Winners of StarterEstonia finals have been announced

The StarterEstonia finals were held on 26 May in Tallinn at the startup and technology conference Latitude59. Three teams from StarterTartu and seven from StarterTallinn competed in the tough contest.

The main prize of StarterEstonia, three StarterTallinn prizes and numerous special prizes from investors and partners were handed out. The jury included representatives of the companies that offered the prizes. The main prize of StarterEstonia – tickets to the international business festival SHIFT in Turku – went to team Ehitusnurk, a platform where businesses can sell surplus building materials to other businesses and consumers.

Winners of special prizes awarded by supporters and partners:

➔    Special prize from Avokaado – team Smart Ring

➔    Special prize from EIT RawMaterials – teams Briny and Ehitusnurk

➔    Special prize from the Estonian Business Angels Network EstBAN – team Minesweeper With Friends

➔    Special prize from Hedman Law Firm – team Ehitusnurk

➔    Special prize from Hooandja crowdfunding platform – team PastaPro

➔    Special prize from Prototron – team Smart Ring; and consultation for team PastaPro

➔    Special prize from SEB Estonia – team Ehitusnurk

➔    Special prize from Tallinn Creative Incubator – team UpIt

➔    Special prize from the Startup Centre of Tallinn University of Technology – team PowerGrid Plus

➔    Special prize from the Tehnopol Startup Incubator – team UpIt

➔    Special prize from Tera Ventures – team UpIt

Read further about the teams’ ideas.

According to Sandra Saarniit, a representative of Startup Estonia, the teams’ ideas this year were evidently more focused on sustainability than ever before. “The ideas were good and distinctive, but the pitches could always be even better,” she said.

The winner of the main prize of StarterEstonia, member of team Ehitusnurk, Gerda Tomson, was very grateful to the Starter programme. “The programme was an eye-opener: I gained much new information and saw how cool and supportive the startup world is,” she said.

Members of team Homies of StarterTartu, Orjus Tudavekar and Deepika Uttam Sambrekar, shared that they received good feedback and many new contacts by participating in Latitude59. “We got good experiences and motivation to continue working from the conference.”

The last StarterTartu programme will begin with an ideas hackathon on 14 September.

The programme is funded by the European Social Fund.