Estonia

Estonian Startup Awards 2023 - The Winners, The Nominees & Everyone Else Still Standing

Estonian Startup Awards 2023 - The Winners, The Nominees & Everyone Else Still Standing

Estonian Startup Awards 2023 is done! On the evening of February 2, 2024, the Estonian startup community gathered at Nobel Hall in Noblessner to officially wrap up the year, celebrate our community’s biggest wins, and look into the future, together. Will it be bright? Well, yes. Eventually.

Estonian Startup Awards 2022 - The Official Wrap-Up!

Estonian Startup Awards 2022 - The Official Wrap-Up!

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. Here are the biggest takeaways from the year, inspiring words from the winners, and the full list of all the nominees.

CR14’s predictions for 2023: DefenceTech keeps growing. The one with the best AI wins.

CR14’s predictions for 2023: DefenceTech keeps growing. The one with the best AI wins.

Siim Alatalu, CR14’s CEO shares professional insights from the frontlines of their booming startup sector - defence and security tech - with continued funding and growth predicted for 2023. On January 27, CR14 is taking the stage at Estonian Startup Awards to present the Defence and Security Tech of the Year award. Thank you for the hard work and the support, CR14!

Hardware startup Sunly: “Growth for the sake of growth will be challenged.”

Hardware startup Sunly: “Growth for the sake of growth will be challenged.”

Sunly is a hardware-led startup that is building a renewable energy platform, developing new solutions, and investing in fresh technologies that can boost our region’s energy transition. Their investment radar includes young startups whose clever ideas need a boost. In 2023, Sunly’s team is also boosting the success of the Estonian Startup Awards!

Deel in 2023: "I encourage every team to have this built into their hiring plans."

Deel in 2023: "I encourage every team to have this built into their hiring plans."

Besides building the world’s fastest-growing SaaS company with a super diverse team from 80+ countries, Deel is also dedicated to boosting the Estonian startup ecosystem - in 2023, they are supporting the success of the Estonian Startup Awards 2022. How was 2022 and what do they predict for the Estonian startup scene in 2023?

Swedbank in 2023: "Supporting startups is one of our main goals.”

Swedbank in 2023: "Supporting startups is one of our main goals.”

Swedbank, the largest bank in Estonia, has taken on a mission to help Estonian startups succeed. Their support of the ecosystem strategically covers the full lifecycle of a startup - from cool cooperations with early-stage founders, to partnering with community-leading organizations, Swedbank’s resources are channeled far and wide. In the upcoming quarter, you can find Swedbank’s team at sTARTup Day and the Estonian Startup Awards 2022.

Hedman Law Firm: “With this award, we are showcasing exciting Estonian scaleups, deservedly so.”

Hedman Law Firm: “With this award, we are showcasing exciting Estonian scaleups, deservedly so.”

Hedman Law Firm sums up the highlights of the Estonian startup scene from 2022, and shares what makes them excited about the times ahead. In January 2023, Hedman’s team is helping to make the Estonian Startup Awards 2022 a success.

Humans of LIFT99: Martin Ahe

Humans of LIFT99: Martin Ahe

Artisanal Cheese Sandwiches™, a perfectly orange dog and dope sweaters - that’s what comes to mind first when we think of Martin Ahe. He seems to be an unstoppable force for good, brightening the dark and dreary winter days at LIFT. But how did he end up at LIFT99? Why does he speak so many languages that even his dog is multilingual?!? That’s why we sat down with him and asked him.

Estonian Startup Awards 2021

Estonian Startup Awards 2021

Estonian Startup Awards 2021 gala took place on January 21, 2022. Over 300 startuppers and impact makers of the sector gathered at Vaba Lava to officially wrap up 2021 and celebrate the biggest wins of the year. Most noteworthily, 8 award trophies found a new home - scroll down to see the FULL SHORTLISTS and WINNERS of Estonian Startup Awards 2021.

