WELCOME TO
ESTONIAN STARTUP AWARDS
🏆🇪🇪 Estonian Startup Awards was born in 2019 as a community-initiative to count the brightest stars on our startup horizon, celebrate the rocketing growth of the Estonian startup ecosystem, and inspire the next generation of startup founders to take over the world!
The nomination round for the next Estonian Startup Awards will open in autumn 2026, with the final voting scheduled to take place in January 2027. In previous years, thousands of local startups, founders, organisations and community activists have been nominated by the public. The jury list has grown to 200+ people - established Estonian startup founders themselves.
Estonian Startup Awards is organised annually, in collaboration with Estonian Founders Society, Startup Estonia and LIFT99. Keep an eye on the official LinkedIn page of #EstonianStartupAwards to hear about the upcoming announcements and core news from the Estonian startup scene!
“Given the results are based purely on a survey of founder peers in the community, these awards are always really meaningful recognition.”
THE PAST AWARDS
ESTONIAN STARTUP AWARDS 2025
Estonian Startup Awards 2025 took place in Nobel Hall, Noblessner on January 22, 2026! Awards were given out in 11 impactful categories, 6 startups took home a buzzing trophy, and nearly 100 startups got a well-deserved shoutout for their achievements in 2025! Watch the whole gala here, check out the official aftermovie, dive into the photo gallery, and most importantly - embrace the key takeaways in this gigantic blog post:
ESTONIAN STARTUP AWARDS 2024
Estonian Startup Awards 2024 took place in Nobel Hall, Noblessner on January 23, 2025! Awards were given out in 11 impactful categories, including DefenceTech, DeepTech, GreenTech and FinTech. Dive into the photo gallery, watch the official aftermovie and read about the official takeaways:
Estonian Startup Awards 2023
Estonian Startup Awards 2023 took place in Nobel Hall, Noblessner on February 2, 2024! Awards were given out in 8 impactful categories, including 3 special categories - GreenTech, HealthTech, and DeepTech. Watch the whole gala here, check out the official aftermovie, see what happened at the photobox, or dive into the gallery!
Estonian Startup Awards 2022
Read all about the winners and check out the full list of nominees: Estonian Startup Awards 2022 - The Official Wrap-Up!
You can also watch the recording of the gala and check out the official photo gallery.
Estonian Startup Awards 2021
Read all about the winners and check out the full list of nominees: Estonian Startup Awards 2021: The Brightest Stars and The Biggest Trends.
Or watch the full recording of the event.
Estonian startup awards 2020
Read all about the winners and check out the full list of nominees: Estonian Startup Awards 2020 - The Winners, The Nominees & Big Trends.
See the full recording of Estonian Startup Awards 2020.
Estonian startup awards 2019
Read all about the winners and check out the full list of nominees: Estonian Startup Awards 2019 - The Fastest, The Biggest, The Most Impactful.
View the gallery of highlights from the night of the gala.
“It happens every year that I can’t wait for the list of nominees - it allows me to get to know companies that I haven’t heard of before.”
THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT
Estonian Startup Awards - our community’s biggest celebration of the year - would not be possible without the ecosystem builders and activists who are backing up the cause. Thank you for fueling the initiative and keeping the awards on the road.
THE HEADLINING PARTNERS:
Bolt
Estonian Ministry of Defence
PayPal
Swedbank
Tallinn City
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
Advizo
Coop Pank
Ellex Raidla
EIS
European Women in VC
Darkstar
GoWorkaBit
Hedman
Icebreaker.vc
Karma VC
Nordic Ninja VC
Plural VC
Punch Club
SkipEat
Slava Käsi OÜ
Sorainen
Specialist VC
TalentHub
Tallinn Dolls
Trind Ventures
Viive Sünnipäev OÜ
Estonian Startup Awards 2025 is co-organized by LIFT99, Estonian Founders Society, and Startup Estonia.
Want to contribute to the growth of Estonian startup ecosystem and join your brand with our vision? Get in touch!
LET’S PARTNER UP!
Wish to join the circle of patrons? Let’s sum up the year together - in social media, public press, and at the event. Your expertise in industry inisghts can add real value to various stages of the awards campaign: at the backstage of the nomination round, annoucing a winner at the gala, adding your unique perspective to the sector/vertical summaries we create on the go, and more.
In addition, all the official partners receive two personal invitation to the final ceremony, the Estonian Startup Awards Gala, taking place in January. This is a chance to play a key role in bringing the Estonian startup community together, be present, initiate meaningful discussions, and inspire the next generation of founders to make an impact and dream big; with the support of our very own ecosystem. And more specifically, you!
Reach out at awards@lift99.co to discuss the opportunites!
THE TEAM
Hello. We are the core team behind Estonian Startup Awards. We've been on the Estonian startup scene for years - working within startups, organizing events, managing projects, supporting organizations, freelancing in various roles, and simply being passionate about our tight-knit community. We love seeing our ecosystem grow, expand into the world and make Estonia bigger!
