Welcome to the ESCALTECH project materials section. In this section you can find useful materials related to the project.

Publication

From Challenges to Growth: The ESCALTECH Advantage: Insights from Dipanjan Das of Xchi (SoundxVision)

Scaling up a startup is often one of the most challenging yet rewarding stages of growth. Whether you’re a first-time founder or a seasoned entrepreneur, navigating the complexities of funding, market expansion, and operational scaling can be overwhelming. This is where ESCALTECH steps in to bridge the gap, providing targeted resources, mentorship, and a supportive community for tech startups looking to scale.

What is ESCALTECH?

ESCALTECH, an EU-cofunded project supported by the Interreg Europe Central Baltic Programme, is designed to help tech startups overcome the hurdles of scaling up. By offering training, workshops, and cross-border collaborations, ESCALTECH equips founders with the tools needed to scale their business internationally, all while fostering a community of peer support. Startups benefit from access to capital, market expansion strategies, and hands-on mentorship, with a focus on helping businesses thrive in both local and global markets.

To understand the real-world impact of ESCALTECH, we interviewed Dipanjan Das, co-founder of SoundxVision(Xchi), a company developing hardware for XR (Extended Reality) technologies. Here’s how ESCALTECH has supported their scaleup journey:

Scaling Up: The Initial Challenges

When asked about the biggest challenges Xchi faced before joining ESCALTECH, Dipanjan explained:

“Understanding the scaleup demographics was not easy before joining ESCALTECH. We were trying to navigate areas like industry distribution, geographic concentration, funding sources, revenue, and growth.”

For a startup like Xchi, with a focus on both hardware and software for XR technologies, identifying the right markets and growth strategies was crucial but complex.

How ESCALTECH Helped Overcome These Challenges

ESCALTECH provided the necessary training and workshops to help Xchi develop a focused scaleup strategy. According to Dipanjan:

“The training material was fantastic for first-time founders like us. We not only nailed down scaleup strategies but also figured out how to enter new markets in the EU, US, Asia-Pacific, and ROW.”

This tailored approach helped Xchi find clarity and direction, positioning them for long-term growth in diverse regions.

Key Benefits of ESCALTECH

The benefits of the ESCALTECH program are immense. Beyond cross-collaboration opportunities and peer support, Dipanjan highlighted several critical areas where the program provided significant value:

  • Access to Capital
  • Mentorship and Advisory Support
  • Networking and Partnerships
  • Market Expansion and Internationalization
  • Sales and Revenue Growth
  • Operational Scaling
  • Branding and Visibility
  • Technology and Innovation Support
  • Legal and Regulatory Assistance
  • Talent Acquisition and Development

The program’s holistic support system not only helped Xchi understand the scaleup landscape but also provided hands-on assistance in areas essential for international growth.

What Could Have Been Done Differently?
Looking back, Dipanjan notes that while Xchi gained a lot from ESCALTECH, they could have participated in more events and industry-themed startup gatherings.

“We had access to many events, but we were focused on improving product features for xChi,”

He also mentioned a desire for even more access to educational tools and meetups with successful founders who had recently scaled up, particularly in the hardware and software sectors. We at ESCALTECH value feedback and heavily depend on our community to help us become better. The feedback from all our Alumni has been taken into account when we built the program for the second batch.

Advice for Future Founders

When asked what advice he would give to other startups considering ESCALTECH, Dipanjan was clear:

“If you really want to scale up faster, you must join the second batch of ESCALTECH. We highly recommend it for all startup founders, even if you’re not a serial entrepreneur. We’ve done it, and you will too!”

Why You Should Join ESCALTECH

Whether you’re focused on hardware, software, or a hybrid of both, ESCALTECH offers a pathway to rapid and sustainable scaleup. The second batch of the program is starting soon, and it presents an excellent opportunity for ambitious founders to grow their startups. From understanding scaleup demographics to accessing new markets and forming crucial partnerships, ESCALTECH equips you with the tools you need to succeed.

Don’t miss out on this chance to accelerate your startup’s growth! Join the next batch of ESCALTECH and take your company to the next level.

To read the original article please visit our Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/company/escaltech

“Have a plan when sh*t hits the fan” – insights from the B2B sales training in Riga

On 22.1.2025 ESCALTECH companies gathered together at Riga Startup House for a B2B sales training given by four top experts in their fields: Janis Spogis, Lauris Lietavietis, Nauris Hortsts and Guntars Logins.

