Ragnar Sass &
Kadri Barclay

The gala for Estonian Startup Awards 2022 took place on January 27, 2023. Almost 500 startuppers and impact makers gathered at The Glass Hall of the Song Festival Grounds to officially wrap up 2022 and celebrate the biggest wins of the year.

Most noteworthily, 10 award trophies found a new home - scroll down to see the FULL LIST OF NOMINEES, what made them stand out, and who won the Estonian Startup Awards 2022.

PS. If you missed the show, you can watch it here and check out the photo gallery. Big thanks to our fantastic duo of hosts - Kai Isand and Tim Vaino. And click ‘Follow’ on Estonian Startup Awards’ very own Instagram account (about time, right) not to miss the Estonian Startup Awards 2023, happening on January 26, 2024.

For the 4th year in a row, we’re summing up the Estonian Startup Awards! The list of nominees was exceptionally rich this year (as you’re about to see) and the number of participating jury members (235) broke previous records. First of all - thank you for your hard work building and supporting the Estonian startup scene!

Many would say that 2022 was just another stretch in the limbo of challenges we’ve overcome lately. But our ecosystem is significantly diverse. As a whole, we grew, and we’ll keep on growing in 2023. When one vertical is hit, another sector rises. 12 startups raised at least €25M in 2022. We’ve got success stories coming from all directions.

2022’s funding news also brought us two €1B companies - Glia and Veriff. The 9th and 10th addition to Estonia’s unicorn barn will probably be the last for a while though. The pressure on startups’ valuation will simply be too tight.

On a positive note, we’re not the only ones feeling that pinch. Difficult times determine one’s true worth and that makes it easier to shine out - our startup awards have caught the eye of Sequoia Capital and their representatives joined the gala this year. Can we expect any news from this scouting? Time will tell.

PS. To see all the startups officially registered in Estonia, check out Startup Estonia’s database. In January 2023, there were 1440 names listed - the most per capita in Europe!

What can we conclude from this year’s awards?

the next generation is here
Our ecosystem has buzzed about Skype mafia, Bolt mafia, Wise mafia, and even the Pipedrive mafia. It’s clear that the most successful startups in our ecosystem have become a fertile breeding ground for the next generation of founders. And that’s great!
But looking at the list of nominees for 2022, they are nowhere to be seen - the new generation has arrived. The list is absolutely full of surprises and fresh names, with no clear connection to any local unicorns like Bolt or Skype. Our community is maturing and growing in new dimensions.
Grit is paying off
Founders like Avery and Timmu are living examples of how much hard work, grind, and grit it can take to finally get their startups off the ground. Justifiedly so, the local founder community has finally recognized the patience and persistence of these two die-hards.
Avery Schrader’s Modash was struggling to grow for years, floating three steps away from oblivion, but finally turned profitable, finishing the year with €2M in revenue in Q4, and raising a seed round of $2M in 2022. For all these reasons and so many more, Avery is the Foreign Founder of The Year 2022.
Timmu Tõke has been the CEO of Ready Player Me for 9 years, through countless pivots. In 2022, they raised a $56M series B round led by US investor Andreessen Horowitz, bringing the total funding to $72M. Timmu is the Founder of the Year 2022.
Another noteworthy example is Karoli Hindriks, CEO of Jobbatical. Founded in 2014, Jobbatical recently re-climbed to its former heights with a bold pivot. Last year, the company tripled its revenue, and the founder community recognized Karoli with a voting lineup that landed her in the top 3 in 2 categories: the Revenue Hack and the Founder of the Year!
superstars keep the sector afloat (but Many will sink)
The sector keeps growing and will end on the plus side in 2023. But largely thanks to the big guys like Veriff and Bolt. Leaving our unicorns out of the equation for a moment, it’s clear the startup sector is facing a new reality.
The wave of layoffs in Estonian startups just started gaining momentum last autumn. Pipedrive’s news to let 143 employees go will not be the last or the biggest. Rather, it will become a routine. The overall employee count in our startup sector is predicted to grow by 20% by the end of 2023. But many will shut doors, and a few lucky ones will compromise with an exit through M&A. Sometimes lose, always win.
Unless you are in certain sectors, serving a desperate global need (like DefenceTech, DeepTech, etc), fundraising will be challenging in 2023. Smart management of one’s runway will become a key to survival for many. Down rounds are becoming normality.
wunderkind WEB3 is down (but still kicking? Maybe?)
This superstar went down as fast as it rose, into the gutters, along with crypto. For the last 6 months, the negative news have been piling up.
At last year’s awards, 3commas was shortlisted in 4(!) categories and titled one of the biggest success stories of Estonian Startup Visa. In December 2022, the company was hacked and is facing its biggest challenges yet. Change, shortlisted in two categories in 2021, is currently busy downsizing and laying off employees.
The knowledge that nothing is “a sure thing” in the startup world keeps us all humble. Trends come. And, sometimes, they go.
The fresh pop-up categories of 2022
This year the awards presented 4 new categories - EdTech, DeepTech, CleanTech, Defence & Security Tech. Each was chosen for a reason.
- EdTech rushed to the rescue amid the Coronavirus restrictions, and rocketed. The startups in this sector are leading a slow but impactful revolution.
- Estonian DeepTech has somehow slipped under the radar, but in Q3 2022 we discover that the sector employs 15% (1430 people) of the startuppers in the local ecosystem.
- CleanTech vertical has become wider and more inclusive as more and more companies incorporate a significant element of sustainability into their core business. Thinking green is the only way forward, and our next generation of founders knows it, so this category is here to stay.
- The rise of Defence & Security Tech is unfortunate for obvious reasons. The urgent need for this sector to shine is even more obvious. A lot has happened in a year!
the sectors to keep an eye on in 2023
And yes, despite the stumble of Web3, we still dare to make predictions for 2023! As the Founder of The Year (Timmu Tõke, Ready Player Me) came from the gaming vertical, we’ve got eyes in that direction. Maybe even include it as a separate category in 2023?
Another exciting arena is Food Tech. Born out of pure global necessity, this vertical is the merging ground of the latest achievements in CleanTech, DeepTech, and other neighboring sectors. It’s probably worth it to put FoodTech on your radar.

CATEGORY 1

The Big Bang of 2022

A newcomer whose loud arrival in 2022 impressed and inspired us all. Their product launching skill would make anyone jealous. What they might lack in experience, they make up for with passion and potential to be the fastest-rising star in the next few years.

The Big Bang of 2022 was presented by Kaari Kink from Superangel who stressed that success does not happen in isolation. “KOOS has a prodcut that only recently launched but it has made us talk, it has mde us excited. We’re impressed.”

“I like this category because, as a community, we get to witness the early launch of these startups launch as a community yand we have the privilidege to support them and watch them get to the global stage.

WINNER: KOOS

2ND: VOOL

3RD: Arbonics

SHORTLIST FOR THE BIG BANG OF 2022

A) Arbonics
Arbonics is building a new forest economy to help landowners realise the positive climate impact and value of their land. In January 2022, the company was not even incorporated. In a year, they launched their data-based product in Estonia, Latvia and Finland, raised a €1.9M round, and moved from incpororation to signed customers in under 9 months. Since the launch in September 2022, over 500 landowners (with portfolios of more than 200 000 hectares) have reached out, far exceeding the company's expectations. Their diverse team is fully remote - currently in Asia, Africa, Europe and UK.

