This document discusses upcoming trends for startups in 2018. Some key trends mentioned include increased automation and simplification of services, growth in connectivity through the internet of things, further development of artificial intelligence and virtual/augmented realities, an emphasis on health, sustainability and renewable energy, and the rising influence of Asia in technology and startups. Platforms for startups to get funding and promote their ideas like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Reddit are also summarized.

1. We are young and talented team that is passionate about startups.
We would like to share with you our view on upcoming trends
and some tools for startups to use.
We hope that our knowledge will be helpful for you.
Every year we put more and more of
our lives on the internet all thanks to
rapidly growing number of different
devices connected to world wide web.
According to Business Insider till 2025 there will be 55 billions IoT
devices, 6 times more than in 2017.
In 2018 we’ll see a lot of new startups related to connecting our lives
to the internet. Digital workspaces, online storage rooms, dog walker
finder. Even profile database to help you find info about
a person you have a meeting with.
If you would define startup trends
in 2018, automation and simplifying
will be the right words to use. Nowadays we live in the world
where innovations are coming from reinventing things but in
more convenient way.
Startups rethink our everyday needs and actions and present
new ways to make our lives easier and more beneficial.

2. At this point almost everybody is
familiar with Uber or Spotify or
Airbnb. These startups are provi-
ding services more
efficiently than bigger companies.
Sometimes companies work in
global way trying to meet all
human needs in one solution.
Disruptive innovations are
simplifying those needs. Someti-
mes people don’t need or want
big hotel rooms with all the ad-
ditions, they just want a place to
sleep, so they rent a room in a
stranger’s house for a couple of
nights. Nowadays people don’t
want to buy records, they simply
want to listen to music, so they
use Spotify.
We already have self-driving cars
and 2018 will be the year of their
continuous growth. But it will not
stop at just making driving easier.
In the near future we’ll be intro-
duced to chef robots that will
allow you to have homemade
food without any effort.

3. 2017 was the year of AI boom and it will not stop there. But there
was a lot of controversy with AI being unpredictable in certain
situations and sometimes making the wrong move. With that in
mind in 2018 it will be more enquired to avoid
unexpected actions that could upset general public.
AI will be incorporated to help ease human work and sometimes
make it fully automatic.

4. With the growing amount of our personal infor-
mation existing online it is not surprising how
many new security solutions are out there.
In past couple years there was a lot of hacking
attacks and data leakage, so now with the help of learning neural
networks and AI new startups can make your data more secure.
Paying hackers to detect security bugs is and will be a big thing in
the future to make sure big companies are protected and your data
with them. One company even provides password-free security
service to eliminate human factor errors.
Hype around
Bitcoin in 2017 was huge.
And it will not go away this year.
Growth of IoT is causing the need in cryptocurrency
so it is easier for people to live online. Currently a lot of online
retailers accept bitcoin and their number is increasing. In the near
future people will be introduced to blockchains that will help with
understanding cryptocurrency and how to use it. Cryptocurrency
will be used in industries other than online shopping or gaming,
but investments or real estate, and will be very helpful in chaotic
world of IoT.

5. Virtual reality has a huge potential
in gaming industry introducing
new ways of interacting with other
gamers and game itself. But it can
give you a lot more than that. You
can visit other countries, travel to
outer space or even perform sur-
gery. Virtual reality as well as aug-
mented reality can be used not
just for entertainment, but for pro-
duct creation, case study simula-
tions, education and employee
training. Augmented reality will
help marketing to become even
more interactive while changing
the world around us.
THANKS TO AR
YOU WILL BE
ABLE TO „TRYON”
NEW
FURNITURE OR
WALLPAPERS, TO
CHECK
PRODUCTS
BEFORE BUYING
THEM, TO PLAY
LIVE ACTION
GAMES.

6. In recent years market was introduced to customizable beauty and
health products. Rapid growth of technology, in particular 3D printing,
allows companies to personalize a lot of their products. But not just
tangible products. Nowadays you could get
personalized services or software. Thanks to some
startups you will have a personal fitness trainer,
doctor and shopping advisor in your pocket
at any moment. It’s not that difficult for
manufacturers and producents to
customise their products, especially
when they have limited amount
of adjustments. And at the end of the
day even more expensive personalised
products are more efficient and will build
better relations with customers.

