Estonian remote taxi, indoor farming cabinets and EV charging solutions piloted in Germany

The City of Tallinn and Tehnopol Science and Business Park’s joint smart city solutions competition, Tallinnovation, has reached a new milestone this year. While in previous years the contest has only offered testing opportunities within Tallinn, this time three Estonian companies will also get to pilot their solutions abroad – in the German city of Heidelberg.

“Tallinnovation has become an important platform for Tallinn, where smart, city-developing solutions are born. This year’s cooperation with Heidelberg takes its impact to a new level – it shows that our entrepreneurs’ ideas are internationally competitive and worthy of export to other cities. International partnerships strengthen Tallinn’s reputation as an innovative and open city, and offer our companies a valuable springboard to new markets,” said Tallinn’s Deputy Mayor Margot Roose.

From the applications submitted to Tallinnovation, Heidelberg’s representatives selected seven Estonian startups to present their solutions to the city. The high level of interest and quality of ideas led to a decision to support three pilot projects with a total of €20,000.

“Adapting the ‘Test in Heidelberg’ programme through cooperation between Heidelberg and Tallinn creates a unique opportunity to connect two vibrant innovation ecosystems. By testing Estonian startups’ solutions in Heidelberg, we can bring fresh ideas to our city, explore their potential in real-life environments, and strengthen the bridge between our business communities. We see tremendous potential in this – not only for the participating entrepreneurs but also for our cities, which can learn from each other and shape the future together,” commented Mareike Rimmler, Project Manager of Heidelberg’s innovation team.

The selected companies and their support amounts:

• Elmo (IamTeledriving) – €10,000 (supported by Sparkasse Heidelberg and Stadtwerke Heidelberg)
• Urban Farm – €5,000 (supported by Sparkasse Heidelberg)
• Plugfree – €5,000 (supported by Stadtwerke Heidelberg)

Elmo develops a remotely operated electric taxi service; Urban Farm has created an automatic, energy-efficient indoor plant-growing cabinet that can be controlled via a mobile application; Plugfree is building a software platform that integrates electric vehicle chargers into a unified network, enabling their central management, real-time monitoring, and data-driven optimisation.

“Tehnopol has long worked to ensure that Tallinnovation and corporate piloting opportunities reach foreign markets. Heidelberg is our first process taken from idea to implementation, and we hope more companies will soon be able to pilot abroad. This is especially valuable when there is immediate support in the host country – and this is exactly what Tehnopol is working towards,” said Anu Puusaag, Head of Tehnopol’s Digital Technologies Division.

Heidelberg, a city of about 160,000 in southwest Germany, is known for its historic old town, castle, and world-class research university. Its strong economic and scientific base makes it one of Germany’s most attractive science and industry hubs.

The goal of this international pilot collaboration is to strengthen innovation cooperation between cities, provide Estonian companies with practical entry points into foreign markets, and bring smart city solutions into people’s everyday lives faster.