B) Cerebrum Hub
Cerebrum Hub is an online learning platform helping adults to start a new career in IT by providing practical programs built by industry professionals. In January 2022, Cerebrum Hub launched its first program, had 53 graduates, and 107 customers. Without any risk-capital investments they generated €145K in revenue, entered the Latvian and Polish markets, and raised €80K with a loan from Swedbank to support further growth and enter new markets. A team of 5.

C) GIG-A
GIG-A is the first neobank in Japan, making banking easy for Japan’s foreign residents. In 2022, raised a €1.93M pre-seed round, got licensed in Japan, won 1st prize at Tokyo Financial Award 2021 (with only a set of slides, competing against pre-IPO companies and unicorns), and continued building their app. They opened their first 8 actual Japanese bank accounts in preparation for the public service launch scheduled for 2023. The company has a remote team of 15 people (10 nationalities, living in 6 countries).

D) KOOS
KOOS helps companies grow by letting people, who contribute to a business, earn a stake in it – with the potential for greater future returns and without changing the cap table. KOOS allows a new type of business model to form, where the community can earn a significant stake in the company (up to 30% with some of their customers). Launched in 2022, they raised €5.1M, hired a team of 18 (in EE & UK), created 2 products and got first customers (48 by the end of the year).

E) KWOTA
KWOTA is a transparent and traceable way to compensate for carbon footprints. They created the first global standard for digital verification of carbon emission savings from material recycling, and are partnering with global material producers to reduce carbon emissions. Founded in September 2021, the company is now present in Baltic States and Scandinavia, and about to launch in the DACH, UK, and US markets in 2023. In April 2022, the company raised a €1.5M pre-seed round, and just announced their €4.5M seed round. A team of 12.

F) Mifundo
Mifundo is an AI-based platform which makes cross-border lending possible for the banks and consumers in the EU. In 2022, they raised a pre-seed round of €1.2M, formed a team of 7 experienced people, received the license from FSA, built its core technology, and first banks signed the contract.

G) Miros
Miros is a deep tech company dedicated to building the next generation of Human Computer Interaction. Currently their Wordless Search application is used by ecommerce businesses. 2022 was a huge year for Miros - they raised a seed round of €2.1M, grew ARR 16x, and partnered up with SAP and Nvidia.

H) The Naturist
The Naturist is a sustainable food company with a mission to make food that promotes life. Crump, created by the Naturist, is a hemp-based protein crumble made to replace ground beef. Launched in Q2 2022, their revenue already exceeds €25K. The company raised €36K in May through the crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo and have ended their first 9 months of business with €100K in revenue.

I) VOOL
VOOL is the first complete EV charging solution that actually works - it uses the power grid 3x more effectively and saves up to 90% of electricity costs. In 2022, they raised €4.7M in funding, and assembled in-house hardware and software teams.

J) Werk
Werk is solving labour shortages in construction, by creating a community of skilled migrant workers and productising cross-border recruitment through a fully digitalized platform that vets, connects and relocates workers with companies. After raising a pre-seed round of $1.3M in March 2022, Werk hired a team of 15 people and has over 12 000 workers signed up on its platform. Werk aims to become the global blue-collar migration hub for all cross-border recruitment.

K) Zerofy
Zerofy simplifies a zero-carbon life for households, by automatically tracking emissions and reducing them with switching households to the most impactful low-carbon products and services. In 2022, the company was incorporated, they raised a €1.3M pre-seed round (with US and European investors), built a remote-first team (EE, CH, UA, SE, CA, BR), released their iOS app as limited realease in select European countries (in June), and made first revenue. Recently got public coverage in media such as Postimees and Fastcompany.

CATEGORY 2

The CleanTech of 2022

We only have one Earth. One home. Green innovation must become as great a need as the air we breathe. The startups in this category know - and teach us all - that sustainability is the only way forward!

This was one of the categories with very tight competition, with the top 5 running neck to neck. CleanTech is not just a vertical in its own right, it’s expanding more and more to other startup sectors as they prioritize sustainability.

“2022 was a record-breaking year for investments made into CleanTech,” said Erki Ani, CEO at Cleantech Estonia as he presented the award. "We have more founders than ever who keep sustainability close to their hearts. I’m proud to see the award go to a company that really prioritizes sustainability.”

WINNER: Comodule

2ND: Yaga

3RD: Woola

SHORTLIST FOR THE CLEANTECH OF 2022

A) Bikeep
Bikeep is building a network of secure and seamless bike parking in cities across the globe to decrease car dominance. A study in New Zealand found that the Net Social benefit of a 100-dock Bikeep network over 30 year period to a city is a minimum of €20M, proving the ROI for investment cases from reliable 3rd parties. In 2022, Bikeep doubled their revenue (to €2M), signed 150% more orders than the year before, and secured key partnerships that will open doors to North America, New Zealand, and Australia. All this with keeping the team headcount and cost basis on a stable level, thus achieving sustainable growth without any external funding.

B) Comodule
In 2022, Comodule partnered with some of the biggest brands in micromobility, providing connectivity to 250 000 (+66%) light electric vehicles; scaled in-house production; and started manufacturing 2 new product lines. Kõu Mobility Group had a successful year overall, with Tuul raising a bond on Nasdaq First North, expanding to Riga and adding 2200 scooters. Äike launched two new scooters, Äike T for private use and Äike 11 for sharing fleets, still the only ones produced outside of China. Kõu-Factory scaled up volumes by 3 times. Headcount grew from 119 to 197 people, revenue from €8.5M to €24.5M (3x growth YoY), while staying profitable.

C) Grünfin
Grünfin is making investing into sustainable instruments easy and accessible for everyone. Focusing on investments in climate change, equality, and health, Grünfin portfolios beat the 2022 market returns while emitting 60% less CO2 than S&P500 and investing only to companies that are 100% Paris Aligned. Launched in Germany; grew AUM 5x; and came out with a new business product for keeping and motivating talent.

D) PowerUP Fuel Cells
PowerUP Fuel Cells serves as a sustainable alternative to power generation in today’s world, and helps its users in various industries to reach the global net zero targets. Their vision is a world that runs on renewable energy with zero CO2 emissions. The company produces the best-in-class hydrogen fuel cell based electric generators and proton exchange membrane fuel cells. They launched their flagship product - UP1K fuel cell generator, as well as the UP Rack System in 2022. Added Telia to their ongoing partnerships and projects (such as ESA, with successful tests in NL, as well as focus on the Berkeley Marina event), and signed over 10 contracts with distributors across Europe. In 2022, raised a seed round, doubled the revenue (to €400K), closed direct sales orders for €100K in Q4, and hired a new production team with top-skilled engineers.

E) Roofit.Solar
Roofit.Solar combines the traditional Nordic metal roof design with progressive solar technology, using the environmentally-friendly SSAB Greencoat metal, and making solar more accessible and beautiful. This 2-in-1 solution reduces material and labor costs for both manufacturing and installation. The €6.4M A-round closed in 2021, has allowed them to double the international team in 2022, and move closer to their mission of empowering people to switch to solar energy.

