“Thanks to the technological progress, ‘health and care’ is moving into our home, work, and recreation,” Erki Mölder, Managing Director of Verge Healthtech Fund and cofounder of Health Founders, writes in the editorial of the Spring 2023 issue of the Life in Estonia magazine.
As Estonia moves towards its ambitious goals in AI adoption and quality of life, tech is the obvious answer. What could be another key to success? “Women are traditionally more health-conscious than men. They drive not only the decisions of their own health, but they care about the health of their whole family – from children to grandparents. One might even say that health-related decision-making could be shifted from doctors to women. Maybe this is the reason that we already see so many female founders in the Estonian health-tech ecosystem,” Mölder assumes.
+ The Life in Estonia Spring 2023 cover focuses on 11 female founders that are driving the Estonian entrepreneurial landscape towards a more inclusive future. There’s a lot of work to be done. In 2022, female and mixed founding teams in Estonia raised 79.5 million euros, or 6% of total investments, while all-female founding teams attracted 7.2 million euros. Featuring founders from Funderbeam, Testlio, Jobbatical, Fyma, FoodDocs, Timbeter, Clanbeat, Sage.ai, Grünfin, Soulie, Cachet, and Single.Earth, the story dives deep into how they are banding together to take a proper swing at the glass ceiling.
+ What marks 2022? The record number of foreign direct investments in Estonia, as Invest Estonia has secured €351M. From world-class factories to R&D initiatives, the country has attracted plenty of innovative solutions for a changing world. The flagship project, Neo Performance Materials (NPM) magnet factory worth over €100M will make a huge contribution to European energy security and sustainability.
+ Science is back in a big way. Estonian researchers are preparing for a big leap forward as two international centres of excellence at the University of Tartu received a total of €60M in development support from the European Commission and the Estonian state this year. Life in Estonia talked to Professors Mait Metspalu and Mart Loog, who are heading the two consortia, to learn more about the upcoming research.
+ Healthcare is no longer analogue. Apps for clinical procedures, treatment via software, remote preventive care – digital therapeutics are a new class of medicine that change healthcare delivery. DTx Estonia, the industry alliance of Estonian digital therapeutics manufacturers, was founded to lead this revolution Health Founders, the first health tech accelerator in the Baltics.
+ Innovations are not confined to the startup world. Icosagen, one of Estonian leading drug development companies, has received 18 million euros from the European Investment Bank and will open its innovative manufacturing facility this year. BioBlock, an anti-covid nasal spray developed by the company, has reached many countries. Mart Ustav, CEO of Icosagen, told us their story.
+ Dream big, fly high. Estonian EMS professionals are helping out Airbus Helicopters and International SOS in the development of a new emergency medical system. Titled LifeSaver, the program is now exploring many innovative solutions, from vertical take-off and landing aircraft to AI.
+ You can also read about other exciting Estonian companies, such as Therasync, Mental Pin, Better Medicine, Certific, Menken Trials, Cryotech and Modash to learn more about the food synthetic biology done at The Centre of Food and Fermentation Technologies or the anniversary Viljandi Folk Music Festival.
Read the newest issue of Life in Estonia magazine here:
