to make sure it shows who you are and where you’re going, all while making it memorable and good for marketing.
We set out to find the stories behind the names of various startups in the CEE region and put together an inspiring list.
This article is the second of a series dedicated to exploring this theme. Check out the first here.
If you’re keen to share the story behind your startup’s name, reach out to Elena and get featured in the next part.
Apify
A platform where developers build, deploy and publish web scraping, data extraction, and web automation tools.
Jan Čurn, Co-founder & CEO: “Since the early days, when we were originally called Apifier, our main vision was to build a tool that would enable people to easily turn any website into an API. Hence, when picking a name, we quickly thought of the word apify (as in API-fy). As you can guess, apify.com was taken but when looking for alternatives, we found that apifier.com was available. But as the word apify stuck in the back of our mind, we always hoped we’d find a way to get it. It must have been fate when the owner of apify.com contacted us back in 2017.”
Bright Spaces
PropTech creating 3D digital twins for real estate.
Georgiana Floroiu, Head of Marketing: “After winning the regional PropTech hackathon in 2019, our co-founders decided to use their experience from Bright Agency, their former software development company, to take on a new challenge in the PropTech world. They carried forward the name Bright as a reminder of their past endeavors and as a symbol of their optimism for the future of their new venture. Spaces signifies our focus on the real estate industry, where we’re building innovative 3D digital twins”.
Read more: Branding 101: The Story Behind the Names of 10 Startups From CEE, Including Ours (Part I)
elv.ai
Startup that aims to fight the spread of hateful content on networks and improve communication ethics on the Internet.
Jakub Šuster, Co-founder & CEO: “elv.ai began as a heartfelt project by the agency New School Communication following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As social media in CEE was overwhelmed by internet trolls spreading hate, we stepped in. Our team of elves, human moderators, tackled the hate speech and disinformation spread by trolls. As the number of profiles rose, we needed to leap into technology, leading to the creation of AI that automatically detects and hides hate speech, disinformation, vulgarisms, bots, and more.”
Eyerim
Online eyewear retailer reshaping how customers purchase eyewear through technology.
Yassaman Omidbakhsh, Co-founder & CEO: “When brainstorming a fitting name for our eyewear venture, we initially settled on Eyeris – a playful nod for the word Iris. However, during the due diligence of our seed round, we stumbled upon an unsettling discovery that Eyeris was already trademarked in other continents. With a ticking clock of just 24 hours to rectify the situation, panic set in. After sifting through over 100 potential names, Eyerim was born – a simple yet effective alteration to our original choice.”
FAMS
Mobile application aimed at enhancing the parents’ quality of life.
Helene Malyutina, Co-founder & CEO: “FAMS is a short informal word for Families. This beautiful slang term sounds simple, warm, and affectionate, that’s why it’s so popular in social media when one refers to close friends and family members. You never expect unsolicited advice and dry facts from your fam, but compassion and support, and that’s what we wanted to illustrate in our app. By calling the app FAMS we intended to create this association with a friendly family space, where one can feel secure to be vulnerable, share the good and the bad, and get guidance on how to hold meaningful conversations.”
Flowpay
Startup that simplifies the access to financing for SMEs using predictive AI models and Embedded Finance.
William Jalloul, Founder & CEO: “At the core of naming our startup, we’ve always had small businesses in mind. The path for them is never straight; there are always ups and downs, and it’s never the same. This reminded us of waves and how they flow. The waves symbolize both downturns and opportunities, which invariably come with a cost in terms of capital, therefore pay. That’s why we settled on the name Flowpay.”
Meiro
Customer intelligence platform that helps brands to understand and activate their customers’ data across different touchpoints.
Pavel Bulowski, Co-founder & CPO: “Being founded in Singapore by a European team, we were looking for two things. First, a local reference, the ‘Asian flair’ if you will and a description of a problem we are solving. Meiro means maze or labyrinth in Japanese and felt that it really captures how easy it is to get lost in the labyrinth of customer data. It also really nicely worked visually as we chose a labyrinth symbol as part of our identity.”
Plenti
Polish platform for renting electronic devices in a circular economy model, enabling access to the latest gear on demand.
Wojtek Rokosz, Co-Founder & CEO: “Choosing Plenti was a journey through an extensive Excel sheet, full of potential names, but Plenti captured the essence of our mission best. It signifies the abundance we offer – access to a wide array of devices and choices, transcending traditional ownership. Our ethos centers on the circular economy, ensuring that users enjoy the latest tech in an eco-friendly and efficient manner. ‘Plenti’ is more than a name; it’s our commitment to providing plenty, promoting sustainability, and redefining ownership in the tech world.”
GameTree
Startup that unites gamers with new friends and games to play.
Dana Sydorenko, Co-founder & CEO: “The name of our gaming startup was inspired by the Tree of Life, which symbolizes the inseparable interconnectedness of all life on earth. We believe that games have this superpower to interconnect people into one big family, and we want to use the name to show that no matter what we play, we are all connected through games. That’s why connecting people no matter where they are and helping them find true gaming friends has become the foundation of our company and its main goal.”
Vocalls
Startup that automates and streamlines voice services on customer lines worldwide using artificial intelligence.
Artem Markevich, Co-founder & CEO: “When we set out to find a name for our company, we wanted it to resonate with the core idea of our product. At the same time, it should be simple and easy for people to remember. Our service is based on voice services and automating customer calls using AI. We wanted this to be reflected in the name at first glance. The concept started with the word vocal or voice, highlighting the vocal nature of our technology, and “calls,” which points to the communication aspect. By merging these elements, we created Vocalls – a name that not only signals the connection of voice calls and technology but is also easy to pronounce and remember.”