KADRI BARCLAY
Marketing
HELEN PIIRSALU
Partnerships
MARINA BACHMANN
Public Relations
ELIIZABETH MÄNDUL
Operations
EILI MÄNDUL
Project Manager
LIISA MAHLAPUU
Operations
ABOUT ESTONIAN STARTUP AWARDS
Estonian Startup Awards is a community initiative officially summing up the highlights of the past year. It is a celebration of Estonian startup success stories, bringing together our community and inspiring the next generation of startup founders. Estonian Startup Awards was launched for public nomination in 2019 in collaboration with LIFT99, Estonian Founders Society, and Startup Estonia.
The Estonian startup sector has been one of the fastest-growing branches of Estonian economy for two decades. We have around 1,500 active startups, employing over 17,000 people locally. On a global scale, we are absolute heavy-lifters, landing among “the most startups per capita”, “the most unicorns per capita”, and “the most funds raised per capita”. And despite challenging times, we keep on growing - Estonian startups generated €2.421 billion in turnover, marking a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2024 and “signaling renewed adaptation and resilience of the sector”. A lot is going on within and around our ecosystem - Estonian Startup Awards is here to celebrate that!
How do we find the best of the best? Every November, a public nomination campaign is launced to bring all the hidden stars and promising newcomers on the radar. After digging into the KPI’s and growth stories of each and every company and nominee, we put together a data-driven, comprehensive shortlist. The final voting is carried out in December/January by a jury of Estonian founders - in 2024, over 200 founders “sat on the panel” and gave their votes to find the winners. While the big night of the awards gala is invite-only - mainly for the nominees and the founders in the jury - the awards ceremony is publicly broadcast in media and the offical social media channels of the Estonian Startup Awards.
find us on SOCIAL MEDIA
THE PAST WINNERS
2024
The The Newcomer of the Year - Frankenburg Technologies
The Revenue Hack of the Year - DefSecIntel Solutions
The Investor of the Year - Taavet Hinrikus
The Giving Back Powerhouse of the Year - Taavi Kotka
The GreenTech of the Year - Yaga
The SaaS of the Year - Katana
The DeepTech of the Year - GScan
The FinTech of the Year - Lightyear
The Hardware of the Year - DefSecIntel Solutions
The DefenceTech of the Year - Frankenburg Technologies
The Founder of the Year - Martin Sokk & Mihkel Aamer (Lightyear)
2023
The The Newcomer of the Year - VOOL
The Revenue Hack - Klaus
The Investor of the Year - Helery Pops
The Giving Back Powerhouse - Triin Kask & Female Founders Meetups
The GreenTech of the Year - Grünfin
The HealthTech of the Year - CARÁ Health
The DeepTech of the Year - Pactum
The Founder of the Year - Martin Kõiva & Kair Käsper (Klaus)
2022
The Big Bang / The Newcomer of the Year - Koos
the Foreign Founder of the Year - Avery Schrader (Modash.io)
The EdTech of the Year - 99Math
The Wise Wallet / The Investor of the Year - Triin Hertmann
The Revenue Hack - Comodule
The DefenceTech of the Year - Milrem
The DeepTech of the Year- Pactum
The Giving Back Powerhouse - NAFO
The Founder of the Year - Timmu Tõke (ReadyPlayerMe)
2021
The Big Bang / The Newcomer of the Year - Lightyear
The Stereotype Crusher - Merit Valdsalu (Single.Earth)
The Foreign Founder of the Year - Carlos Panigua (Glia)
The FinTech of the Year - Veriff
The Wise Wallet / The Investor of the Year - Sten Tamkivi (Taavet+Sten)
The Giving Back Powerhouse - Martin Villig
The Revenue Hack - Bolt
The Founder of the Year - Markus Villig (Bolt)
2020
The Foreign Founder - Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley)
The Stereotype Crusher - Anna Liisa Palatu (Woola)
The Big Bang / The Newcomer of the Year - Woola
The Bootstrap Badger - Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley)
The Wise Wallet / The Investor of the Year- Ragnar Sass
The Revenue Hack - Taavi Madiberk (Skeleton Technologies)
The Giving Back Powerhouse - kood/Jõhvi
The SaaS of the Year - Kaarel Kotkas (Veriff)
The Founder of the Year - Pipedrive (Timo Rein, Martin Tajur, Martin Henk, Urmas Purde, Ragnar Sass)
2019
The HardWare Comet - Comodule
The Impact Visionary - Reverse Resources
The Stereotype Crusher - Ann Runnel
The Wise Wallet / The Investor of the Year - Gerri Kodres
The Giving Back Powerhouse - Chasing Unicorns
The Big Bang / The Newcomer of the Year - Salv
The Bootstrap Badger - Multilogin
The Revenue Hack - Comodule
The Founder of the Year - Kaarel Kotkas
NEWS & BLOG - WARM UP FOR THE ESTONIAN STARTUP AWARDS
WITH THE LOCAL INDUSTRY LEADERS
On the night of January 22, 2026, the 7th edition of Estonian Startup Awards once again gathered over 400 founders and community-supporters to the Nobel hall in Noblessner. The awards were presented in a total of 11 categories, with DeepTech, AI, and DefenceTech shaking the floor, as we took a final look on 2025 and the celebrated the most recent wins of the startup ecosystem in Estonia.