Last week, Rise Vilnius, a 550 sq. m site for fintech startups, was opened in downtown Vilnius by the Barclays bank. The Rise platform kicked off with its Rise and Hack 2016 Fintech Hackathon where 59 individuals and 12 teams took part in gamification, mobile payments and chainblock tracks.

Team Etronika was announced as the winners of gamification challenge with 1000 EUR in cash from Barclays as a prize. They created the “Bank City” app for banks that is supposed to boost customer engagement whilst using banking apps. It is a virtual 3D city where one’s funds are represented as citizens, beneficiaries as buildings, etc. For instance, receiving funds to one’s account makes buildings grow. The app displays one’s spending and analytics in an engaging manner, it allows to share information to social networks and to invite friends. Businesses and/or e-commerce companies should also benefit from the solution by offering virtual features and interaction opportunities.

Chainblock challenge and 1000 EUR in cash from SAVY was won by the Chainblock team that introduced a P2P Energy Exchange Platform. Their idea is to democratize the energy market by connecting small private energy producers (such as individuals having rooftop PV panels and some surplus energy) and customers that wish to buy energy particularly from these independent producers. A blockchain and a token system should allow buyers and sellers to choose how much energy should be bought and sold to/from the grid and to/from independent producers/private buyers.

Finally, team TipTap was voted to be the winners of the mobile payments challenge and overall hackathon winners. They created an app that allows to tip waiters without cash. Both users and service providers need to log in and create their profiles. As waiters check in at the beginning of their shifts, users start seeing their profile and can tip them and/or leave a comment. The team intends to charge tip receivers a 2% commission fee, but it could also offer analytics and advertising opportunities for businesses. Team TipTap won 1000 EUR in cash from Paysera, a place for all team members at Rise Vilnius and other prizes.

You can watch the full video of Rise and Hack final pitches below: