Inspiring speakers and AI at our booth – Tehnopol’s recap of sTARTUp Day

The end of January was once again spent at the sTARTUp Day business festival in Tartu. Tehnopol was involved in organizing pre-events, we had a booth in the demo area, and supported startups from our programs on stage.

On the pre-events day, January 29, we hosted a closed Zebra ScaleUp Bootcamp pitch event. Additionally, we contributed to a health tech seminar that brought together entrepreneurs and researchers.

On the main conference day, the Startup Incubator demo day took place, where startups such as Eetos, Wayren, GaltTec, Kindel.AI, GaasAI, TeleArmy, TraynMe, VisioTag, and Bebo presented their ventures on stage.

Wayren’s co-founder and CEO, Henry Härm, shared their experiences in various acceleration programs on the main stage. Wayren has gone through Prototron and the Startup Incubator and is now part of NATO DIANA’s accelerator in Estonia. We also had a chat with Henry – you can read the interview here and on the sTARTUp Day blog.

As always, our booth had a little surprise for visitors – this time, they could take AI-enhanced photos of themselves. A big shoutout to the Estonian company PortrAI, the first photo booth in Estonia to incorporate artificial intelligence.

We also attended various talks, and here are just a few key takeaways we brought back from Tartu:

• Triin Agan (Eesti Loto) shared how the startup sector has influenced her mindset and how her leadership style has shaken up a traditional company like Eesti Loto. She is implementing a data-driven management approach.
• Veiko-Vello Palm (Frankenburg Technologies) spoke about his transition from the Estonian Defence Forces to the startup sector. He emphasized the importance of having a clear mission statement – while having it doesn’t guarantee success, its absence can lead to failure. A well-defined vision also helps to attract talent.
• Tim Vaino (FFF) advised startup founders to be curious, do their research, and clarify their goals and ambitions. He also encouraged investors to be kind to startup entrepreneurs.
• The most vibrant speaker at sTARTUp Day was undoubtedly Nordika, who shared valuable advice with startup founders. Among other things, she reminded the audience not to fear dreaming big – dreams do come true sometimes – and not to take themselves too seriously. Simple, yet essential advice for the startup sector.

We also received many compliments on our branded outfits – our new kimonos. Here’s the story: the kimonos were made from old Tehnopol-branded hoodies. We collected hoodies from colleagues who were willing to donate them, and with the help of Liina Kaidme, who designed and sewed them, we created unique short kimonos for women and repurposed hoodies for men. Check out the photos for style inspiration!

A big thank you to everyone who visited our booth! In addition to attending major business festivals throughout the year, we also organize many events of our own, where everyone is welcome. You can find an overview of upcoming events here!

Here’s a small selection of photos from the official sTARTUp Day galleries (photos by Kiur Kaasik, Mailis Vahenurm, Reigo Teervalt).