Lefteris Papageorgiou of Entranet
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Lefteris Papageorgiou, the co-founder and CEO of Entranet, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of Entranet – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
The world is changing rapidly. The demographics show that we are living during the biggest increase of humans on the planet since the dawn of humanity. In the next 30 years, the people living in cities are going to double. The cities will have to do the same either in size or in number. Most probably, it will be a combination of both.
The houses will have to be a lot ‘’smarter’’, but in a way that anyone can operate them. The technology has to be easy to install, easy to use, easy to configure, update, and expand.
Entranet has designed and developed the easiest smart home system ever. The design is based on the interaction simplicity in everyday use of technology.
Entranet’s mission is to make every house in the world smart.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
Mostly the lack of funding. We have presented the company, as an investment opportunity, to more than 200 investors and we only just recently finalized our first deals.
Also, we experienced skepticism from clients regarding our first product, talk2lift.
talk2lift is the first speech recognition device designed for elevators worldwide, allowing you to say either the name, the profession, or the floor you are looking for, and it will take you to your destination. This was achieved through the noise rejection algorithms Entranet has developed that can take the accuracy up to 97%.
talk2lift (talk2lift.com) is quite popular today due to the COVID-19 crisis and the fact that the coronavirus can stay active on the elevator buttons for up to 9 days.
We had to overcome the lack of trust towards a startup with a product that is a global innovation and convince clients that we are not going anywhere any time soon, and that if they decided to work with us, we wouldn’t let them down after the sale.
What does the future hold for Entranet?
Entranet’s product line was really highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nowadays, everyone prefers to simply talk rather than touch any surfaces. We think that in the coming years, the no-touch way will become the standard way of interacting with devices.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Fort Lauderdale?
I have seen great work in the whole state of Florida. The technology around the assisted living market is exceptional.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
As a great philosopher of our time says: ‘’It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!’’.