F) Single.Earth
Single.Earth is building a new financial system that places nature at the heart of the economy, and is one of the first in the world to bring biodiversity credits to the ESG market. In 2022, Single.Earth launched to the retail market with Q4 revenue of XX (collected in just 6 weeks), protecting 450K+ ha of high biodiversity value forests in Brazil and Europe. They’ve inspired a new generation of forest carbon/biodiversity startups in Estonia while pitching both to local investors and customers.

G) Solarstone
Solarstone is a leading provider of sustainable solar roofing solutions. Their unique 2-in-1 technology saves homeowners thousands in costs, has reduced CO2 emissions by 12,830 tons, and produces 17,000 MWh of clean energy. In 2022, they raised a €10M A-round to take their universal solar panel solution to the masses, doubled the team size, doubled the turnover (to €3M), opened a new office in Tartu (production and showroom is still based in Viljandi!), and launched a new product - Solar Carport.

H) UP Catalyst
UP Catalyst produces sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite out of CO2 and biomass for many applications from green batteries (e.g. electric vehicle batteries) to biomedicine. In 2022, they received €4.8M in investments and grants, and expanded their market to the UK. The production capacity increased by 600% with graphite being added to the product line (they produce 1 ton of carbon material per every 3.7 tons of CO2). Their customer base grew by 217% and the number of sales agreements increased 5x.

I) Woola
Woola is using waste wool to replace plastic bubble wrap. Though their main focus in 2022 was on laying the foundation for future growth, Woola's revenue grew 7x (from €50K in 2021, to €350K in 2022). Woola held launch events in two new markets and taught people how to felt; their CEO won the title of "ettevõtlik maanoor" from PRIA; they proudly created the Woola sweater that got so popular people started trading it, and sparked a press photo competition between Estonian startups announcing funding rounds.

J) Yaga
Yaga is a marketplace for selling and buying secondhand fashion with a focus on emerging markets. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world - producing a single pair of jeans takes 7600L of water, and 33kg of CO2 is emitted. Establishing circular economy models in emerging markets is directly contributing to people's wellbeing and global sustainability. In 2022, net revenue grew 2.3x (to €1M), MAU grew 2x, GMV grew 2.6x, and €12M worth of fashion items were sold on the platform (2x growth YoY). The company raised a €2.35M seed round to scale up in South Africa and reach profitability.

CATEGORY 3

The Foreign Founder of 2022

Their Estonian might not be perfect yet, but they are the hungriest for success when it comes to building a startup, right here in Estonia, the Land of Unicorns.

In 2022, after years of being an active contributor to the Estonian startup scene, Avery won the community’s recognition with a strong majority of votes, to his own surprise: “I thought I was going for this Leonardo DiCaprio theme here - being nominated each year, but never actually get the award,” laughed Avery in his acceptance speech. “At least I still have his looks”.

The trophy was presented by the Award’s partner Deel, who believes that being a global, international, and diverse community is an asset for any ecosystem. ”Diversity really is not just a buzzword to throw around - it really works. When you bring together the best people from different backgrounds, cultures, and genders, you're able to solve problems much faster,” Deel’s team believes.

Diversity and our differences enrich us and the foreign founders among us are a clear example of this. Congrats, Avery!

WINNER: Avery Schrader, Modash

2ND: Anastasia Georgievskaya, HautAI

3RD: Niko Karstikko, BOB W

SHORTLIST FOR THE FOREIGN FOUNDER OF 2022

A) Anastasia Georgievskaya, HautAI
HautAI is a B2B, AI-powered, skin analytics SaaS platform for improving beauty and cosmetology consumers' conversion rates. In 2022, one year after the launch, HautAI’s client numbers tripled & MRR grew 10x. Company is profitable. Revenue in 2022: €2.4M. Going into 2023, Haut.AI works with 80 clients in 32 different markets, which includes the largest US skincare retailer, Ulta Beauty, NIVEA and Unilever.

B) Avery Schrader, Modash
Modash creates influencer partnership tools to help every creator earn a living. Avery Schrader's got grit. He proves that consistency builds a successful (and profitable) startup. Modash increased revenue 2.5x (€2.5M in 2022), raised $2M in funding, doubled the headcount, launched multiple new products, and facilitated more than 500,000 partnerships in 2022.

C) Emre Tinaztepe, Binalyze
Binalyze is a digital forensics and incident response solution. Revenue grew 300% (€2.6M in 2022), doubled the number of customers. Team of 81 people across 10 countries, incl the US and the UK; HQ in Tallinn. About to raise series A.

D) Farokh Shahabi Nezhad, Formaloo
Formaloo is a no-code collaboration platform that helps businesses create custom data-driven apps and tools. In 2022: 25,000+ active clients from 30+ countries; $700K in sales (700% YoY growth), opened 2nd office in Toronto to expand sales in North America. Finalizing the seed round.

E) Joao Rei, eID Easy
Joao Rei is a startup mentor, and now a cofounder: eID easy is an aggregator of identity based electronic signatures ("like Stripe, for signature methods"). In 2022, they did over half a million transactions through their API (2x more than the previous year) and started pilots with the top players in the Document Management category, like AdobeSign. In 2022 Q4 the revenue grew 5x (from September to December), and doubled across 2022 (to €45K).

F) Kimmo Rytkönen, Income
Income is an investment platform for alternative assets. Mobile and desktop product launched in 2021, reaching more than 7000 approved investors, and over €4.5M has already been invested through Income. Raised a €1.3M seed round in March. Revenue in 2022: €25K.

G) Kopal Maheshwari, Einsteins Square
Kopal Maheshwari's Einsteins Square (Lelab Solutions), is an online tutoring platform that specializes in life skills subjects, such as chess and coding, for children between the ages of 5 and 15. Bootstrapped with a seed funding of €2,500 in 2020, the company achieved ARR of €1.5M in 2022. Currently the leading player in the online chess tutoring market in the US. In 2018, Kopal was recognized as "40 under 40 most influential Indians" and as the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. She holds a Master’s Degree in Commerce and is passionate about early education.

H) Niko Karstikko, BOB W
Niko Karstikko's BOB W is a tech-enabled hospitality operator. Raised €21M in 2022, grew revenue 8x (2nd year in a row; to €370K in 2022), expanded to 6 countries, reached profitably in all markets, signed 36 properties (2165 apartments) across 22 new cities, completed two M&As, built a scalable autonomous operator tech stack, and boasted 4.8/5 public rating and NPS of 83 from guests.

I) Till Quack, Zerofy
Founded in 2022, Zerofy simplifies a zero-carbon life for households by automatically tracking emissions and actively optimizing them. Last year, they raised a €1.3M pre-seed round, built a remote-first team (EE, CH, UA, SE, CA, BR), and released an iOS app in June.

CATEGORY 4

The EdTech of 2022

The global “shutdown” of 2019 brought a need for disruptive education innovation. And that’s what the EdTech sector adjusted to deliver - through hackathons, pivots, and launches of new startups, we’re already sampling what the system of education could be at its best.

