Estonian ecosystem

Estonian Startup Awards 2024 Is Seeking Nominees In 11 Impactful Categories

Estonian Startup Awards 2024 Is Seeking Nominees In 11 Impactful Categories

For the sixth year in a row, the Estonian Startup Awards is celebrating the success of the Estonian startup ecosystem and the people arond it! This time, we’re seeking nominees in 11 impactful categories the - vectors and trends that have stood out the most! The nomination form is open for all until December 13, 2024. The winners will be announced at the annual Estonian Startup Awards Gala on January 23, 2025!

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.

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!

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!


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.

Kaidi Ruusalepp: "Have a vision. Stick to it. Go after it."

Kaidi Ruusalepp: "Have a vision. Stick to it. Go after it."

Good advice should not go astray. Kaidi Ruusalepp, the Founder & CEO of Funderbeam is one of those people who has lots of good advice. Last month LIFT99 hosted an event with the I Am Tomorrow initiative to highlight strong female role models and inspire more women to undertake the journey of entrepreneurship. Among the speakers was Kaidi who blew us away with her story. 

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.

LIFT99 Raised $2.3 mil to Develop a Skillsharing Platform for Founders

LIFT99 Raised $2.3 mil to Develop a Skillsharing Platform for Founders

We’ve been quietly working on this product well over half a year. In May 2018, backed by an investment round of $2.3 mil, we are ready to enter the next phase and sign up our first carefully picked round of users - accomplished founders who’ll form the core of the network.

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

Have an upLIFTing 2018!

Have an upLIFTing 2018!

LIFT99 co-growing space rocketed in full speed in 2017 - we have built a community that shares the founders to founders mentality and is constantly growing. Moreover, last year was filled with 100+ events and 10 000+ guests visiting us.