15 innovative ideas were presented at Starter Idea Hackathon

On 17 February, the University of Tartu Startup Lab opened the spring season of the Starter idea development programme. The event lasted for almost five hours and was held at the Delta Centre of the University of Tartu. There were 50 participants and the ideas ranged from medicine to building wooden houses.

The idea hackathon participants listened to inspiring speeches and pitched their own ideas. The hackathon was led by the coach of creative self-realisation Harald Lepisk, who helped participants validate their ideas and taught them pitching. Ermo Tikk, the ecosystem strategist at Startup Day, introduced the Tartu startup scene, talked about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and recommended the participants to find an idea that they really believed in. Kaisa Ehrpais shared her experience in the programme and encouraged all participants to develop their ideas. Praising the Starter workshops, she admitted to still using the notes from these.

The teams discussed which problems their ideas could solve and started testing the viability of their ideas. The hackathon ended with new and clearer presentations. In addition, ideas on how to make borrowing from banks easier, stop ageing with the help of genes and get rid of medical waste were introduced. At the end of the day, new teams were formed who will start to further test the viability of their ideas and develop them further.

Leader of the Tartu Starter programme Maret Ahonen commended the students’ ambition to create new technological solutions.

There were both students with previous entrepreneurial experience and those with no previous experience in the field attending the event. The students really enjoyed the format of the event, which offered a more varied learning experience. This is how Gaida Kertu Roos, a student of the Faculty of Medicine, commented on the event, “It’s really fun! There is a lot of action in the event and it seems entrepreneurial people from all parts of Tartu have gathered here.”

The Starter programme is financed by the European Social Fund. Read more at startuplab.ut.ee.