7. Most people associate startups with technology and will be
right to some point. A lot of startups incorporate technology
in industries where techs are not that common. It will make
solving problems industries could have easier and more
convenient.
It’s not a secret that AI is able to make human
work easier and more efficient. But still there is a
stigma around artificial intelligence created by
dystopian films and literature. However AI
industry is growing very fast in the last
years because of its potential and
possibilities. In the next couple of years
AI will be implemented in different
startups and companies, that will improve
public opinion about it.

8. 2017 was a year that
brought us a lot of strange
foods, for example cheese
tea, black ice cream,
foodwith gold leaves in it.
But in 2018 startups in
food industry will shift
from weird to healthy.
Growing popularity of vegan
lifestyle caused a rise of startups
focusing on expanding food choices for
plant-based eaters. Also farming will be in focus
in years to come. Overpopulation forces us to
look for new alternative protein foods and to
expand farming industry to feed people and fight
starvation in third world countries.
2017 was a year that
brought us a lot of strange
foods, for example cheese
tea, black ice cream,
foodwith gold leaves in it.
But in 2018 startups in
food industry will shift
from weird to healthy.
Growing popularity of vegan
lifestyle caused a rise of startups
focusing on expanding food choices for
plant-based eaters. Also farming will be in focus
in years to come. Overpopulation forces us to
look for new alternative protein foods and to
expand farming industry to feed people and fight
starvation in third world countries.

9. Virtual and augmented realities will play a huge role
in video game development.
Last year we saw an example of its enormous impact on gaming
community with Pokemon Go. And in 2018 games will go even further.
Every year gaming industry moves boundaries of what
you can and can’t do in virtual worlds to give their
players completely different experience.
Virtual and augmented realities will play a huge role
in video game development.
Last year we saw an example of its enormous impact on gaming
community with Pokemon Go. And in 2018 games will go even further.
Every year gaming industry moves boundaries of what
you can and can’t do in virtual worlds to give their
players completely different experience.

10. Instagram accounts and influencer blogs are rapidly turning into
businesses and new content channels for marketers.
And in sight of the overwhelming popularity increase of these
channels there is supposed to be somebody to manage all the
business offers, content creation and marketing.
There are more and more companies that offer mediation in
collaborations between influencers and their sponsors.
Also creating influencers will be a thing in 2018.
Big companies are and will be paying people to travel,
to try different products, to live luxury lifestyle to sell their
products to influencer’s followers.

11. Thanks to almost absolute access to internet
people are becoming more and more concerned
about their health.
People start eating more non-processed food,
hitting the gym and changing their lifestyle.
And at the journey to better living they will have
to look for help.
Not just personal fitness trainer apps will be at
the rise, but also digital health services will
become more popular.

12. We all already know about electric cars and how they are
more efficient. And in the next couple of years we will be
presented with a few new models to choose from. But
energy saving management will not stop just there.
People are getting interested in renewable energy and its
storage because of the rapid growth of Earth’s population.
People need energy management tools to reduce energy
waste at home and at work. Countries developing waste-
-to-energy plans to slow Earth’s pollution. Interest in
energy industry will lower prices for alternative energy
sources and will make it more accessible.
And it will open doors for startups that are developing
solutions for energy managing.

13. Subscription models are nothing
new these days. But we used to
think about it as an
entertainment service.
In recent years a lot of software
manufacturers became
software providers.
A few years ago you would buy
programs and just use them.
Nowadays however to use the
same program you are
obligated to pay monthly fee.
The amount of
companies
offering their software as
a service is growing
rapidly over the last
years and will continually
grow in 2018. Startups will be
focusing in particular on cloud
computing with elements of
cybersecurity and e-accounting.

14. Long time ago only
wealthy people had
access to all tech
novelties that were
considered luxury
things. Industrial growth caused mass production of gadgets
and made them cheaper and more accessible. But not all
countries had the same growth speed. Some regions of the
world now have more advanced technology than others and
growth pass differentiate from continent to continent.
USA in recent years
are losing its leadership
to Europe and Asia, but
still can impress the world
with great startups. According
to Global Startup System Report
USA cities dropped their positions
in favor of European cities. Canada on
the other hand strengthens positions in
Top 20 cities with Toronto and
Vancouver. Thanks to Silicon
Valley and many small
successful startups America
will hold its leader spot, but
very rapid technological growth
of Asian countries will shortly
cause America to step back.

