The digital services company Levira has invested €150,000 in the Estonian start-up Votemo as the company is preparing for expansion. The money will be used for product development and entry into new markets. This week the companies are visiting London together as Levira is organising a Business seminar for UK-based broadcasters in partnership with the Embassy of Estonia in London.

More than 60% of the audience is browsing on 2nd screen while watching TV or streaming online. TV Channels are losing money as 32% of the audience is browsing or speaking on the content they are watching at on someone else’s platforms.

Tõnis Vassar, Co-Founder and CCO of Votemo: “Our goal is to provide the broadcasters and live event organisers a set of tools to build a bridge between their audiences and their own digital channels, instead of sending people to social media portals where they can get lost while browsing cat videos.”

With Votemo, broadcasters can provide the audience an opportunity to participate in the show and influence the debates and conversations. Voting and commenting solutions, sending questions and emotions to Live studio are just some of the services Votemo is offering.

Commenting on the investment, Martti Kinkar, development manager for media services at Levira, said: “We believe that cooperation with Votemo will give Levira the opportunity to offer its customers innovative services and attract new customers. We will continue our joint exhibitions and joint offers this year”.

Tõnis Vassar pointed out that “Over the past year, all major social media platforms have opened their own TV services. The audience wants to talk and share their moods with others. This habit has been encoded by the daily use of social media. Since television does not yet offer these possibilities directly, the television viewer tends to disappear into the exciting worlds of social media.” 

Kinkar continued: “Votemo is already cooperating with many media and telecom companies in the Baltic-Nordic region and has won several awards during its first year of operation. Now that the product is ready and tested, the next step is to win the hearts of major European TV stations and here Levira can help”

Levira is one of the biggest independent TV playout centres in Northern Europe. Levira transmits programs to viewers in the Baltic States, Scandinavia and Europe as well as Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The majority of local TV programmes in Estonia are transmitted through Levira’s towers.

Levira has two shareholders: the Republic of Estonia (51%) and the French telecom and broadcasting company TDF (49%).

Votemo is Estonian startup and alumni of accelerator programs Elevator Startups, Telia Vunk Labs and Storytek Creative Hub. Votemo is a platform for Broadcasters to make programmes more engaging. In addition to voting and commenting, Votemo brings emotional icons from social media to TV for the audience to express their moods. Votemo can be used with all TV solutions, including web TV and TV applications. Votemo has started collaborating with the Baltic TV channels, such as TV3, TV6, TTV, ETV (Estonian Public Broadcasting) and Telia TV. The participation rate is about 7% of the audience.

Business seminar for UK-based broadcasters – “Why choose Estonia for a Post-Brexit EU Broadcasting Licence?”

The seminar will offer an opportunity for UK-based broadcasters to learn about Estonia and demonstrate how Estonia can serve as the European licensing base for you following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The representatives of the Estonian government, the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) and AS Levira will talk about the possibilities and digital solutions Estonia can offer to overcome potential challenges that broadcasters could face in the post-Brexit media landscape. The seminar is hosted by the Estonian Embassy in London at 44 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London SW7 5PJ. Thursday, May 2, 2019, from 2:30 pm to 5:00pm.

Key contacts:

Mr. Tõnis Vassar, CCO & Co-Founder of Votemo Phone: +372 5237 855, E-mail: tonis@votemo.eu

Mr. Martti Kinkar, Development Manager for Media Services, AS Levira Phone: +372 550 5451, E-mail: martti.kinkar@levira.com

EVENT RSVP: Ms. Kati Niin, Assistant to the Management Board, AS Levira Phone: +372 680 4000,  E-mail: rsvp@levira.com