EdTech Estonia’s board member Märt Aro took the stage to present the award: “I’m glad we have the most important segment of startups finally listed as a separate category this year. We have no future without education, and education is the key!”

Märt added that Estonia is five times smaller than Finland but we have the same amount of EdTechs in our ecosystem. He continued to praise Startup Estonia for their hard work promoting and boosting the sector for the last 4 years. We are on our way to becoming the global leaders in revolutionizing the education system.

Congrats and a huge applause to 99math for popularizing one of “the most hated school subjects” among kids in Estonia and beyond. PS. The company just reached a bigger amount of users per year than Estonia has citizens!

WINNER: 99math

2ND: ALPA Kids

3RD: Lingvist

SHORTLIST FOR THE EDtech of 2022

A) 99math
99math is a mobile game that makes kids better at math. In 2022, the company raised €2M, and reached over 1 million monthly users. Next to their game for classrooms, they also launched a new Solo game in 2022 that kids can play at home. With the new home game, the first paying customers are coming in.

B) ALPA Kids
Educational games kids actually learn with. In 2022, ALPA Kids got 600K+ new users (6x growth compared to 2021), grew MRR 4x and had paying customers from 79 countries. They provided e-learning to 400+ educational institutions and helped 130K+ Ukrainian children continue to learn their native language. The team won the Tehnopol AI marathon for a research-based AI learning algorithm and was awarded by the Estonian President. A team of 6.

C) Cerebrum Hub
Cerebrum Hub is an online learning platform helping adults to start a new career in IT by providing practical programs built by industry professionals. In January 2022, Cerebrum Hub launched its first program, had 53 graduates, and 107 customers. Without any risk-capital investments they generated €145K in revenue, entered the Latvian and Polish markets, and raised €80K with a loan from Swedbank to support further growth and enter new markets. A team of 5.

D) Clanbeat
Clanbeat is promoting students’ growth and well-being. In 2022, they co-created the well-being action plan for the UN’s activities for near east refugees, partnered with AccelerateEstonia and served more than 15% of the Estonian schools, customised their service to the Ukrainian students in Estonia, and launched their service in Georgia. They were chosen as one of the best Nordic/Baltic start-ups at Stockholm Global Impact Summit by Holon IQ and won the WSA award. Revenue grew 70% in 2022. At the end of the year, Clanbeat launching microcoaching service SAGE for the adult market.

E) Futuclass
Futuclass is a platform for curriculum-aligned immersive STEM learning games in Virtual Reality. In 2022, they launched Futuclass School Kits as the turnkey solution for schools, teachers' mentoring program, increased the content library by 40%, signed the first distribution deal in the US market, and added a consumer version to their product portfolio (to be launched in a few weeks). The best indicator of traction is the doubling of Estonian schools using Futuclass, and the first school sales in the US.

F) Lingvist
Lingvist’s mission is to develop learning technology that enables radical improvement in human learning efficiency. In 2022 they launched 42 new language pairs and numerous new features, which allow users to turn books into customized language learning courses. Google Play nominated them as "one of the very best apps available on Android" and they had 170% quarterly growth in Q4.

G) Praktikal
Praktikal launched its STEM online education ecosystem in 2022, onboarding 100 Estonian schools (i.e. 25%). In 2022, the company raised €700K in a pre-seed round and generated over €215K in revenue. The team grew 3x (to 10 people, bringing in the expertise from Master's and Doctorate Degrees in STEM education). Praktikal was chosen by the European Commission to be scaled across Europe through its EDEHUB Acceleration Programme. Pilots are about to be launched in Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Finland.

H) Triumf Health
Triumf Health developed the Triumfland Saga mobile game for children to improve their health. As a bootstrapped company since 2017(!), they've been focusing on the European market, but 2022 brought new markets and a new distributor in GCC (Arab states as well as Egypt and Turkey). Ready to global in Q1 2023. PS. In 2022, they localized a version of the game into Ukrainian in just 3 weeks, with the support of volunteers, to support the mental health and continued education of refugee children. A team of 2.

I) Vivita
In 2022, Vivita globally launched one of its flagship products - “Vista - from Idea to Prototype Accelerator Programme” for 9–14-year-old children. Vista includes various prototyping and creative problem-solving workshops and games, where global experts from various fields are involved in the program as mentors and advisors. In 2022, they raised €1.9M, and successfully launched 15+ regional and global initiatives for empowering children’s entrepreneurial skills. They are operating at a total of 12 innovation studios in 7 countries on 4 continents (and opened a new studio in Honolulu, USA).

CATEGORY 5

The Wise Wallet of 2022

The best investors are team players, gate-openers, and bridge-builders. They give meaning to the phrase “smart money”. *Made at least 2 investments in 2022.

“Wise Wallet resonates with us because it’s making bets in the future,” says Sunly’s team who presented the award in the Wise Wallet category. “How do we see the future? Investing in startups is not about what you can see today and tomorrow. It’s a world you can imagine in a decade. The world has gone upside down, but thanks to some Wise Wallets of 2019 we are able to react, respond and resolve, today.”

This category was won by a landslide and was accompanied by the biggest applause from the audience. “Wow. I’ve never won an award before. And this one is especially appropriate as most of my wallet comes from Wise,” laughed Triin as he accepted the award. “Let this be the year when we kill all biases,” she added, hinting at the recently published statistics that just 1% of funding goes into startups led by women. It’s time for a change!

WINNER: Triin Hertmann

2ND: Akim Arhipov

3RD: Siim Teller

SHORTLIST FOR THE WISE wallet of 2022

A) Akim Arhipov, fff.vc
Akim Arhipov founded fff.vc 11 months ago. Fund Fellow Founders is a tech angels community uniting 200+ investors, collectively supporting founders from the Nordics and Baltics. Ticket size: €250K-1M investments through Seeds and Secondary rounds. In 2022, the community backed Insly, Drivex, Scramble, RecruitLab, Bolt, and KatanaMRP.

B) Helery Pops, Honey Badger Capital
Helery invests in Greentech, EdTech, B2B SaaS and Fintech startups with a ticket of €50-250K. Her investments in 2022 include: Cuploop, Grünfin, Vok Bikes (x2), Mentornaut and Reverse Resources.

C) Herty Tammo, Startup Wise Guys
Herty Tammo cofounded Startup Wise Guys 10 years ago and has invested in 350+ startups since. With the help of 60+ team members in 9 cities in Europe, they brought 100 new startups to SWG in 2022. Ticket size: €100-250K, pre seed. Led the €2M round for Yaga in 2022. Other investments in 2022 include HotelBuddy, Ringo, Decomer, Drivex, Kwota, Rapidworks, PillPulse.

D) Jorma Laiapea, Limitless Impact Investments
Jorma Laiapea is a founding partner of Limitless Impact Investments, with a focus on founders who create meaningful positive change in education, healthcare or environment. Ticket size: €15-50K. Investments in 2022 include Dermtest, Salu Health, Siffi, CupLoop, Ringo Eco, Edumus, Alpa Kids, Cashy, OX Drive, Grab2Go, ARI Care.