15. After World War II Asian
countries showed fenomenal speed
of technological growth and now
China and Japan are competing with the
USA for leadership. Most of the latest
tech inventions were coming from
Asian countries. Lately South Korea and
Singapore joined technological revolution in Asia. Governments are
helping to create beneficial environment for startups to develop to
boost the economy. And in next couple years we’ll see the results of
their cooperation.
London is surely the European’s
capital of startups but other big cities
are not falling behind. Berlin and
Paris are on the rise cumulating the
power of different nationalities. For
long time Europe was the center of
industrialization and now European countries are standing their
ground being among the world’s most advanced countries. Surely
Europe isn’t the leader it once was but still is a motherland for a lot
of great inventions and startups.

16. To launch their product startups need funding, contacts and
public engagement. Thanks to our technologically advanced
world they can find all of that online. There are plenty of
platforms to help startups to find investors or to promote their
products. And nowadays there is no way for startups to launch
without online help.

17. Crowdfunding is simply donations with extra steps. Usually
startups provide some sort of product in exchange of small
amount of financial help. It could be final product, discount to
purchase the product or custom change to product.
Different platforms can have different requirements for startup
projects but at the end of the day basic idea is the same.

18. Probably this is the most popular platform for startups that is
known even outside the startup community.
Kickstarter is used to raise funds for upcoming businesses and
project ideas to help them break the seal. However some risk is
involved with managing startup campaign on Kickstarter: if you
don’t reach your fund goal you will lose all that money.
But still Kickstarter is a great place to start.
Indiegogo is very similar to Kickstarter, but with some important
differences.
Unlike on Kickstarter, here you can raise funds for non-profit
projects. Also if you didn’t reach your goal you still can keep the
money you were donated. While the purpose is the same (to raise
money) Indiegogo has some key features that is not available on
Kickstarter.

19. This is the platform for startups that are looking more for venture
capital instead of just small fundings.
RocketHub also offering advices on where you could find
additional funds. Besides that you can find helpful articles on the
website. It is not like other crowdfunding sites but it shares the
same core idea only with different features.
Patreon is without doubts the most popular crowdfunding
platform among creators on Youtube, Instagram or Twitch.
Unlike others, this site is a subscription-based platform, that
focuses on funding artists instead of projects. Usually creators
offers special content on Patreon in return for subscription that
is not available on their main platform.

20. 50%
DISCOUNT
To raise funds firstly you need to draw
people to your crowdfunding platform.
Promoting your projects online will be very helpful. It will create
natural flaw of visitors for your project. Some startups narrow
their promotion to social media, but while it’s great way to show
your project it’s more important at the early stages of your
campaign to focus on sites where you can get some feedback.
You will be surprised that Reddit is used not only to post memes
on the internet. This huge website also has forum topics for
startups and entrepreneurs
where you can share your
project ideas. People will
upvote your post if they
like it and discuss your
ideas.

21. Maqtoob is a platform that helps
businesses at the early stages
providing useful information about
business tools. You’ll be able to learn
how to reduce costs or improve
performance. Also there are
reviews and recommendations
from other users available for
your needs.
This is a website that help you to share your project
with others, to answer their questions about it
and gain feedback. It will allow you to
introduce your startup to the world
of people interested in new and
innovative ideas.

22. Social media is a great way to show your project or upcoming
product to the world.
It usually doesn’t matter which platform in particular you will use,
just chose medium that is most suitable for your product. Social
media are used to surround yourself with people who are
interested in your project and will support you.
While it’s also a good place to find feedback, it will not be as
constructive, as on Reddit for example, because your following is
built on people who sympathize you.

23. If you work with a remote team you surely will look for platform
to manage your project online and to communicate with
teammates easier. Good interaction between co-workers often a
key to perfect results. There are plenty of tools to help you
manage your projects in the most efficient way possible.

24. Slack is easy to use communication tool that allows you to be in
touch with your remote team at any time. You can create
#channels to ease communication even more and share files and
documents.
This is software as a service platform that allows you to create
and assign tasks when you work with a remote team and in office.
You can create projects and invite teammates to join. Manage
projects with assigning tasks to particular person, setting
deadlines and checking-in when task is done. Built in calendar
will show you all the tasks and their deadlines.
Upcoming platform that combines a lot of features needed to
manage projects. You can create tasks and communicate with
teammates within one platform. But if you are not assigned to
any project this platform will still be useful for you. It will allow
you to set up events, to write a blog and even to become an
investor if you find a project that will get you interested.