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 missed the show, you can still watch it here.
If you want to know who won the Estonian Startup Award 2020, who made it to the shortlist, and what to expect from 2021, you are in the right place!
Sit back, settle down, here we go!
By Ragnar Sass (CEO of LIFT99) and
Kadri Barclay (Head of Marketing at LIFT99)
The opening words of Estonian Startup Awards 2020 - by our hosts, Liis Narusk and Martin Villig, and the Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid
The Startup Trends of 2020 That Will Shape 2021
We already wrote about the origin and importance of Estonian Startup Awards when we first launched the initiative back in 2019. So I won’t stop longer on that. Recognizing the best among us unites and strengthens the community. But more importantly - it offers an opportunity to learn, get inspired, and spot the trends that are bound to shape the upcoming year.
2020 was not easy for the startup sector. Hard decisions were made. Many had to change directions overnight or let go of valued employees in order to survive. But those who made it, came out stronger in the end.
When we look at the trends of 2020 that will proceed to shape 2021, I can bring out 5 key points that will be most impactful:
The number and impact of foreign founders in Estonia will continue to rise
In 2017, the Startup Visa opened the door to a wave of well-selected foreign talent, helping our startups hire global superstars much easier. By 2020, we reached a whole new level - the presence of founders like Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley) proves that Estonia is an attractive headquarter for well-established, profitable, global startups.
When we look at the nominees in the freshly created Foreign Founder of the Year category, we see lots of geographical diversity. It’s not just Ukraine and Scandinavia anymore, but the shortlist of TOP 10 includes founders from Canada, the UK, Brazil, India, Guatemala, Iran, Malaysia, Russia ... The world is coming to Estonia and we are truly becoming an attractive global hotspot for talented founders.
Diversity is expanding to new layers of our startup community
We have more and more impactful initiatives in Estonia that help bring girls and women into the tech sector. The HK Unicorn Squad was a strong contender in the Giving Back Powerhouse category and we’re glad to see they made it to TOP3.
We witnessed a growing diversity in most of the categories, and that’s an important trend on its own! Narrowing down the shortlist for the Stereotype Crusher of the Year is getting harder and harder. The general public presented almost 40 nominees for the title, just 10 of whom could make it to the voting round, and only one could win the title.
While the Stereotype Crusher category was all about strong female road-pavers, let’s take a moment to applaud the winner of the Big Bang of The Year category - Anna Liisa Palatu, CEO of Woola, the most impressive newcomer who managed to land her startup on the market with speed and confidence. Another noteworthy newcomer was Vilve Vene with Modularbank. She hit the scene late in December with a 7-digit(!) revenue number and whopping €4M raised already.
But I’m also talking about the investor community and the Wise Wallet category. In 2020, Atomico launched a program to educate and grow a new generation of Angel Investors. First of all, it’s noteworthy that Estonia landed among the selected few participating countries. Secondly, prioritizing female talent, such as Karina Univer, when recruiting for the program, means that female investors are also on the rise. In addition to Karina, Triin Hertmann was also in the shortlist. Hopefully, 2021 will witness even more women power among the ranks of investors!
The epic year of exits predicts an even better year for local investments
2020 was one of the richest years when it comes to startup exits. Pipedrive, the 5th unicorn of Estonia, is the most celebrated deal, but there were many others. I can recall at least 9 significant exits: Plumbr, Coolbet, Fortumo, Drops, Ridango, to name a few. Out of these deals Estonian founders and key employees received an estimated €400M of free capital. A big portion of that will be poured back into local startups as investments. Exits build growth.
What does that mean for 2021? The number of Angel Investors has suddenly doubled as the exit deals load the pockets of these startup-savvy individuals with free funds. The competition between investors will get tighter in 2021. Which is only good news for local founders, as they’ll have the opportunity to talk to more people, get more diverse feedback, and hopefully find a better match to support the success of their startup.
By the way, the first funds from the Pipedrive exit have already been put to a good use. VOK and Woola are the first startups to have managed to pocket a slice of that resource. We will see the full impact and return of the Pipedrive exit for years to come as many of the pipedrivers are eager to re-invest.
Startup sector of the year - SaaS. What’s up with that?
The most actively funded sector in 2020 was SaaS. 30+ funding news emerged from this direction. And it all ended with a big bang - Pipedrive became the 5th unicorn in Estonia. This is why we selected SaaS as the Startup Sector of 2020.
I hope you forgive me if I call the emerging of this trend the“Pipedrive effect”. The best ex-employees of Pipedrive know how to successfully build SaaS companies. They go on to lend their talent to new companies or proceed to found their own startups.