Estonian Startup Awards 2020 - The Winners, The Nominees & Big Trends For 2021

Estonian Startup Awards 2020 - The Winners, The Nominees & Big Trends For 2021

Estonian Startup Awards 2020 took place on January 14, 2021, to officially wrap up the past year and celebrate the most outstanding achievements of Estonian startups. If you want to know who made it to the shortlist of Estonian Startup Awards 2020 and who took home the prizes in our 9 categories, you are in the right place. Sit back, settle down, here we go!


Estonian Startup Awards 2019 - The Fastest, The Biggest, The Most Impactful

Estonian Startup Awards 2019 - The Fastest, The Biggest, The Most Impactful

Estonian Startup Awards 2019 took place on January 22nd, 2020. The initiative, lead by LIFT99 and Startup Estonia highlighted the most outstanding startups and community activists in 9 impactful categories, summing up the brightest moments of 2019.

34 Most Active Estonian Angel Investors

34 Most Active Estonian Angel Investors

Raising your first round might seem like a mission impossible. Raimonds Kulbergs has put together a list of the most active Estonian angel investors, including their investment focus and ticket size. May this be a piece of the starter-kit for all the young founders out there… so they wouldn’t “half-ass through the process”. Like Raimonds did.

Founder Stories: Oliver Sild, WebARX

Founder Stories: Oliver Sild, WebARX

Oliver is one of those inspiring people who, by some magic, seems to have more hours in his week than the rest of us. He’s running a coworking centre, organizing hacker competitions, and building a scaling startup in cybersecurity. In a few years, he’s come further than many do in decades. How? “I have absolutely no fear of failing!”

LIFT99 is Investing in eAgronom

LIFT99 is Investing in eAgronom

“Robin Saluoks is the next Markus Villig,” said Ragnar in summer 2018. Just 4 months later, the 23-year-old founder of eAgronom accepted the title of Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2018, following the footsteps of Kristel Kruustük and Markus Villig. eAgronom is on the way to doing great things. LIFT99 is has decided to give them a bit of a lift.

Forming Meaningful Partnerships and Making an Impact

Forming Meaningful Partnerships and Making an Impact

Our community is something we value above everything else at LIFT99. This naturally includes our partners, without whom we couldn’t do the crazy and awesome things we are doing. Here’s a virtual high five and deep bow of gratitude to the #EstonianMafia startups who are lifting LIFT99 higher.

LIFT99 is Lifting Veriff

LIFT99 is Lifting Veriff

For some people, “impossible” is just a word. Kaarel Kotkas, the Founder and CEO of Veriff is one of them. Today I am super happy to share with you the news Kaarel announced this morning - Veriff raised an A Round and LIFT99 is on board of this amazing ride! - By Ragnar Sass, CEO & Founder of LIFT99

Record-Breaking Year for Estonian Startup Investments

Record-Breaking Year for Estonian Startup Investments

We are thrilled to announce that 2018 is going to be a record year for Estonian startups! 6 months in, we're just €30M short of swooshing by last year's results.

The Practice and Philosophy of Building Winning Teams - Ahti Heinla, Startup Grind with LIFT99

The Practice and Philosophy of Building Winning Teams - Ahti Heinla, Startup Grind with LIFT99

Ahti Heinla is considered to be the grandfather of #EstonianMafia. In the last 15 years, he has co-founded several startups, amongst others Starship Technologies and Skype. We refer to him as a great example of a humble leader. In May 2018, he was the special guest of Startup Grind organized by LIFT99.

TOP 50 Fastest Growing Estonian Startups in 2018

TOP 50 Fastest Growing Estonian Startups in 2018

A data-driven deep dive into fastest growing startups in Estonia in 2018. We’ve assembled a list of TOP 50 Estonian startups to keep an eye on.

LIFT99's First Investment - Dashbird

LIFT99's First Investment - Dashbird

As a serial startup founder myself, my view on investing is different from what the average investor seeks. Money is just a commodity. Investors’ advice, connections, know-how, and dedication are much more valuable to a startup than money. - By Ragnar Sass, CEO & Founder of LIFT99