Estonia is the springboard of unicorns. At sTARTUp Day, investors will have access to 300+ startups, 75% of whom are seeking investment, based on last year’s statistics. The AI-powered matchmaking platform Brella provides investors a list of all the startups participating, as well as automatically matches them to the right ones based on their interests. “sTARTUp Day is a great event for 1-on-1 meetings. Big enough to find the people of interest, but not too big to get lost in the crowd,” said Marek Kiisa, Partner at BaltCap Growth Fund. After finding a great match, there are two options – meet onsite or arrange an already familiar virtual meeting. The onsite matchmaking area is equipped with Respiray wearable air purifiers to make the meetings as safe as possible.
In addition, sTARTUp Day organizes an exclusive meetup, Investor Day, to share experiences and learn from one another. On August 25, Reshma Sohoni, the founder and managing partner of Seedcamp, one of Europe’s leading venture capital funds, will conquer the stage at Investor Day and share her story of building a successful VC fund. Seedcamp has made almost 400 investments, including in Estonian companies such as Wise, GrabCAD, and Teleport. Afterward, Jari Strandman, Sille Pettai, and Andrus Tasa will have a panel discussion about the funding of science and R&D-based startups.
And of course, the main program will offer new perspectives and inspiring success stories for everyone. Kinga Stanislawska, the managing partner and co-founder of Experior VC will conquer the stage to talk about funding and founders from the gender perspective. A Silicon Valley native and an author of the canonical “Valley of Genius”, Adam Fisher will discuss with the co-founder of Mooncascade and the CEO at Better Medicine, Priit Salumaa, the topic of how to repeat the genius of Silicon Valley.
As sTARTUp Day is all about connecting startups and investors, as well as putting startups to the test, there will be non-stop pitching competitions at the sTARTUp pitching stage. As the highlight, the sTARTUp Pitching Powered by EstBAN will reveal the best startups in the region. On August 26, the TOP 40 will step up at the pitching stage, and the next day, the TOP 5, the crème de la crème of what the Baltics has to offer, will be announced on the main stage. A great chance to spot promising startups and find the missing piece from the portfolio. The winner of last year, Jeff App, really skyrocketed after sTARTUp Day – they have won many other competitions ever since and raised Seed Round as well. “Investors see great potential for Jeff App to one day be a unicorn, mainly because they have a great team,” commented Anu Oks, Managing Director of EstBAN.
And last but not least, for the first time, sTARTUp Day is attempting to break a world record for the largest business speed dating event with an estimated 1,074+ attendees from all over the world. All 1:1 interactions last 4 minutes and will take place on a virtual platform. The business speed dating starts on the day of side events and continues on both festival days as well. Cool hour-long thematic meeting slots, many investors, even more startups, skilled executives, and all the startup-minded people in one place. Get ready to mingle and make the best connections of your life!
Are you interested in doing business in Estonia? Just send us a request for e-Consulting and one of our advisors will get back to you shortly.