From the minds of ex-pipedrivers alone, at least 10 new startups have been born, many of them in the field of SaaS. In this year’s awards, Pipedrivers are represented in 7 out of the 9 categories (Klaus, single.earth, Eventornado, etc).
So it is that 2020 became the year of SaaS, as the “grandfathers of the #EstonianMafia family” are passing on their legacy and know-how to the next generation. SaaS startups raised significant funds in 2020 and simply shone brighter than others - Veriff, the winner of the SaaS category grew their ARR 5x and their customer base more than 3x in 2020.
It’s very possible that this sector (and an ex-pipedriver?) will give us our 6th unicorn.
Greentech - the startup sector of the year 2021
When we asked the community which sector was the most prominent in 2020, many suggested greentech. The shortlist of 2020 supports it - Woola, Roofit.Solar, Skeleton Technologies, Single.Earth, Ampler Bikes, Comodule, to name a few.
In fact, a quarter of the shortlisted nominees for 2020 are greentech by nature. The new generation of startups seems to have “green-mindedness” programmed into their DNA. The greentech startup battling bubble wrap, Woola dominated two categories already this year. What about next year? I think greentech deserves its own category in the Estonian Startup Awards of 2021.
Greentech is to be taken seriously and I’m sure we will have some impressive news coming from this direction in 2021!
Anna Liisa Palatu from the greentech startup Woola won in 2 categories: The Stereotype Crusher 2020 & The Big Bang of 2020
The Nominees & Winners of Estonian Startup Awards 2020
That’s quite enough about 2021. I know many of you are here because of 2020. Without further ado, I present the full list of the Estonian Startup Awards 2020 nominees.
Around 300 names were shared with us in the nomination round by the community, but we could fit only a quarter of them into the shortlist. It was a year with tough competition! I wish to thank our jury of 150+ Estonian founders who contributed to voting for the winners in front of you.
1. THE FOREIGN FOUNDER OF 2020
The Foreign Founder of the Year is a person who has moved to Estonia, along with a significant part of their business and team. Their Estonian might not be perfect yet, but they are hungry for success when it comes to startups.
The Foreign Founder of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Avery Schrader (Modash)
Jeff McClelland (Salv)
Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley) - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The Foreign Founder of 2020:
1) Avery Schrader - Modash (IN TOP 3)
Deep audience demographic data on social media influencers for brands. In 2020: MRR grew from €1K to €40K, added Google to their list of 250+ customers, launched a new product. Team of 8. Total funding: €200K.
2) Carlos Paniagua - Glia
Making Digital Customer Service an expectation for all. Working mainly with banks and insurance companies, incl Fortune 100 companies. In 2020: revenue grew ~2x. In 2021: forecast to grow 2-3x on revenue, headcount, and clients. Team of 52 in Estonia (globally 100+). On Janury 7th, 2021, Glia announced fresh news about a funding round of $71 M.
3) Dan Mashiter & Martin Abelson Sahlen - Alvin
Revolutionizing how modern data teams govern their data. In 2020: focus on product validation and development, including a pilot with Transferwise; raised a round. In Q1 2021, launching the automated self-serve version. The team is two founders, Martin and Dan, based in LIFT99, Tallinn.
4) Edilson Osorio Junior - OriginalMy
An e-Governance platform, delivering e-Estonia-like tools for third countries. Global champion in Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Data Protection. In 2020: 428% ARR growth, 235k+ documents authenticated, 400k+ digital signatures, 1750+ e-prescriptions, 12k+ active users, team of 6 (2 in Estonia).
5) Jeff McClelland - Salv (IN TOP 3)
The first platform to help financial institutions unite and fight financial crime collaboratively at scale. In 2020: launched a countrywide pilot with Estonia’s four biggest banks who cover 95% of the banking market; fundraised €1.5M. Team of 25.
6) Niko Karstikko - Bob W
Hospitality tech company, the smartest alternative to hotels and Airbnbs. In 2020: revenue grew 80%, beating hotels with 3x occupancy despite the pandemic; signed 363 new apartments (= €10.2M in new revenue), raised a round. Core team of 21 in Tallinn.
7) Saeed Talebzadeh - DataCalculus
The most automated software for advanced data analysis and machine learning globally. Enables executives to develop AI-Driven strategies in one single day and to exceed their business goals by 77% on average. In 2020: closed three funding rounds.