E) Kaarel Kotkas
Kaarel Kotkas is an experienced founder, now supporting startups with his expertise and funds. His focus is on seed stage startups. Ticket size: €15-50K. Investments in 2022 include: Lightyear, Ready Player Me, Woola, Yaga, Yera, Seon.io, and Koos.io.

F) Margus Uudam, Karma Ventures
Margus Uudam is a founding partner at Karma Ventures, usually the lead investor or co-lead with a focus on early stage deeptech across Europe. Invstments in 2022 include: Cybexer, Jobbatical, Druid (Romania), bfore.ai (France), and a number of follow-on rounds to existing portfolio companies like Tuum (Estonia), Lucinity (Iceland), Infermedica (Poland) etc.

G) Marko Oolo, Superangel
Marko Oolo joined Superangel in 2018. In 2022, they launched their second fund. Focus on industry changing tech companies in the Baltics and Nordics. Eager to lead early stage rounds and not afraid of software enabled hardware (deeptech/hightech). Ticket size: €200K-500K. In 2022, invested in Salv, Montonio, Koos.io, Vok Bikes, LightCode Photonics, Kingdom Technologies, and Planet42.

H) Riivo Anton, Specialist VC
Riivo Anton is a founding partner at Specialist VC. Invests anything in between free advice and good karma to €1M as an initial ticket in the early stage. Can follow up with up to €3-4M over multiple funding rounds. Sector agnostic. In 2022, Riivo invested into Miros (Find. Fashion), Supersimple, Yaga, MultiCharge (VOOL), Certific, and Cybexer, among others.

I) Siim Teller
Siim Teller invests in pre-seed and seed stage Baltic and Eastern European startups. He seeks B2B ideas with a positive impact to the world, and solutions that accelerate innovation through machine learning. Ticket size: €25-300K. Made 11 investments in 2022, inlcuding like Koos.io, Solid World, and Kwota.

J) Triin Hertmann
Triin Hertmann is an active (angel) investor - she's got ca 25 early stage startups in her portfolio, but also real estate and stocks/funds. Cofounder of Grünfin. She's passionate about sustainability and supporting fellow female entrepreneurs - in 2022, 7 of her 11 investments had at least one female founder. Ticket size: €20-50K. Latest investments include Koos.io, Lightcode Photonics, Solid World DAO, Vespia.

CATEGORY 6

The Revenue Hack of 2022

A revenue-making machine! They have hacked their way to success, showing us all how to make money as a startup. In other words, a massive % of growth in €€ and $$ in 2022 is what we wish to see.

Year after year, The Revenue Hack has been among the strongest and most exciting categories of the Estonian Startup Awards. As funding opportunities are drying up and valuations start to sink, the revenue of a startup will only gain importance in 2023.

This is a category for grit-masters to shine. All the founders in top 3 are survivors, adaptors, strong innovators. They multiply their revenue like no one else.

“This category resonates with us because it is essentially for scaleups. And scaleups have already validated assumptions about their market. A scaleup knows that if they invest x into the business, they will receive y in return. The product/market factor is huge because it gives scaleup companies the green light to scale their operation dramatically with an almost guaranteed return on investment (ROI). And with this award, we are showcasing exciting Estonian scaleups, deservedly so,” elaborates Hedman, the presenter of the Revenue Hack category in 2022.

WINNER: Comodule

2ND: Jobbatical

3RD: Veriff

SHORTLIST FOR THE REVENUE HACK OF 2022

A) Comodule
Comodule creates IoT solutions for light electric vehicles. In 2022, they partnered with some of the biggest brands in micromobility, providing connectivity to 250 000 (+66%) light electric vehicles; scaled in-house production; and started manufacturing 2 new product lines. Kõu Mobility Group had a successful year overall, with Tuul raising a bond on Nasdaq First North, expanding to Riga and adding 2200 scooters. Äike launched two new scooters, Äike T for private use and Äike 11 for sharing fleets, still the only ones produced outside of China. Kõu-Factory scaled up volumes by 3 times. Headcount grew from 119 to 197 people, revenue from €8.5M to €24.5M (3x growth YoY), while staying profitable.

B) Eurora
Eurora automates global trade and compliance processes with their secure AI-based solutions. In 2022, they raised a $40M A-round (one of the biggest in Europe) and onboarded large international clients (e.g. DPDGroup, Wish and Skynet). Their revenue grew 300+% (to €20M) in 2022, the team grew 180% (to 240 people), and they are now present in 21 countries (Innovation and Research Centre launched in Tartu, focusing on applied research in AI and ML; engineering hub in Dubai; sales offices in the US, UK, Singapore, UAE & China).

C) Fractory
Fractory is a cloud manufacturing platform connecting hardware engineers to manufacturing capacities. Fractory guides manufacturing to a more sustainable future through making information exchange, production and logistics more efficient. In 2022, GMV grew 71% (to €11M) while gross profit grew 2x - that's 5 years in a row with at least 2x growth. The team doubled from 38 to 67 people, and rolled out a series of new product features.

D) Jobbatical
In 2019, Jobbatical pivoted to a tech platform that automates immigration and relocation processes for businesses. In 2022, closed a €11.6M A-round, made €4.1M in revenue, and recurring revenue grew 300%. Jobbatical has 454 clients (+200%) and in 2022 relocated talent from 115 nationalities to 18 countries. Jobbatical reached a major milestone: CF positive +€142k and EBITDA positive in May 2022. They opened five new countries (Portugal, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, and the USA) and got to break even in Portugal in 2 months. The employee count grew from 55 to 100.

E) Katana
Katana is powering modern direct-to-consumer and B2B manufacturers with software to run their businesses. In 2022, MRR increased 1.7x (2x in the SMB segment), the company reached €5M ARR, and closed a €35M B-round in October 2022 led by Northzone which secured the runway for the next 2.5-3 years. The team grew to 140+ people, still hiring.

F) Montonio
Montonio provides payment solutions, financing, and shipping for online stores. They currently serve 6,500 merchants and are growing rapidly - in 2022, they increased the processing volume and the revenue grew 3.4x. The company raised an €11M A-round led by Index Ventures, and the team grew 3x (to 60 people) with talent from Klarna, Bolt, and Veriff.

G) Pactum
Pactum's autonomous negotiations leverages intelligent bots, advanced mathematical models, cognitive science, and best-in-class negotiation techniques, to negotiate mutually-benefiting contracts for large enterprises and their suppliers - leading to better pricing, optimizing payment terms and supply continuity. 2022 was a year of growth, with $20M raised, 3.2x growth in revenue, 3.3x growth in large enterprise customers, and 28% growth in global headcount. Testament to Pactum's success are the stories from its customers, e.g. Walmart and Maersk, published in top tier media: HBR and Bloomberg.

H) Planet42
Planet42 puts long-term rental cars in the hands of people unfairly ignored by banks in emerging markets like South Africa and Mexico. In 2022, their revenue grew 3x (to €23M), and they raised €100M of equity/debt in 2022 (not all deals are public yet).

