The business festival sTARTUp Day will kick-off for the fifth time in Tartu
The largest business festival in the Baltics, sTARTUp Day, will take place on 25th–27th August, creating a startup-minded buzz in the Estonian National Museum and around Tartu. It is also possible to participate in the event online, and a total of 3,000 participants are expected. To celebrate the fifth anniversary year, more than 150 speakers will be performing, the activities will take place on four stages, there are almost 50 seminars, and more than 30 side events to take part in.
"We have been organising this event for almost a year and a half, and I believe that the fifth birthday will get a worthy, but at the same time safe celebration," said Marili Vihmann, Head Organiser of sTARTUp Day. The priority of the organisers is to ensure safety and protect the health of the participants.
"We will check the infection safety of all participants, speakers, and the organising team. Everyone can get a mask on-site, and disinfection stations are located both indoors and outdoors. ” At the venue, it is possible to take a rapid antigen test at the main festival days on 26th–27th August from 8:00–17:00. The test costs €15, and you can pre-purchase the test to speed up the process. "As one of the greatest values of the event is finding new contacts and face-to-face meetings, Respiray wearable air purifiers are provided for all the attendees at the matchmaking area," explained Vihmann.
Despite tricky times, many foreign speakers will be coming to Tartu. Silicon Valley expert and freelance writer Adam Fisher will discuss with Better Medicine CEO Priit Salumaa how Silicon Valley's success became possible and whether it can be repeated. Also, experts from three different organisations will talk about crisis management – Olavi Lepp, CEO of Swedbank, Evelin Uibokand, Crisis Management Coordinator of the City of Tartu, and Janer Gorohhov, Co-Founder and CPO of Veriff.
In addition to the main program, there are many side events all over the city. One side event even attempts to break a world record! The previous record was set with 1,068 participants in 2014 at JCI Limburg in Belgium. sTARTUp Day has set a goal to get 1,074 people to attend the virtual business speed dating event. In the business world, speed dating is really popular, startups present their ideas to the investors, with whom they can continue the discussion later if there is interest. sTARTUp Day invites all attendees to participate in the business speed dating. In addition to investors, there is a good opportunity to find new business partners, employers, or employees, as well as like-minded people.
The festival is organised by the city of Tartu, University of Tartu, Tartu Science Park, Contriber, Tartu Biotechnology Park, Tartu Business Advisory Services, Tartu Centre for Creative Industries, and Swedbank. The gold partners of the event are the structural unit of KredEx, Startup Estonia, and the European Regional Development Fund.