8) Vishen Lakhiani - Mindvalley (THE WINNER)
World's leading education platform. Using exponential tech (incl AR+AI), by 2025 will provide people the same advantages in life as a Harvard degree, but for 1/100 the cost. In 2020: revenue grew 30% to $85M. Profitable and wholly owned by the founders, both based in Tallinn. Team of 298 people, 20 based in Estonia.
9) Yuri Sorokin - 3commas
Automatization tools for retail crypto investors. In 2020: raised $3M seed round, gross billings grew 2x to $6M. Trading volumes of $5B monthly, No1 API partner for Binance (biggest crypto exchange). Team of 60, moved HQ from St. Petersburg to Tallinn (re-locating 15 people with families).
10) ZhiCheng Miao - Superfluid
Platform for programmable cashflows to handle subscriptions, salaries, rewards, and any composable stream of value. In 2020: raised €500K+ pre-seed round, launched alpha, and published to developers in various Ethereum virtual hackathons, resulting in 10+ teams using their platform. Team of 6.
2. THE STEREOTYPE CRUSHER OF 2020
In this category, we're looking for strong female founders - road-pavers and positive role models for the next generation, leading the way to more equality and inclusiveness.
The Stereotype Crusher 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Kaidi Ruusalepp (Funderbeam)
Vilve Vene (Modularbank)
Anna Liisa Palatu (Woola) - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The Stereotype crusher of 2020:
1) Anna Greta Tsahkna - Timbeter
Bringing efficiency and AI-based management to the forestry industry. In 2020: raised €1M, clients measured 3x more timber (over 1M cbm/month). Present in EU/US & started projects in PL, NL, LV, CR; expansion to Africa, LatAm, Japan.
2) Anna Liisa Palatu - Woola (THE WINNER)
Replacing bubble wrap in packaging by using waste wool. Product launched in early 2020, opened a factory in Paldiski, raised €450K, won the title of “European Cleantech Startup of the Year”, made 1st revenue in December, expanded to Germany. From Setomaa. Team of 7.
3) Hedi Mardisoo - Cachet
Marketplace for gig economy by aggregating data from competing platforms to sell affordable insurances. In 2020: Techstars London Fintech accelerator, raised €1.1M, 20% MoM growth, expansion to LV/PL. "Female Fintech Founder to Watch" (Sifted) and "Hottest Insurtech" (Tech.eu).
4) Heli Valtna - LightCode Photonics
Deep-tech startup showing how a robot looks at you by delivering 3D cameras at an affordable price. In 2020: won the ActInSpace regional hackathon. In Q2 2021, will offer previews to the global technology giants in robotics, mobility, and multimedia. CEO is a scientist with Ph.D.
5) Kaidi Ruusalepp - Funderbeam (IN TOP 3)
Global stock market for tech and private companies. In 2020: raised €1.5M, launched listing (shares tradable without fundraising), monthly trading 5x growth from €200k/Sept to €1m/Nov and market CAP €300M+ (vs Nasdaq 1st North Baltics €60M).
6) Karen Burns - Fyma
Turning the security cameras of the world into smart sensors using computer vision AI with a convenient SaaS service anyone can use. In 2020: from idea to growing revenue in December. In 2021: building the platform and planning to enter the UK market.
7) Karoli Hindriks - Jobbatical
Tech for making immigration easy and affordable. In 2020: after pivoting in 2019, revenue grew 280%; started 1003 relocations from 75 countries; launched end-to-end immigration and relocation platform with 100% automation of the biggest tedious tasks like form-filling.
8) Kristi Hakkaja - Moderan
Empowering real-estate companies to provide modern flexible office/retail/logistics solutions and grow property value. In 2020: 3x revenue growth, raised €270K, launched integration to Microsoft, became the preferred provider across Baltics and Germany (8500+ leases, 650+ buildings worth €2B).
9) Terje Ennomäe - Feelingstream
Delivering real-time customer insight to improve efficiency, boost revenue, and retain customers. In 2020: revenue grew 60%; applied speech-to-text for 2 million hours of phone-calls in ET-RU-FI-SE-LT-LV in Telecom, Fintech, Gov, and Med sectors. Won the EDI program.
10) Vilve Vene - Modularbank (IN TOP 3)
Next-generation core banking platform. In 2020: €1.3M revenue; raised €4M; opened a new office in Berlin; signed 7 clients, including a financial institution operating in 23 countries (revenue €293M) and a financial institution consisting of 180 cooperative banks (revenue €3.5B). The team grew 7x to 44 ppl.
3. THE BIG BANG OF 2020
This category is about The Big Bang: the newcomer whose loud arrival impressed and inspired us all during last year.
The Big Bang of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Modularbank
Whatifi
Woola - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The big bang of 2020:
1) Eventornado
A platform for hosting hackathons and challenges. Launched in mid-2020, already operating globally (10 000 hackathon participants), hosting events in Europe, America, Africa, Asia. Self-funded & over €20,000 of revenue. Goal to grow revenue by 500% in 2021.
2) LightCode Photonics
Deep-tech startup showing how a robot looks at you by delivering 3D cameras at an affordable price. In 2020: won the ActInSpace regional hackathon. In Q2 2021, will offer previews to the global technology giants in robotics, mobility, and multimedia. CEO is a scientist with Ph.D.
3) Modularbank (IN TOP 3)
Next-generation core banking platform. In 2020: €1.3M revenue; raised €4M; opened a new office in Berlin; signed 7 clients, incl a financial institution operating in 23 countries (revenue €293M) & a financial institution consisting of 180 cooperative banks (revenue €3.5B). The team grew 7x to 44 ppl.
4) Rendin
Deposit free long-term home rental platform with up to 100x more cover for landlords than market standards; optimizes home rental value chain, reduces the market’s risks & losses. Launched in March, two days before the lockdown. Raised €1.2M seed round in Dec for expansion to Poland.
5) Sentinel
Helping democratic governments, defense agencies, and enterprises counter deepfakes through a leading AI-based detection platform. Raised $1.35M. Clients include the European External Action Service, the Estonian Government, the UK NATO eFP & in Q4 monitored the US Presidential elections.
6) Single.earth
Tackling climate change and biodiversity loss by enabling natural resources to generate profit *without* being sold as raw material, but as carbon and biodiversity offset. In 2020: raised a pre-seed round; saved 1st 99 hectares of wetland; doubled the team. In 2021: making nature the next financial investment instrument.
7) So.fa.dog
A video news-oriented social media platform. Provides income to the under-utilized talent of journalists and consumers dissatisfied with a 2D feed of text. Raised €600k seed funding, built proprietary infra for frictionless video content delivery, started news coverage as a base for scaling.
8) VOK
Agile and eco-friendly electric cargo-bike perfect for couriers, on-demand service providers, warehouse operators & cities. A successful fundraising, piloting with 4 strategic B2B customers, set the supply chain & manufacturing partner, prep for mass-production by summer 2021. Team of 8.
9) Whatifi (IN TOP 3)
Mobile films including interactive milestones, where one can choose the storyline with a social experience of watching & chatting with friends. Launched with a bang of $10M seed round this summer.
10) Woola (THE WINNER)
Replacing bubble wrap in packaging by using waste wool. Product launched early 2020, opened a factory in Paldiski, raised €450k, won the title of “European Cleantech Startup of the Year”, made 1st revenue in December, expanded to Germany. From Setomaa. Team of 7.
4. THE BOOTSTRAP BADGER OF 2020
The Bootstrap Badger has aced the survival mode with less than $200K raised, ever. This startup inspires us with extra creativity, boldness, team-work, and ... a getting sh*t done with a remarkably low budget!
The Bootstrap Badger of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Rasmus Vooglaid (Fiizy)
Rasmus Gross (Eliis)
Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley) - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The bootstrap badger of 2020:
1) alphablues
Smart chatbots that understand human language for automating customer support. In 2020: bots achieved 80% deflection rate; 250,000 conversations/month; launched industry-first universal ConversationalAI that is trained only in English & knows automatically all languages.
2) BookSwap
Sustainable and social marketplace to circulate millions of used books from people's homes. In 2020: +25% new users to 34K; +40% net revenue growth to €50K ARR; +50K books swapped; launched in the UK (our 1st foreign market - bookswap.co.uk) & have welcomed the 3500 early users.
3) DreamApply
European leading application management solution. In 2020: passed the €1 M revenue milestone (50% growth from 2019); passed the million registered applicants benchmark. New clients: Koc University, University of Genoa, The Swedish Institute for a national Swedish scholarship (7-year contract).
4) Eliis (IN TOP 3)
A platform that makes the daily work easier for 15 000+ preschool teachers in Baltic states. In 2020: revenue grew 320% in Latvia and 380% in Lithuania; signed a 3-year contract with Tallinn city worth ~€200k; expanded business verticals (selling learning materials in big retail stores).
5) Eventornado
A platform for hosting hackathons and challenges. Launched in mid-2020, already operating globally (10 000 hackathon participants), hosting events in Europe, America, Africa, Asia. Self-funded & over €20,000 of revenue. Goal to grow revenue by 500% in 2021.