I) Silen
Silen has become a world-known brand and a trendsetter in the office pod industry, all their pods are carbon-neutral certified. In 2022, Silen's revenue grew 2.5x (to €10M), production volume grew 2x, and their global sales network branched to 52 countries (compared to 40 in 2021), reaching from Sidney to Alaska. They also raised an investment round in November, launched two ground-breaking new product lines, and won the prestigious NeoCon Innovation Awards.

J) Veriff
Veriff is an AI-powered identity verification software. In 2022, they raised $100M (bringing the total funding to $200M and its valuation to $1.5B), the company’s revenue grew 2x, with a high profit margin. The global verification volumes increased 2.4x, the customer base grew 62%, and Veriff is providing identity verification services to 600+ companies globally.

CATEGORY 7

The Defence and Security Tech of 2022

Solutions in Defence Tech, Security Tech, Cyber Security, and MilTech protect and save lives. Looking back at 2022, safety was an obvious keyword that urged many startups to rush into action. PS. All nominees should have common applications in civilian/dual use.

Milrem is a well-established startup that (unfortunately) found its moment to shine bright in 2022. Ukraine was a strong keyword in this vertical as companies from cybersecurity and hardware, civilian use and defence rushed to rescue. We opened up new cooperations with governments around the world, and discovered what we’re truly capable of under dire pressure - war in a country that’s just a day’s drive away.

The award was presented by CR14 who added: “Bluntly said, we have seen evidently how David can match and thwart Goliath if it has the proper defence and security technology. It is a lesson that the governments of all other Davids and Goliaths are learning, too, thus increasing their investments to have the best technology at hand. Eventually – when everything else is equal - the one with the best AI wins. Until then, however, the most cybersecurity-aware can sleep the best.”

WINNER: Milrem

2ND: GScan

3RD: Rangeforce

SHORTLIST FOR THE Defence and Security Tech of 2022

A) CybExer
CybExer Technologies is a deep-tech cyber range company delivering a highly scalable training, exercise and technology testing platform to its customers, thus making it easier to close the cyber security skills gap. In 2022, raised €5M, expanded further to private sector customers, successfully conducted the first national cyber exercise for the government of India (1500 people were involved in preparing and executing the exercise), and contributed to the security of Ukraine. The team grew 100% in 2022 (people from Finland, UK, Germany, etc).

B) GScan
GScan is a global pioneer in developing safe and accurate scanners that are applying only natural atmospheric radiation (muon tomography). This will change how scanning of anything happens - e.g. at border controls for illegal drugs, weapons, and human trafficking; scanning of infrastructure; and in the longer term, also scanning for medical purposes. In 2022, raised a €2M seed round; started production site in Tartu with a state-of-art robotics line; signed contracts e.g. with A.L.A.R.A (for €1.67M , to create 3D images of submarine reactors), and European Space Agency (to develop fundamental understanding, whether muon tomography can be helpful to detect water in the Moon or Mars).

C) KrattWorks
KrattWorks builds drone systems for defence, security and first responder applications. In 2022, the sales turnover was €265K and gross profit €100K (5x increase YoY); signed a contract worth €15M with Estonian Centre for Defence (to supply aerial target drones for the next 7 years); partnered with the Lithuanian digital technology company Agmis to develop a machine vision algorithm for our drones; successfully carried out the first live-fire exercises of new target drones; and delivered Estonian made drone systems to multiple countries including Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Saudi Arabia. Turnover forecast for the next year is €3M.

D) Marduk
Marduk slays the next-generation drones which operate in radio silence, and spy or carry drugs and other illegal substances, or possibly aim to take down planes. In 2022, the company released Marduk Shark, a short-range air defense precision targeting system. The pilot project was delivered to a Middle Eastern partner with interests to protect oil refineries, and another was rented to the Estonian Defense Forces for NATO exercises near Ukraine. In the field of defense Research and Development Marduk was a part of two winning consortiums funded by the European Commission, developing disruptive air defense solutions. This has accelerated Marduk's revenue pipeline predictions, which has increased nearly 400% when compared to 2021 estimates. Current focus on raising capital for go-to-market in 2023/2024.

E) Milrem
Milrem’s mission is to provide innovative robotics solutions for challenging environments. With 16 countries using their products, Milrem Robotics is leading the market. Their revenue has stayed around €2.8M per quarter over the past year and a half. In 2022, signed contracts to deliver 14 THeMIS UGVs (the single largest delivery to date) to Ukraine – first ever modern UGV’s keeping friendly troops safe in war. While competing with 10x larger companies, won NATO’s procurement to build up a robotics program for the whole Italian Army.

F) Rangeforce
RangeForce, the SaaS-based cyber training startup, reached multiple milestones in 2022, landing its first 7-figure contract, and growing its enterprise customer base by 50%. Along with these accomplishments, RangeForce raised $19M in Series B funding. The cybersecurity space recognized RangeForce with accolades, including Best Cyber Defense Team Training from the ASTOR awards from American Security Today, as well as Best Security Education/Training Solution in the CISO Choice Awards.

G) SensusQ
SensusQ helps decision-makers operate in high-risk environments by providing decision-making support software for higher certainty and foresight. They gained paying customers right after MVP phase in the beginning of 2022. Expanded to the UK, Germany, Sweden and Asia; started the civilian sector expansion. In 2022, SensusQ doubled their team, and recruited President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. The company was covered in over 20 international media publications, including top-tier outlets. All growth was sustainably done with the €1M that they raised.

H) Threod
Threod Systems is developing and manufacturing unmanned aircraft systems for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. In 2022, they manufactured 3x more UAVs, their customer base in NATO countries increased 5x, monthly production capacity grew 10x, and their order backlog became 15x longer than at the beginning of the year (one of their Eos C VTOL aircraft had over 800 flights). Currently establish their Training and Service Centre in Ukraine to support the local armed forces in using the rapidly increasing number of their products on the battlefield. A team of 60, and a steady turnover of ~€1M per quarter for a while.

I) Vegvisir
Vegvisir is on a mission to enhance situational awareness and decision-making for armored vehicles - they provide the crews with visibility of the battlefield through the armored wall of the vehicle. The Vegvisir solution, which is based on innovative camera systems, sensors, and algorithms synthesizing the camera images, uses head-mounted displays to provide a Mixed-Reality overview of what is happening in the immediate surroundings of the vehicle; but also of objects of interest significantly further away: up to 10km. They have validated the market need gathering interest from 22 countries when attending 5 large international defence trade shows. In 2022, they raised a seed round of €550K, grew the team to 7 people, and conducted the first product field test together with the Estonian Defence Forces.

CATEGORY 8

The DeepTech of 2022

Estonia’s DeepTech scene is expanding, fast - by the end of Q3 2022, DeepTech startups employed 1430 people locally (about 15% of all startup sector employees), contributing €17,7M in employment taxes and generating €90M in total turnover.

DeepTech emerged strongly in 2022, with plenty of exceptionally strong nominees (and a tight race for the 1st place). This is a sector of visionaries and academics. We’re proud to see Estonian scientist rolling up their sleeves and actively working on saving the world!

“As a representative of the biggest databases in Estonia. I invite you to join us on the DeepTech side and become close friends with AI”, said Kristjan Järvan, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology as he presented the award to Pactum’s Chief Product Officer, Kaspar Korjus.

