Estonian Startup Awards

12/02/2026

🌟📢 A shoutout to all the dream teams of our startup scene.

The founders. The first hires. The “we’ll figure it out” people. The boss’ favourites (self-declared, or otherwise). The work besties who survive funding rounds, pivots, bug fixes and product launches at 2:17am.

Great ecosystems are built by great teams, one step at a time. And behind every revenue milestone is a group of slightly unreasonable people (yes, that means you, dear startuppers ❤️) deciding to build globally from day one.

In a country of 1.3 million, startuppers don’t just grow companies. They grow ambition. Talent density. Reputation. The sense that “why not us?” is a perfectly rational question.

And has proven to be the biggest win for our 🇪🇪 ecosystem.

🫶 Thank you for being as awesome as you are! Now, let’s keep on building! 🚀

06/02/2026

🇪🇪 "Estonia is the nation of winners. We have been winning for over 100 years. And we need to keep that mentality."

2025 marked a turning point for the Estonian startup ecosystem:

🚀 We have a remarkable next generation of startuppers as newcomers,
🚀 Certain verticals are booming (and others are making a comeback),
🚀 Various initiatives within the ecosystem keep on thriving (and giving back),
🚀 Companies are once again speaking of profit, whopping ARR-s, and millions within industries that nobody was looking at a decade ago.

2026 promises to be a good one - can't wait to see you all in January 2027 to round up the growth stats, the newcomers, the biggest impact-makers. A huge thank you to everyone who made the night of Estonian Startup Awards 2025 memorable. Until next time! 🐝

🙏 PS. A final shoutout to everyone who helped to make Estonian Startup Awards 2025 - LIFT99, Estonian Founders Society and Startup Estonia among the ranks of co-organisers - and to our amazing list of supporters from all across the ecosystem: Bolt, Kaitseministeerium / Ministry of Defence of Estonia, PayPal, Swedbank Estonia, Tallinna linn | City of Tallinn, Advizo, Coop Pank AS, Darkstar, Ellex Legal, European Women in VC, GoWorkaBit, Hedman Law Firm, Icebreaker.vc, Karma Ventures, NordicNinja VC, OÜ Slava Käsi, OÜ Viive Sünnipäev, Plural, SkipEat, Sorainen, Specialist VC, and TalentHub Recruitment.

28/01/2026

23/01/2026

Asutajate Seltsi juhiks valiti Triin Hertmann. “Uut startuppi ma praegu ei plaani”. Allan Martinsoni järel valiti selleks aastaks Asutajate Seltsi presidendiks iduettevõtja ning investor Triin Hertmann. Idufirma, Meedia ja reklaam, Triin Hertmann, ASUTAJAD MTÜ, Allan Martinson.

23/01/2026

Meie Kelly täna hommikul ETV Terevisioonis! 💛

Vaata järele siit: https://jupiter.err.ee/1609904948/terevisioon?t=2052

22/01/2026

🏆 Estonian Startup Awards 2025 is a wrap - and what a year it was! Thank you to everyone who joined us tonight for the celebrations!

Without further ado, our biggest congratulations to all the winners of Estonian Startup Awards 2025:

🐝 Newcomer of 2025 - Gridraven

🐝 HealthTech of 2025 - Muun Health

🐝 Giving Back Powerhouse - DefenceTech Meetup

🐝 FinTech of 2025 - Veriff

🐝 SaaS of 2025 - Pactum AI

🐝 DeepTech of 2025 - Skeleton Technologies

🐝 Investor of the Year 2025- Sten Tamkivi, Plural / Skaala

🐝 Impact Visionary of 2025 - ALPA Kids 🦙

🐝 DefenceTech of 2025 - KrattWorks

🐝 Revenue Heck of 2025 - Veriff

🐝 Founder of the Year 2025 - Kaarel Kotkas, Veriff

📍 As traditional, read all about the voting results and meet the 100+ nominees of this year's awards in our hot-from-the-oven blog post, summarising all the key points you might have missed tonight: https://lnkd.in/dXkQd6PC

2025 was the year our startup scene bounced back - with more newcomers than ever, with 2 clear superstars whose efforts made well-deserved history, with startups once again talking of profit(!), not just revenue! We're already excited for 2026!

🤘 See you next year (and at your next friendly neighbourhood startup event) - in January 2027!

***

The hashtag are organised by LIFT99, Estonian Founders Society and Startup Estonia.

🙏 The gala would not have been possible without the support of Bolt, Kaitseministeerium / Ministry of Defence of Estonia, PayPal, Swedbank Estonia and Tallinna linn | City of Tallinn. The awards are also supported by Advizo, Coop Pank AS, Ellex Legal, European Women in VC, GoWorkaBit, Hedman Law Firm, Icebreaker.vc, Karma Ventures, NordicNinja VC, OÜ Slava Käsi, OÜ Viive Sünnipäev, Plural, SkipEat, Sorainen, Specialist VC, and TalentHub Recruitment.

22/01/2026

🎉🎥 Estonian Startup Awards 2025 is live, join the cleebrations: https://www.linkedin.com/events/estonianstartupawards20257396548069078482944/theater/

22/01/2026

🇪🇪🏆🎥Estonian Startup Awards 2025 is going live TONIGHT!

Grab a popcorn and get comfy on the LinkedIn page of Estonian Startup Awards - the livestream of the gala starts at 18:45. We’ll enjoy an inside joke or two, take a final look on 2025, and award the best founders and ecosystem-supporters in 11 impactful categories!

Who will win? Tune in, cheer for your favourite founders, and find out!

🙌 See you there: https://www.linkedin.com/company/101217133

22/01/2026

🏆 Tonight at 19:00 we’ll finally announce the winners of Estonian Startup Awards 2025!

But, before the lights go on at Noblessner, a small detail we really want to pause on: this year’s illuminated 🐝 trophies were designed by young creatives from Vivita / Lahenduste Laboratoorium who gave form to something that’s usually invisible - the experience of a startupper.

The idea they landed on feels familiar, in the best way: an industrial staircase - full of twists, pressure, expectations - topped with an illuminated glass element carrying the bee motif. The climb, the effort, the moment you think you’ve reached the top… and then realise there’s another step.

Founders, you know the feeling. 🪜

The bee and the honeycomb symbol, which has quietly followed our awards for the last years, is there again, lit up - a reminder of hard work, persistence, and building something bigger than yourself, together.

No solo unicorns. Just a lot of very determined bees. 🐝

🎥 Join us live tonight! We’re going live on the official Estonian Startup Awards LinkedIn page at 18:45 (and also via Delfi and Estonian World), with the gala starting at 19:00. Who we'll take home the trophies?

Let's find out! Come celebrate the people, teams, and stories shaping the 🇪🇪Estonian startup ecosystem!



🐝❤️ PS. Read more about the concept of this year's awards trophies thttps://www.lift99.co/blog/estonian-startup-awards-2025-trophies-reflecting-young-peoples-vision-of-startups