6) Evocon
Automating data collection from production equipment enabling real-time production monitoring and analytics. Evocon is used by clients in more than 45 countries. In 2020: reaching €90k in MRR
7) Extendlaw
A knowledge management platform for Lawyers. Launched in 2017. €25k MRR, 100+ paid clients, last year 20% growth. Team of 4.
8) Fiizy (IN TOP 3)
Enables businesses to provide multi-option embedded financing to their customers through our unified flow, integrated customer profiling & network of financial institutions. 100% bootstrapped. In 2020: enabled $400M in consumer financing with 100+ financial institutions. Team of 50.
9) Mindvalley (THE WINNER)
World's leading education platform. Using our exponential tech (incl AR+AI), by 2025 we'll provide people the same advantages in life as a Harvard degree, but for 1/100 the cost. In 2020: revenue grew 30% to $85M. Profitable and wholly owned by the founders, both based in Tallinn. Team of 298 people, 20 based in Estonia.
5. THE WISE WALLET OF 2020
These active investors are team-players, gate-openers and bridge-builders - they lift a startup with all their resources, giving meaning to the phrase "Smart Money" (minimum of 2 investments made in 2020).
The best investors are team-players, gate-openers, and bridge-builders. This category is all about acknowledging those investors and highlighting their contribution to the Estonian startup community. The winner of this category, the Wise Wallet of 2020, made at least 2 investments in 2020.
The Wise Wallet of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Jaan Tallinn (Angel investor and Philathropist)
Ragnar Sass (Angel Investor, LIFT99 founder) - THE WINNER
Martin Villig (Angel Investor, co-founder of Bolt)
The Shortlisted Nominees for The wise wallet of 2020:
1) Jaan Tallinn (IN TOP 3)
€500K av, mainly looking for deep technologies with significant disruption potential; not particularly sector-focused; tends not to lead the rounds, hence mainly looking for a later stage. 20 investments in 2020.
2) Karina Univer
€15-25K in pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Looking for a strong founder-market-fit, large market potential, and first traction. Prefer to invest in diverse teams. 4 investments in 2020.
3) Martin Villig (IN TOP 3)
€10-75K, early-stage with traction in platforms & B2B, but also others with great ambition to solve global challenges (eAgronom, Remato, Caremate, Woola). Active mentor in the Estonian community. 9 deals in 2020.
4) Ragnar Sass (THE WINNER)
€20 - €300K, products with a global impact from day 1. Great network in B2B+SaaS, lately more open for moonshot ideas from climate, food & agritech (Woola, Single Earth). Looking for diversity - out of 15 deals in 2020, 4 have females CEOs.
5) Riivo Anton - United Angels
€200k - €500K. Sector agnostic, tending towards B2B, SaaS, Fintech, Marketplaces, Platforms, Software enabled Hardware. 4 new investments in 2020, 14 including follow-ons (Sentinel, LightCode Photonics).
6) Siim Teller
€25-300K, around €100k av. Baltic and East European founders, B2B software, mostly SaaS, sector agnostic. 16 investments in 2020 (Cachet, askRobin, Outfunnel, Remato, Warren, for example).
7) Taavi Tamkivi
€15-25K, pre-seed, strong founding teams, where I can potentially help with my data science, startupper or scale-upper experience. 10+ investments in 2020 (Salv).
8) Triin Hertmann
€20-50K, focusing on technology, fintech, sustainability. 6 investments in 2020 (Montonio, Salv, Remato, Grünfin).
9) Veljo Otsason - SuperAngel
€50-500K, early-stage technology. SuperAngel made 20 investments in 2020 and Veljo was leading 7 of them (Veriff, Salv, Fyma, Montonio, LightCode Photonics).
10) Yrjo Ojasaar - Change Ventures
€200K-1.5M. Mainly seed-stage B2B & SaaS tech; baltic founders. For each portfolio company, reserve significant capital for follow-on investments. 7 investments in 2020. Yrjo personally championed Planet42, Veriff, Fyma.
6. THE REVENUE HACK OF 2020
These startups in this category are revenue-making machines, showing us all how to make money as a startup. It doesn't matter whether they've quadrupled their revenue to hundreds of thousands or millions - massive growth in €€ and $$ in 2020 is what we seek.