Our trainers hosted a panel discussion after the individual presentations and addressed questions from the audience. Left to right: Guntars Logins, Janis Spogis, Lauris Lietavietis, and Nauris Horsts.

Here are some key take aways from the session:

Jānis Spoģis / Sonarworks, ex-AirDog, Tele2

Understand your product-market fit! Sometimes this is 1 part talking and 3 parts listening. Discover what is the main benefit if your product to the customer and focus on promoters who will actively recommend your company. If your solution was not chosen, ask what does your customer NEED and what you can improve. Focus on understanding why you are not closing a deal and what you can do to change that.

Lauris Lietavietis / Oxylabs.io, BADideas.fund, ex-Printful, Prezi, Infogram

Identify your bottlenecks. For this you can use e.g. a funnel analysis and check your sales velocity. Below are some bottlenecks and possible solutions for them.

*Sales targets/closing: Hit the goal but have a plan for if or when you don’t! Eventually you won’t hit all your targets so figure out how you can prepare for that. This can include e.g. monitoring usage signals, upselling, and re-engaging.

*Long sales cycles: make sure you are talking to the right people. Validate your business idea and manage expectations.

*Thin pipeline. Sales is a number game: have enough relevant leads and review outreach process regularly. Have a pipeline coverage 3x bigger than your goal.

Nauris Horsts / Aerones, Ars Ratio ex-TestDevLab

We heard about different sales tools from CRMs to process support. Whatever you go for, here are some tips we learned from Nauris:

  • Do not overcomplicate
  • Do not drown
  • Integrate
  • Don’t get comfortable
  • Customize – make the systems work FOR YOU!
  • Trends 2025 and beyond: signal based selling!

Guntars Logins / Alfa Partners, SSE Riga, ex-Southwestern Advantage

  • Understand the other party. For this, you can use e.g. the NTABO checklist:

Need, Time (what is the deadline?), Authority (who are the decision makers?), Budget and Obstacles

  • Address the customer’s concerns along the sales process and clarify and customize already then -> in this case closing the deal can be just a formality
  • Tell the customer they can also say no and take away the pressure
  • “Feel the temperature” and make a “trial close” asking questions like “how does it sound so far?”
  • Don’t go too far in your sales efforts, this can be counterproductive

The event brought together companies from Finland and Latvia, both in person and online. This was a great opportunity to network and showcase the potential of cross-collaboration. One of the companies even got to present their product to a potential customer! In addition, the companies had the chance to have individual mentoring sessions with the trainers after the general presentation.

ESCALTECH companies participated in the event both in person and online. From Finland Tuntu/Kelosound was present in Riga as well as multiple Latvian companies, including Join, Skilloom, and Fintelligence. Also project partners DIMECC and Latvian IT Cluster (organizer of the event) were present.

We asked the companies what they thought of the event and here is what CEO of Tuntu Design/ Kelosound (Finland), Kirsi Ihalainen had to say.

What was your main take away from the B2B sales training?

“We met good contacts and leads that are taking us forward and helping us to expand our business outside Finland. The mentors were very professional and we started immediately implementing the information given by the mentors in our business processes.”

When asked if there was something in specific that can support their scale up goals, Kirsi mentioned that “The calculations by Lauris and information from Janis were very helpful, and the insights of other mentors were also valuable in order to grow the business in a reasonable way.”

In the times of online meetings, being present in person still has its benefits. According to Kirsi “it was worth being there [in Riga] in person because the only way to build meaningful relationships is possible by meeting people in person.”

Any greetings to other ESCALTECH companies or to the trainers/organizers?

  • “Networking in person is always worth it. Let’s meet and talk more!” Kirsi Ihalainen, Tuntu Design/Kelosound (Finland)

“Thank you for the great B2B Sales event, the presentations were so full of advice and also individual consultation was very valuable – great!” Kristine Vikle/Skilloom (Latvia)

“Thank you for the event – it was really well planned and of high quality” Zane Sauka/Race Tribe (Latvia)

We are very happy to have kicked off the year with such an insightful event for ESCALTECH companies, and are looking forward to many more exciting workshops, trainings, and events that will support the growth and scaling up of ESCALTECH companies. Stay tuned!