LIFT99: Estonian most active angel investors and VC's of 2020

2020 was a record-breaking year for the Estonian community on so many levels! Based on the Estonian Startup Database, we had 1117 startups in Estonia in total by the end of 2020. Estonia has 4.6x as many startups per capita as the European average - on a population-adjusted basis, Estonia is the capital of European startups! A total of 440,9M EUR was invested into Estonian startups during 2020. There were 76 new investment deals, out of which 32 deals were valued at more than 1M EUR. In 2019, there were 73 new investment deals, 30 valued at least 1M EUR, and the raised investment total was 226,4M EUR.

We work with startups and startup communities daily and get asked often if we know reliable investors or if we can help with fundraising. We mapped out the data of the 60 most active angel investors and 18 most active VC’s of 2020, including their best investment examples.

From LIFT99 to all those who are mentioned below - thank you for taking part in this article and for actively contributing to the ecosystem. For all the startups and founders, we hope you will find new insights for your next funding round.

Salto Growth Camp no 4, June 2020

Estonian Startup Awards 2020

MOST ACTIVE ANGELS

1. Alari Aho
   Ticket size: 250K
   Focus: Tech companies with traction and revenue
   Investments made: 2
   Best examples: Roofit.Solar

2. Sergei Anikin
   Ticket size: 20-50K
   Focus: SaaS, companies which I can help through my advisory, network and experience. I usually co-invest with people I know well
   Investments made: 2
   Best examples: Katana, Eziil

3. Akim Arhipov
   Ticket size: 10-30K
   Focus: Pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Strong founder market fit, large market potential, and first traction in Baltics and Nordics
   Investments made: 4
   Best examples: ATOM Mobility, imagiLabs, BASIS ID

4. Sonny Aswani
   Ticket size: 25K
   Focus: HealthTech and EdTech
   Investments made: 5
   Best examples: Eziil

5. James Berdigans
   Ticket size: 10-25K
   Focus: Marketplace, platform, e-commerce startups with traction
   Investments made: 5
   Best examples: Restream.io

6. Lev Dolgatsjov
   Ticket size: 10K
   Focus: B2B SaaS and Impact
   Investments made: 5
   Best examples: Remato, Cuploop, Eziil Production Intelligence, eAgronom and Jeff App

7. Triin Hertmann
   Ticket size: 20-50K
   Focus: Technology,FinTech, sustainability
   Investments made: 6
   Best examples: Montonio, Salv, Remato, Grünfin

8. Magnus Hiie
   Ticket size: 5-20K
   Focus: No specific focus
   Investments made: 2
   Best examples: Remato, Fundwise

9. Taavet Hinrikus
   Ticket size: 250K - 1M
   Focus: Positively impacting the world, mission and ambition to build big / solve big problem
   Investments made: ~ 50
   Best examples: Some examples: Hopin, Bit Bio, Uncapped

10. Philip Jungen
    Ticket size: 20-50K
    Focus: Usually FinTech, regulated infrastructure & tools for creators and makers. Lately I have also been introduced to other areas
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: -

11. Kaamos
    Ticket size: 50-100K
    Focus: We are a generalists by nature, with no specific target business or sector, prefer investments into companies with a strong link to Estonia
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: FuseBox, Payqin, Veriff and BobW (we believe all our investments are into exceptional companies)

12. Jevgeni Kabanov
    Ticket size: 10-100K
    Focus: Consumer, fintech, mobility, manufacturing, real estate and B2B, but also apparel, E-commerce and other large markets
    Investments made: 6
    Best examples: Postoplan

13. Pavel Karagjaur
    Ticket size: 10K
    Focus: Marketplaces. SaaS. Companies that do well in 1 geography but need to expand to more. Everything that grows fast
    Investments made: 2
    Best examples: Postoplan

14. Indrek Kasela
    Ticket size: 25-100K
    Focus: Opportunistic
    Investments made: 2
    Best examples: ViveoHealth

15. Ott Kaukver
    Ticket size: 100K+
    Focus: Cloud-based B2B businesses, API and technology platforms, developer-driven businesses
    Investments made: 10
    Best examples: Checkly, Qatalog, Perceptive, Metomic

16. Märt Kelder
    Ticket size: 10-50K
    Focus: B2B SaaS
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: JATRI

17. Kair Käsper
    Ticket size: 10-30K
    Focus: SaaS, B2B, marketplaces, ML/AI, enterprise software, GreenTech
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Woola