The Revenue Hack of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Ardo Kaurit (Ampler Bikes)
Markus Villig (Bolt)
Taavi Madiberk (Skeleton Technologies) - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The revenue hack of 2020:
1) 3commas
Automatization tools for retail crypto investors. In 2020: raised $3M seed round, gross billings grew 2x to $6M. Trading volumes of $5B monthly, No1 API partner for Binance (biggest crypto exchange). Team of 60, moved HQ from St. Petersburg to Tallinn (re-locating 15 people with families.)
2) Ampler Bikes (IN TOP 3)
Light electric bike for the urban cyclist. Designed and built in Estonia with 100% direct-to-consumer. In 2020: 5500 bikes assembled in the freshly built Jüri Factory, pushing revenue by +115% YoY. The 2nd Ampler Flagship Store was opened in Cologne, Germany.
3) Bolt (IN TOP 3)
Ride-hailing, micromobility and food delivery. 3rd fastest-growing company in Europe. In 2020: survived the crisis without firing employees & growing team 1400>2000; raised €300M, expansion 150>200 cities, 35>40 countries, customers 30>50M, strong revenue growth, GMV run-rate +€2B.
4) Katana
Software for direct-to-consumer and B2B manufacturers to run their businesses. In 2020: the number of customers & MRR increased 4x; raised a seed round of €2.4M.
5) Multilogin
Helps businesses browse the internet through millions of virtual computers. Founded in 2015, fully bootstrapped. In 2020: 2x MRR (from €326K to €622K); 4300 customers from 115 countries. 2nd Estonian startup (after Toggl) operating fully remotely with members in 11 different countries.
6) Planet42
Democratizing mobility in emerging markets with socially inclusive car subscription service. In 2020: 2x revenue in the company’s first market, South Africa; $10M raised.
7) Rangeforce
Simulation-based training platform helping IT security teams to acquire the skills to defend against complex attacks. In 2020: increased ARR 4x; added 100+ top tier customers; sales teams in US+UK; $16MM A-round to become US market leader in the simulation-based cyber training segment in 2021.
8) Skeleton Technologies (THE WINNER)
Ultracapacitors with 4x higher power density than Tesla. Eur market leader. In 2020: revenue grew 3x; $180M of signed contracts and €1.2Bn in LOI´s from leading automotives. Raised $48M D round and launched ‘Superbattery’ (15-sec charging).
9) Starship
Building and operating self-driving delivery robots in US university campuses. In 2020: grew revenue 4x and hoping to double that in 2021.
10) Veriff
Global identity verification service, the global standard of online trust and identity. In 2020: customer base grew 3,7x; ARR grew 5,5x; 97% customer retention rate; raised a round (now $23,8M total). Entered new industries during COVID (Remote access, Notaries, Education, etc).
7. THE GIVING BACK POWERHOUSE OF 2020
A person, event, or organisation that gives back without asking. They have a passion and a mission that makes our startup community stronger; the impact of their efforts resonates to the entire society.
The Giving Back Powerhouse of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Jõhvi Coding School - THE WINNER
Computer To Every Student (Igale Koolilapsele Arvuti)
Unicorn Squad
The Shortlisted Nominees for The giving back powerhouse of 2020:
1) Computer for Every Student (IN TOP 3)
A volunteer initiative to enable every Estonian student to study from distance. In the first month of distance learning 1600 devices were provided to families in need and by the end of 2020 more than 2000 devices have been mediated. The initiative has been given over to Lastekaitse Liit as every year around 500 families need additional devices.
2) EdTech Against Pandemic, "Teach Millions" - free services for schools
Estonian EdTech community shared their solutions for free during spring lockdowns to support teachers and learners in need. A week later all N8 region joined forces and a joint platform TeachMillions.org was launched with 125 companies from 8 North-EU countries offering services for free. The record usage growth at that time was over 3000%.
3) Global Hack
True community spirit led by an amazing team of volunteers. Resulted in 70+ crisis hacks across the world and The Global Hack that gathered over 10k participants from 98 countries and a prize pool of €220k. The event was covered from CNN to Voice of America taking the message of hope to millions of people globally.
4) HK Unicorn Squad (IN TOP 3)
Bringing girls to the world of startups and tech, with a wide quality network of supporters, mentors, and "alumni". 1300 girls currently in the program in 96 groups, fully private initiative, invested €300K+. Goal to reach 2500 girls in 2021 and then include the program in Estonian schools curriculum.
5) Jõhvi Coding School (THE WINNER)
Estonia lacks 8000 developers, while universities train 1500/year. Jõhvi School is a great example of public-private partnerships where Gov invests €1.6M & 25 private sponsors add €800K to start a 200-student platform coding school in Jõhvi, Eastern-Estonia. No teachers, group learning methodology, starting in fall 2021.
