In previous years, the prestigious awards have recognised standout Estonian startups such as Bolt, Veriff, Pipedrive, Glia, Pactum, and Ready Player Me.

The Estonian Startup Awards are organised by the Estonian Founders Society, LIFT99, and Startup Estonia. According to Elise Sass, Co-Founder of LIFT99, challenging times have driven innovation and brought attention to areas previously overlooked

“The war in Europe dealt a significant blow to Estonia’s tech sector three years ago, but today we see how it has also created new opportunities, sparking the next phase of growth. The Estonian startup scene is now being driven by deeptech and defencetech companies whose products and services are highly sought after. I’m excited to see who the community will name as the best of the year,” said Sass.

Startup Estonia reports that 1,608 startup companies are currently operating in Estonia. By the third quarter of 2024, the sector had generated €2.7 billion in turnover, marking a 10% increase compared to the same period last year.

Candidates for the awards were nominated by startups themselves, their employees, and organisations contributing to the ecosystem. The winners will be revealed during a festive gala on 23 January.

The main categories for the Estonian Startup Awards include Founder of the Year, Investor of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Revenue Hack and Giving Back Powerhouse. Additionally, there are six special categories recognising achievements in fintech, deeptech, greentech, and defencetech, alongside awards for the best in Hardware and SaaS.

In 2024, the awards honoured Martin Kõiva and Kair Käsper as Founders of the Year for their work with Klaus, which also won Revenue Hack of the Year. VOOL was named Newcomer of the Year, and Helery Pops from Practica Capital was recognised as Investor of the Year. In special categories, winners included Pactum (deeptech), Cara Health (healthtech), and Grünfin (greentech).

Estonian Startup Awards is led by LIFT99, the Estonian Founders Society and Startup Estonia; the main sponsors of the event are Swedbank, Estonian Ministry of Defence, the City of Tallinn and Endover Kinnisvara, along with TGS Baltics, Specialist VC, VOOL, Trind Ventures, Plural Estonia, Ready Player Me, GoWorkabit, 2C Ventures, ÄIO, FIRSTPICK, Latitude59, Hedman Partners, Eversheds Sutherland Ots & Co ja Karma Ventures.

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