18. Taavi Kotka
    Ticket size: 20-100K
    Focus: Only invest into businesses whom I can help with my skills
    Investments made: Who counts
    Best examples: Outfunnel, Lightcode, Starship, Plumbr

19. Martin Kõiva
    Ticket size: 15K
    Focus: E-commerce
    Investments made: 1
    Best examples: -

20. Robert Laud
    Ticket size: 5-20K
    Focus: Case by case with more attention to CleanTech, Sustainability, Mobility in the future. Preferably mission-driven teams. Early traction.
    Investments made: 10
    Best examples: Atom Mobility, Jeff App, Promoty

21. Rein Lemberpuu
    Ticket size: 25-100K
    Focus: Seed, bridge, or pre-series-A round
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Wolf3D, Patchstack

22. Kuido Lepik
    Ticket size: 10-25K
    Focus: SaaS, Marketplace. Exclude Medtech, Crypto.
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: Eziil, FoodDocs, Timbeter

23. Alvar Lumberg
    Ticket size: 10-30K
    Focus: Sustainable world, Edtech, fintech, efficiency & automation, but truly mission-driven companies in general
    Investments made: 6
    Best examples: Visory, askRobin, Grünfin

24. Märt Lume
    Ticket size: 10-50K
    Focus: XR, EdTech, super cool founders
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Futuclass, Veriff

25. Taavi Madiberk
    Ticket size: 10-50K
    Focus: Agnostic, main love is CleanTech
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Sympower

26. Kristjan Maruste
    Ticket size: up to 25K
    Focus: Mobility
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Vok Bikes

27. Vahur Meus
    Ticket size: 50-200K
    Focus: No specific focus, mostly B2B SaaS
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: Comodule

28. Ivo Mägi
    Ticket size: 20-50K
    Focus: Prefer to invest in a stage where there is early traction/revenue. Most interested in deeptech / DevOps solutions
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: (Transfer)Wise, ZeroTurnaround, eAgronom

29. Andres Märtin
    Ticket size: 5-20K
    Focus: startups that I would use, team with sparkling eyes. Good idea and traction
    Investments made: 3-5
    Best examples: Remato, Eziil

30. Erki Mölder
    Ticket size: 10-50K
    Focus: Health-related areas. In other areas passive investment is preferred and three prerequisites needed: (a) novel idea; (b) bright and ambitious team; (c) knowledgeable lead investor
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: LungPass

31. Madis Müür
    Ticket size: 5-30K
    Focus: B2C, hardware, Greentech but really case by case
    Investments made: 2
    Best examples: Promoty, Silen

32. Eerik Oja
    Ticket size: 5-10K
    Focus: No particular focus. I focus almost exclusively on the strength of the founding team
    Investments made: 5
    Best examples: Yaga, So.fa.dog

33. Thomas Padovani
    Ticket size: 25-500K
    Focus: SaaS, Software, Tech
    Investments made: 5
    Best examples: Punch Drinks

34. Kairi Pauskar
    Ticket size: 3-30K
    Focus: Organisations that have a strong & passionate team and the problem they solve has a global impact
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: Katana, Ampler Bikes, Funderbeam

35. Peaksjah OÜ
    Ticket size: 20-100K
    Focus: Crazy but doable. Lately more focused on the B2B and hardware side of the future
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: LightCode Photonics

36. Raido Pikkar
    Ticket size: 25-100K
    Focus: B2B, SaaS, industry-specific digitalization
    Investments made: 8
    Best examples: Waybiller, Eziil

37. Andrus Purde
    Ticket size: 10-50K
    Focus: Mostly B2B SaaS and on-demand transportation. Hope to do more GreenTech investments going forward.
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Outfunnel, Omnisend, Klaus, SegmentStream

38. Urmas Purde
    Ticket size: 25-100K
    Focus: SaaS, B2B, Health, Human - Computer Interaction
    Investments made: 5
    Best examples: Port 6, CareMate, Teamscope

39. Martin Rand
    Ticket size: 20-200K
    Focus: Across the board and stage
    Investments made: 2
    Best examples: Comodule, Starship

40. Rando Rannus
    Ticket size: 5-10K
    Focus: Usually B2B SaaS, but there are exceptions as always. Starting from 2021 will focus mainly on secondary transactions in high growth late-stage startups
    Investments made: 5
    Best examples: Simporter.com

41. Kristjan Raude
    Ticket size: 10-20K
    Focus: Marketing, Mobility, SaaS, Education, Fintech, Personal Development
    Investments made: 7
    Best examples: Biig Technologies Inc, Adact, Better You