6) Levila
Levila is reinventing storytelling for fractured society by using text, audio, video, and memes. Most notably, it has produced a popular audio play on doping (50k+ plays), a story about children of alcoholics (60K readers), and a series on predatory lending (100K+ readers). Levila's model builds understanding across division lines.
7) Pipedrive - The Options Program & Wave of Ex-Pipedrivers
Pipedrive mafia has formed Nordic's biggest angel syndicate with 40+ folks. Ex-pipedrivers have started 11 new startups (Klaus, Outfunnel, Salto, Eventornado). 300+ Estonian Pipedrive employees had stock options so they felt the meaning of $1.5B exit.
8) Solarride
Team of Estonian students developing a solar-powered car to participate in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge across the melting-hot roads of Australia. The project helps students to learn solar, tech and project management, fundraising and execution in a global playground.
9) Tallifornia School Project
Bringing startup knowledge to schools. Creators of Unicorn movie together with Estonian founders created 11 short videos. The videos could be shared in Estonian and global schools to explain the insights about the startup journey from idea, motivation, and team, to sales, fundraising, and going to Silicon Valley.
8. SAAS STARTUP OF 2020
2019 was all about hardware. This year, in 2020, we are looking for a SaaS giant - a superstar all other sectors could learn from!
The SaaS Startup of 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Martin Kõiva (Klaus)
Robin Saluoks (eAgronom)
Kaarel Kotkas (Veriff) - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The Saas startup of 2020:
1) eAgronom (IN TOP 3)
Intuitive farm management system. In 2020: 2x ARR growth; entered Australia; scaled world-class knowledge through AI-powered Agri-Advisory. Launched a carbon program to reduce global emissions & capture carbon (customers can capture 1M tonnes of CO2 annually, worth €15M - €30M).
2) Eziil
Production management software for metal-based project productions. In 2020: raised €1.2M; MoM MRR growth 7.1%; Q4 focus on launching new product (www.bom.ee = already 24% of MRR). From Viljandi.
3) Feelingstream
Delivering real-time customer insight to improve efficiency, boost revenue, and retain customers. In 2020: revenue grew 60%; applied speech-to-text for 2 million hours of phone-calls in ET-RU-FI-SE-LT-LV in Telecom, Fintech, Gov, and Med sectors. Won the EDI program.
4) Katana
Software for direct-to-consumer and B2B manufacturers to run their businesses. In 2020: the number of customers & MRR increased 4x; raised a seed round of €2.4M.
5) Klaus (IN TOP 3)
Leading agent development and QA platform for customer service teams. In 2020: revenue grew 4; the team grew 2x to 30; closed the biggest customer deal with more than 6000 seats; the platform was used to give feedback on 475,000 conversations (82,000 in 2019); raised $5.4M.
6) Multilogin
Helps businesses browse the internet through millions of virtual computers. Founded in 2015, fully bootstrapped. In 2020: 2x MRR (from €326K to €622K); 4300 customers from 115 countries. 2nd Estonian startup (after Toggl) operating fully remotely with members in 11 different countries.
7) Testlio
The originator of networked testing. In 2020: expanded revenue 2x; team grew 53% to 95; 10K+ freelancers (150+ countries); new clients include Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Meetup; received industry-leading ratings (4.8 G2, 4.8 Glassdoor, 71 NPS). Has been profitable for 2 years.
8) Rangeforce
Simulation-based training platform helping IT security teams to acquire the skills to defend against complex attacks. In 2020: increased ARR 4x; added 100+ top tier customers; sales teams in US+UK; $16MM A-round to become US market leader in the simulation-based cyber training segment in 2021.
9) Veriff (THE WINNER)
Global identity verification service, the global standard of online trust and identity. In 2020: customer base grew 3,7x; ARR grew 5,5x; 97% customer retention rate; raised a round (now $23,8M total). Entered new industries during COVID (Remote access, Notaries, Education, etc).
10) Xolo
A global platform for freelancers and solopreneurs, providing “companies-as-a-service" (SaaS for running their business, built-in banking, full accounting service, a legal entity). In 2020: the “virtual company” concept grew MoM 30%; a total of 62,000 people on the platform.
9. THE FOUNDER OF THE YEAR 2020
What is Oscars without the Best Picture? The same as Startup Awards without the Founder of the Year. This founder deserves THE BIGGEST applause by the end of 2020. Who impressed and inspired the most?