WINNER: Pactum

2ND: GScan

3RD: LightCode Photonics

SHORTLIST FOR THE DeepTech of 2022

A) Antegenes
Antegenes’ genetic tests assess personal cancer risks and give clinical recommendations for cancer prevention. In 2022, they raised €2.3M in seed round and grants, to collaborate with clinical partners in Sweden, Norway, Portugal, and the UK to implement their breast cancer tests in national healthcare programs. Estonian Health Insurance Fund now accepts the breast cancer test recommendations, making it the first time - globally - that a polygenic risk score test is used in public healthcare.

B) BetterMedicine AI
Better Medicine helps radiologists fight cancer. In 2022, the company closed a pre-seed round, bringing the combined public and private funding to €1.8M. They also kicked-off two clinical research and validation studies with TUH (for kidney and lung cancer detection), established a presence in the UK, submitted a patent application for a new GPAI technology in medical imaging (which is expected to have a significant impact on the field), and grew the team from 5 to 12 people.

C) EyeVi Technologies
EyeVi Technologies is an AI-powered digital geospatial data production company. Their mission is to make the management of road infrastructure sustainable through digitalization. In 2022, the company raised $2M seed round to deepen existing deployments and establish new operations in the US market.

D) Fusebox
Fusebox's core business is in regulating the clients’ energy consumption through a smart software and offering their flexibility to the market, thus allowing customers to contribute to the renewable energy transition while saving on their bills. Realized capacity grew 3.5x in a year (to 1.5GWh in 2022). CO2 emissions reduced thanks to our core business rose 3.5 times (from 168 tons in 2021, to 577 tons in 2022). In 2022: closed a seed round of €2.5M (doubled the company valuation), churn rate close to 0. Team grew by 50% and started activities in 6 new markets across the globe.

E) Gelatex
Gelatex is revolutionizing the production of nanofibers by creating high-performance 3D scaffolds and microcarriers for scalable cultured meat mass-production. In 2022: increased 5x the number of materials they are offering (to 36), and supplied materials to 69 cultured meat companies worldwide. The team grew from 5 to 14, participated in 11 conferences around the world, and expanded their infrastructure from 80m2 to 1200 m2.

F) GScan
GScan is a global pioneer in developing safe and accurate scanners that are applying only natural atmospheric radiation (muon tomography). This will change how scanning of anything happens - e.g. at border controls for illegal drugs, weapons, and human trafficking; scanning of infrastructure; and in the longer term, also scanning for medical purposes. In 2022, raised a €2M seed round; started production site in Tartu with a state-of-art robotics line; signed contracts e.g. with A.L.A.R.A (for €1.67M , to create 3D images of submarine reactors), and European Space Agency (to develop fundamental understanding, whether muon tomography can be helpful to detect water in the Moon or Mars).

G) LightCode Photonics
LightCode Photonics builds dynamic pixel 3D cameras for smart machines to see the world built for humans with 128x enhanced resolution. Their solution will transform the autonomous mobility sector, particularly autonomous cars powered by satellite navigation. In 2022: raised a €425K pre-seed round, improved camera specifications 2x10x10 times, started 7 pilots, established US presence, won MIT EF contest, joined Intel Ignite accelerator, won a pitching contest, and innovated for the-world's-largest-technology-company.

H) Pactum
Pactum's autonomous negotiations leverages intelligent bots, advanced mathematical models, cognitive science, and best-in-class negotiation techniques, to negotiate mutually-benefiting contracts for large enterprises and their suppliers - leading to better pricing, optimizing payment terms and supply continuity. 2022 was a year of growth, with $20M raised, 3.2x growth in revenue, 3.3x growth in large enterprise customers, and 28% growth in global headcount. Testament to Pactum's success are the stories from its customers, e.g. Walmart and Maersk, published in top tier media: HBR and Bloomberg.

I) UP Catalyst
UP Catalyst produces sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite out of CO2 and biomass for many applications from green batteries (e.g. electric vehicle batteries) to biomedicine. In 2022, they received €4.8M in investments and grants, and expanded their market to the UK. The production capacity increased by 600% with graphite being added to the product line (they produce 1 ton of carbon material per every 3.7 tons of CO2). Their customer base grew by 217% and the number of sales agreements increased 5x.

CATEGORY 9

The Giving Back Powerhouse of 2022

Passion, dedication, humility, impact. An organization, event, or person who gives back without asking, their contribution undoubtedly has made our whole community stronger in 2022.

Between the two, NAFO and United Delivery Mission scored half the votes of the jury. It’s obvious that Ukraine was close to our hearts this year, and the local startup community held the Estonian flag high by helping Ukraine in any way they could.

Swedbank, presenting the award this year, explained why this category is closest to their heart: "Estonian tech and startup ecosystem as a whole offers such a huge and unique value to the world. We understand and value the impact that each and every nominee in this category has had on the ecosystem.

The Giving Back Powerhouse is someone who, despite their own success, hasn’t forgotten where they came from. They are using their own journey and hard-earned resources as a platform for others to rise, too. We need more of those role models and community activists among us. We need to share their stories and inspire new role models to rise up and take the lead.”

Slava Ukraini!

WINNER: NAFO

2ND: United Delivery Mission
3RD: Taavi Kotka

SHORTLIST FOR THE Giving Back Powerhouse of 2022

A) Ajujaht

Ajujaht is the best-known startup accelerator and TV competition in Estonia. For 15 years, it's been a place for founders to prepare their product/service idea for scaling and investments. Ajujaht has popularized entrepreneurship in Estonia with dedication and passion, offers a clear pipeline for investors, and cooperates with startup support organizations across the country.

B) ALPA Kids

ALPA Kids made language learning games available free of charge to Ukrainian children who are scattered across 124 countries. The game has been played by more than 100 000 Ukrainian children. In 2022, ALPA Kids got 600K+ new users in total (6x growth compared to 2021), grew MRR 4x, and had paying customers from 79 countries. They provided e-learning to 400+ educational institutions. The team won the Tehnopol AI marathon for a research-based AI learning algorithm and was awarded by the Estonian President. A team of 6.

C) Empowering Women Entrepreneurship Program

The Empowering Women entrepreneurship program was initiated by Garage48 and Estonian Refugee Council to support women who have been forced to leave Ukraine due to the war and who wish to rebuild their lives in Estonia through entrepreneurship. Over 50 women across Estonia have joined to develop their micro and family business plans, design their products and services, and take the first steps in opening their very own profitable businesses.

D) Kaidi Ruusalepp
In 2022, Kaidi Ruusalepp had more roles than one could count in a breath. Her most public ones include the President of Estonian Founders Society, the CEO of Funderbeam, and a Member of the Presidential Digital Advisory Council. Despite a crazy year in the financial markets and for Funderbeam, she has elevated the mission of Founders Society with calm determination, hosted a Ukrainian family, and supported policymaking with her imapctful insights.

E) Kristel Kruustük
Kristel Kruustük is a public role model like no other, empowering girls and women in tech for the last 10 years. Released a stipend for female students in TalTech. Regular speaker on topics like women in tech and future of work at huge conferences. "Everything is possible, if we take action," she believes.