42. Ivo Remmelg
    Ticket size: 10-30K (first ticket)
    Focus: B2B SaaS
    Investments made: 6
    Best examples: Jeff App

43. Priit Rohumaa
    Ticket size: 100-250K
    Focus: No specific focus, excluding space and hardware
    Investments made: 6-7
    Best examples: Jeff App, Steezy, Curtsy, Nutrisense, Byte, Zensports, 99 minutos

44. Risto Rossar
    Ticket size: 5-20K
    Focus: InsurTech, FinTech and B2B SaaS
    Investments made: 8
    Best examples: CoinDirect; Pockit; ForPeeps; Coursy Technology; MinuDoc

45. Ragnar Sass
    Ticket size: 10-300K
    Focus: Product with a global focus, that can make a huge impact to people life. B2B & SaaS, but lately more open for moonshot ideas from climate, food & AgriTech
    Investments made: 15
    Best examples: Woola, Segmentstream, Zeltini, Single.Earth

46. Silberauto AS
    Ticket size: 10-150K
    Focus: Moonshot/scaling/innovation
    Investments made: 8
    Best examples: R8, MeetFrank, FoodDocs

47. Mikko Silventola
    Ticket size: 20-100K
    Focus: Pre-seed/seed, sector agnostic
    Investments made: 17
    Best examples: PayMongo, Hugo, Bolt

48. Martin Tajur
    Ticket size: 20-150K
    Focus: B2B SaaS and CleanTech
    Investments made: 8
    Best examples: Woola, Airly, SegmentStream

49. Jaan Tallinn
    Ticket size: starting from 500K
    Focus: Mainly looking for deep technologies with significant disruption potential; not particularly sector-focused
    Investments made: 20
    Best examples: Roam

50. Sten Tamkivi
    Ticket size: 10-100K
    Focus: Last year I invested mostly in the future of work (distributed teams, mobility across borders) and the future of money (crypto, decentralized finance). And occasionally in relentless and curious founders with bold ideas in other industries.
    Investments made: 15+
    Best examples: Oyster HR, Acapela, Detail, Superfluid + number of DeFi protocols

51. Taavi Tamkivi
    Ticket size: 15-25K
    Focus: Pre-seed, strong founding teams, where I can potentially help with my data science or startupper experience
    Investments made: 10+
    Best examples: Salv, Eziil

52. Herty Tammo
    Ticket size: 10-100K
    Focus: No specific focus
    Investments made: 10
    Best examples: Comodule, Monese, Insly, CG Trader, Veriff, Funderbeam

53. Siim Teller
    Ticket size: 25-300K
    Focus: Baltic and East European founders. B2B software, mostly SaaS. We’re sector agnostic and have so far invested in FinTech, InsurTech, PropTech, industry 4.0, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, computer vision, ML/AI, etc.
    Investments made: 16
    Best examples: Few examples - Cachet, askRobin, Outfunnel, Remato, Warren

54. Karina Univer
    Ticket size: 15-25K
    Focus: Pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Strong founder market fit, large market potential, and first traction
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: Woola, Rendin, Vok Bikes, imagiLabs

55. Priit Vaikmaa
    Ticket size: 10-100K
    Focus: B2B SaaS, GreenTech, Estonian startups
    Investments made: Few
    Best examples: Woola, Caremate

56. Markus Villig
    Ticket size: 20-50K
    Focus: Marketplaces
    Investments made: 5
    Best examples: Membo, Airly

57. Martin Villig
    Ticket size: 10-25K
    Focus: Early-stage startups with traction in platforms/mobile/B2B space
    Investments made: 9
    Best examples: eAgronom, Remato, Caremate

58. Argo Virkebau
    Ticket size: 10-50K
    Focus: Fintech, E-commerce, platforms, SaaS
    Investments made: 2
    Best examples: Planet42, Simporter AI

59. Veiko Visnapuu
    Ticket size: 5-100K
    Focus: No specific focus
    Investments made: 3
    Best examples: Planet42

60. Till Quack
    Ticket size: 20K
    Focus: Deeptech, climate, productivity
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: Uebermorgen.vc, Getshipit.com, Outfunnel

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MOST ACTIVE FUNDS

1. 42CAP
   Ticket size: 500K - 1.5M
   Focus: B2B software at seed stage in Europe
   Investments made: 6
   Best examples: Katana, Allcyte, Occtoo