The Founder of the Year 2020 TOP 3 nominees are:
Markus Villig (Bolt)
Taavi Madiberk (Skeleton)
The Fantastic Five of Pipedrive - THE WINNER
The Shortlisted Nominees for The founder of the year 2020:
1) Ardo Kaurit - Ampler Bikes
Light electric bike for the urban cyclist. Designed and built in Estonia with 100% direct-to-consumer. In 2020: 5500 bikes assembled in the freshly built Jüri Factory, pushing revenue by +115% YoY. The 2nd Ampler Flagship Store was opened in Cologne, Germany.
2) Karoli Hindriks - Jobbatical
Tech for making immigration easy and affordable. In 2020: after pivoting in 2019, our revenue grew 280%; started 1003 relocations from 75 countries; launched end-to-end immigration and relocation platform with 100% automation of the biggest tedious tasks like form-filling.
3) Kristel Kruustük & Marko Kruustük - Testlio
The originator of networked testing. In 2020: expanded revenue 2x; team grew 53% to 95; 10K+ freelancers (150+ countries); new clients include Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Meetup; received industry-leading ratings (4.8 G2, 4.8 Glassdoor, 71 NPS). Has been profitable for 2 years.
4) Markus Villig - Bolt (IN TOP 3)
Ride-hailing, micromobility, and food delivery. 3rd fastest-growing company in Europe. In 2020: survived the crisis without firing employees & growing team 1400>2000; raised €300M, expansion 150>200 cities, 35>40 countries, customers 30>50M, strong revenue growth, GMV run-rate +€2B.
5) Martin Kõiva & Kair Käsper - Klaus
Leading agent development and QA platform for customer service teams. In 2020: revenue grew 4; the team grew 2x to 30; closed the biggest customer deal with more than 6000 seats; the platform was used to give feedback on 475,000 conversations (82,000 in 2019); raised $5.4M.
6) Priit Potter - Plumbr
Innovative Application Performance Monitoring solution. In 2020: the company was sold to a NASDAQ-listed Splunk (6000+ employees, $2B+ revenue) in an online deal without physical meetings. The Estonian team will continue to grow and be an important part of Splunk's product development.
7) Taavi Madiberk - Skeleton Technologies (IN TOP 3)
Ultracapacitors with 4x higher power density than Tesla. Eur market leader. In 2020: revenue grew 3x; $180M of signed contracts and €1.2Bn in LOI´s from leading automotives. Raised $48M D-round and launched ‘Superbattery’ (15-sec charging).
8) Taavi Must - RangeForce
Simulation-based training platform helping IT security teams to acquire the skills to defend against complex attacks. In 2020: increased ARR 4x; added 100+ top tier customers; sales teams in US+UK; $16MM A-round to become US market leader in the simulation-based cyber training segment in 2021.
9) Timo Rein, Martin Tajur, Martin Henk, Urmas Purde, Ragnar Sass - Pipedrive (THE WINNER)
CRM. In 2020: $1.5B exit to Vista Equity partners (2nd biggest after Skype); profitable; used at 95,000 companies in 170 countries; 10 offices in 8 countries with 700+ employees (Estonia has 400). Has raised a total of $91.2M in venture funding.
10) Vilve Vene - Modularbank
Next-generation core banking platform. In 2020: €1.3M revenue; raised €4M; opened a new office in Berlin; signed 7 clients, incl a financial institution operating in 23 countries (revenue €293M) & a financial institution consisting of 180 cooperative banks (revenue €3.5B). The team grew 7x to 44 ppl.
2020 was a year that put many on tiptoes. It started with confusion, layoffs, pivots, and big changes of current plans. But looking back, we can say it was one of the greatest years for our startup community yet. Challenges don’t stop us, they fuel us! It was the birth of so MANY amazing new startups, our communiy took a united stand against a massive global challenge, we witnessed the biggest exit since Skype, and nailed a new record for collective fundraising.
2021 has some big shoes to fill - let’s get cracking!
Thank you for our co-organizers of the Estonian Startup Awards 2020: Estonian Founders Society and Startup Estonia.
A huge thank you also goes to our main sponsor, Law Firm Hedman Partners, as well as to all the supporters of this year’s awards: Salv, Stebby, TextMagic, So.Fa.Dog, Toggl, Katana, Comodule, Glia, Pactum AI, Sentinel AI, Alphablues, Xolo, GoWorkaBit, Wolf3D, Snackable AI, Silen Space, Siena, Trind, Paxful, Riina Einberg, Jevgeni Kabanov, Tamkivi.org, Triin Kask, and Ahti Heinla.