F) NAFO
NAFO - a volunteer operation that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion has been supporting the Ukrainian armed forces with deliveries of donated 128 pick-up trucks andcars, and supplies from all over Northern Europe, with a total of €2.2M having gone to support Ukraine through their activities. According to The Economist, "NAFO's flippancy [their mascot is a Shiba Inu dog] obscures its role as a remarkably successful form of information warfare."

G) Seedbolt by Bolt
With the Seedbolt project, Bolt helped plant 11 million tree seeds in Kenya, keeping all their rides carbon neutral as well as giving back to the environment at scale. No small acts here!

H) Taavi Kotka
Taavi Kotka became Estonia’s first-ever Chief Information Officer in 2013 to oversee the country’s development as an advanced digital nation. As the CIO, he introduced ideas that have come to define the concept of ‘e-Estonia’ as a digital nation and these best practices are now being copied and implemented by governments around the world (e-Residency, data embassies, country-as-a-service, the no-legacy policy, VAT fraud detection, etc). Taavi is now back in the private sector, helping startups develop, helping bridge the gender gap through HK Unicorn Squad, in addition to consulting large enterprises and governments on digital transformation and being active on Rakett 69 as a jury member.

I) United Delivery Mission
United Delivery Mission is a non-profit initiative that supports Ukrainian Military Forces with various supplies. So far they have delivered specially requested 146 cars to the front line and sent equipment worth up to €1,500,000 which includes cars, medicines/medical equipment, drones, tools, tactical equipment, food, etc.

CATEGORY 10

The Founder of the Year 2022

Whatever you admire in a founder, this person fills you with awe and inspiration. Who went the extra mile in 2022? Who stood the tallest? Whose impact was the clearest?

2 out of the 3 founders in this category are honeybadger-style survivors. They’ve got grit. But the most grit was demonstrated by Timmu Tõke - not just in 2022, but for the better half of the last decade.

The award was presented by Alar Karis, the President of Estonia, who said that the more successful our companies are in the world, the easier it is for the next generation to follow in their footsteps and take on the world. He recognized the global scope and the visionary execution that our startup sector shares. Every Estonian success story matters!

WINNER: Timmu Tõke

2ND: Kristjan Vilosius

3RD: Karoli Hindriks

SHORTLIST FOR THE Founder of the Year 2022

A) Aune Aunapuu, Yaga
In 2022, Aune Aunapuu raised an investment round of €2.35 for Yaga, a marketplace for selling and buying secondhand fashion with a focus on emerging markets. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world, and as a founder with kids, Aune is super driven by Yaga's positive effect on people and the environment. In 2022, Yaga's net revenue grew 2.3x (to €1M), MAU grew 2x, GMV grew 2.6x, and €12M worth of fashion items were sold on the platform (2x growth YoY).

B) Eerik Oja, Marten Orgna; Planet42
Planet42 puts long-term rental cars in the hands of people unfairly ignored by banks in emerging markets like South Africa and Mexico (launched last year). In 2022, they attracted €100M of new equity and debt (not all detailts are public yet), grew their revenue 3x (to €23M), and expanded the team 2x. Planet42's CEO Eerik lives in Johannesburg - Planet42's largest market - and visits the Estonian HQ and Mexico office frequently.

C) Karoli Hindriks, Jobbatical
After pivoting Jobbatical in 2019 to a tech platform that automates immigration and relocation processes, Karoli led the company successfully through global lockdowns during the most challenging times for the industry. In 2022, Jobbatical's annual revenue grew to €4.1M, they're cash-flow-positive, and they raised a round of €11,6M from tier-one investors. By the end of the year, Jobbatical had a total of 454 clients (+200%), and they had relocated talent from 115 nationalities to 18 countries. Karoli’s leadership brought Jobbatical's mission to the biggest stages: her TED talk “Why the passport needs an upgrade” was translated into twelve languages.

D) Kaspar Korjus, Kristjan Korjus, Martin Rand, Pactum
Founded by Kaspar, Kristjan and Martin, Pactum's autonomous negotiations platform leverages intelligent bots, advanced mathematical models, cognitive science, and best-in-class techniques to negotiate mutually-benefiting contracts for large enterprises and their suppliers. 2022 was a year of growth for Pactum, with $20M raised to expand in the US and Europe, 3.2x growth in revenue, 3.3x growth in large enterprise customers, and 28% growth in global headcount.

E) Kristjan Vilosious, Katana
Kristjan Vilosius, as the cofounder and CEO of Katana, led the closing of a $35M B-round from Northzone and Lightrock (total funds raised to date: $51M). Katana now has the support to scale up its features for small to medium-sized manufacturers and end the "Made in China" era. In 2022, Katana's MRR increased 1.7x (2x in the SMB segment), the company reached €5M ARR, and the team grew to 140+ people, still hiring.

F) Marko Lastik, Eurora
Marko is the founder and CEO of Eurora, creating secure AI-based solutions to automate global trade and compliance processes. In 2022, the company raised a $40M A-round (one of the biggest in Europe) and onboarded large international clients (e.g. DPDGroup, Wish and Skynet). Their revenue grew 300+% (to €20M) in 2022, the team grew 180% (to 240 people), and the company is now present in 21 countries (Innovation and Research Centre launched in Tartu, focusing on applied research in AI and ML; engineering hub in Dubai; sales offices in the US, UK, Singapore, UAE & China).

G) Markus Lember, Montonio
Markus led the fundraising efforts for Montonio, and to date has raised nearly 14M € from people who built Wise, Bolt, and Pipedrive. Montonio provides payment solutions, financing, and shipping for online stores. They are serving 6,500 merchants and growing rapidly - in 2022, they increased the processing volume, grew revenue 3.4x, launched in Finland and Poland, and expanded the team 3x (to 60 people) with talent from Klarna, Bolt, and Veriff.

H) Martin Sokk, Mihkel Aamer; Lightyear
With their experience in product building, Martin and Mihkel led Lightyear’s super-fast expansion from the UK into 19 European markets, becoming the first neobroker to unlock most of Europe at once. They tripled the platform's stock universe of US stocks to 3,000, added European stocks, ETFs, interest opportunities, and business accounts with the fastest onboarding (27 sec to create an account). In 2022, Lightyear raised $25M A-round, led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Lightspeed and Sir Richard Branson, and grew their user base 30% month on month. The team grew 3x (to 30 international experts from fintechs like Wise, Revolut, Robinhood, and Plum).

I) Timmu Tõke, Ready Player Me
Timmu Tõke has overseen Ready Player Me as the CEO for 9 years, through countless pivots, and in 2022 raised a $56M B-round led by US investor Andreessen Horowitz (total funding is now $72M). Ready Player Me - in its current form - was launched in 2020, and has since been rapidly scaled to 5,000+ customers across the metaverse. The list of clients includes VRChat, Spatial, Hiber, Pixelynx, Adidas, RTFKT, and Dior. In 2022, the team grew from 22 to 64, and six million avatars were created in thousands of games with the use of their tech. They're the complete market leaders in their space.