2. byFounders
   Ticket size: 500K - 2M
   Focus: Primarily seed stage, and opportunistically pre-seed. Founders with a connection to the Nordic & Baltic countries
   Investments made: 7
   Best examples: Outfunnel, Lucinity, Zvook & Stealth Black

3. Change Ventures
   Ticket size: 200K - 1.5M
   Focus: Our investment focus is mainly on seed-stage B2B and SaaS tech startups, but we don’t shy away from B2C, hardware, robotics and other fields
   Investments made: 7
   Best examples: Few examples - Planet42, Veriff, Fyma

4. Creandum
   Ticket size: 500K - 10M
   Focus: Seed and A-rounds primarily into software companies (B2B, B2C, marketplaces, gaming, you name it) that have the ambitions to define or redefine their industries.
   Investments made: 10
   Best examples: They're all *best* in our minds

5. Icebreaker.vc
   Ticket size: ~500K
   Focus: Software-driven startups that are founded by domain experts
   Investments made: 3 investments in Estonian companies
   Best examples: Cachet

6. Karma Ventures
   Ticket size: 500K to 3M
   Focus: Deep-tech software companies in Europe
   Investments made: 2
   Best examples: Lucinity, Modularbank

7. NordicNinja VC
   Ticket size: 2-5M
   Focus: Late seed to Series B rounds, focused on global market leaders based in the Nordics & Baltics
   Investments made: 7
   Best examples: We believe in all our founders

8. Nordic Secondary Fund
   Ticket size: 2-5M
   Focus: Industry and Sector Agnostic, but first fund in the region exclusive to invest in secondaries
   Investments made: 10
   Best examples: Click & Grow

9. Siena Capital
   Ticket size: 100K to 1-3M
   Focus: Geographically main focus Baltics, Finland and California, but not exclusively. No specific sector focus, but we have quite a few companies in SaaS and fintech in our portfolio
   Investments made: 20
   Best examples: Modularbank, Veriff, Teamscope, Carta, Calm, ChipperCash, Kin Insurance.

10. Spring Capital
    Ticket size: up to 200K
    Focus: We have a regional focus of Nordic and Baltic states. We are sector agnostic in general but avoid projects with pre-revenue capital need of several millions (deep tech, pharma, material science etc.)
    Investments made: 7
    Best examples: Fractory, Wisboo, Teamscope, React&Share, LeadX, Wolf3D

11. Startup Wise Guys
    Ticket size: 30-100K
    Focus: B2B SaaS, Sustainability, Fintech, Cyber
    Investments made: 60
    Best examples: Ondato, Ziticity, Katana, Simporter, Bobu

12. Superangel.io
    Ticket size: 50-500K
    Focus: Technology
    Investments made: 20
    Best examples: Salv, Kea.ai, Veriff, Fyma, Montonio, Lightcode Photonics

13. Superhero Capital
    Ticket size: 500K
    Focus: Insight-driven software companies
    Investments made: 7
    Best examples: Relancer, Speakly, Ziticity

14. Tera Ventures
    Ticket size: 200K – 1.5M
    Focus: Digital startups, generalist focus
    Investments made: 4
    Best examples: BotGuard, Transformative.AI, Sport IQ, Brainbasef

15. TMT Investments
    Ticket size: 1-2M
    Focus: SaaS, Mobile, Cloud, AI, Marketplaces, Online business services, Cybersecurity. Pre-Series A, Series A stages
    Investments made: 12
    Best examples: 3S Money

16. Trind VC
    Ticket size: 200-500K initial ticket with follow on up to 2M
    Focus: B2B, B2C, industry-agnostic approach
    Investments made: 5
    Best examples: RangeForce, NeuralDSP, Fractory, Tise

17. United Angels VC
    Ticket size: 200-500K
    Focus: Sector agnostic, but we tend to pivot towards B2B, SaaS, Fintech, Marketplaces, Platforms, Software enabled Hardware
    Investments made: 11
    Best examples: Sentinel, LightCode Photonics, Starship, FoodDocs, Fractory

18. Yolo Investments
    Ticket size: 500K-5M
    Focus: Yolo Investments focus is on seed- and A-stage investment opportunities across gaming and fintech
    Investments made: ~20
    Best examples: Aims, Good Bank, hub88, OSL, Yeahka
    
    *Data is in alphabetical order.
    
    The awesome team of LIFT99 and Ragnar Sass are behind gathering this information.
    If you feel that you should be visible on this list or need , please contact Mari Helstein at mari@lift99.co
    

    
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