Estonian deep technology startups attracted 91 million euros in the first three quarters of this year, which accounts for over 40% of the total capital raised by the startup sector. Turnover has increased by a quarter compared to last year to 295 million euros.
According to Startup Estonia, there are 1,556 companies operating in the Estonian startup sector, including 185 deep technology startups.
Mariann Proos, project manager for research-intensive startups at Startup Estonia, pointed out that the momentum for developing deep technologies is growing in Estonia. “Knowledge-intensive companies now account for 12% of the startup ecosystem and are showing steady growth. Looking at the first three quarters of this year, deep technology companies’ turnover has increased by 26% compared to last year, and investment volumes accounted for as much as 41% of the entire sector. At the same time, it cannot be ignored that the sector still faces familiar challenges in terms of financing, talent and commercialization,” said Proos.
“Deep technology companies’ turnover has increased by 26% compared to last year, and investment volumes accounted for as much as 41% of the entire sector.”
The turnover of deep technology startups increased to 295 million euros in the first three quarters of this year. The largest turnover was achieved by Cleveron (8.5 million euros), Starship Technologies (7.7 million euros), KrattWorks (7.3 million euros), Milrem (5.3 million euros) and Elcogen (4.6 million euros).
Investments totaled 91.3 million euros in the first three quarters of 2025:
The largest investment was made by Pactum in June, and the transaction size was 47.3 million euros.
Stargate Hydrogen raised 11 million euros in March.
Wayren signed the third largest investment deal worth 7.9 million euros in April.
Lendurai raised 5.6 million euros in July.
The fifth largest deal worth 5 million euros was signed by Elcogen.
In addition, in November, the startup PowerUP Technologies announced the raising of 10 million euros.
Deep technology startups paid 51 million euros in labor taxes to the state in the first three quarters of this year, or 35% more than in the same period last year. The number of employees in science-based companies has increased to 2,551 people by the end of the third quarter, or 5% compared to the end of the third quarter of last year.
Proos commented that the increase in paid labor taxes indicates the stable development of companies. “We see an increase in wages from the strong growth in paid labor taxes, which shows that deep technology startups are oriented towards expansion and further development of technologies, which requires highly qualified labor,” he noted.
The largest employers at the end of the third quarter were Milrem (342 people), Threod Systems (187 people), Starship Technologies (181 people), Cleveron (120 people) and Defsecintel Solutions (110 people).
This year, the rapidly developing Deep Tech has also been added to the special categories of the prestigious Estonian Startup Awards to recognize founders operating in the field. There are a total of six special category awards this year, and in addition, outstanding startups in the fields of health technology, defense technology, financial technology and software services will be recognized, and an impactful visionary award will also be presented.
Candidates for the Estonian Startup Awards can be submitted by anyone who follows the developments in the startup sector:
The nomination deadline is December 14. The best in the startup sector will be selected by an independent jury, and the award recipients will be announced at the publicly boradcasted gala on January 22 - follow the official LinkedIn page of Estonian Startup Awards to stay up to date and watch the show that sums up 2025 of the Estonian startup scene.
The Estonian Startup Awards are organized each year in collaboartion of LIFT99, Estonian Founders Society and Startup Estonia. The initative is supported by Swedbank, City of Tallinn, Bolt, TalentHub, the Estonian Ministry of Defence, Plural, Specialist VC, and Nordic Ninja, with more to be added.