Kohtla-Järve Innovation Fund received 17 smart city ideas

On February 1, the candidacy for the first round of the Kohtla-Järve Innovation Fund ended. The committee received a total of 17 new ideas. The ideas which will receive funding will be announced at the beginning of March.

The 20,000€ innovation fund aims to support companies that make the urban environment more modern, friendly and sustainable. The city of Kohtla-Järve in cooperation with science and business park Tehnopol offer an opportunity to apply for access to the city’s contacts, infrastructure and other resources necessary for the implementation of smart city solutions in addition to financial support.

The ideas submitted to the competition were very different, ranging from optimizing electricity consumption to improving air quality. “It is a pleasure to say that we are on the right track with the Kohtla-Järve Smart City Foundation, because there were a lot of ideas and the solutions were very inventive and different,” said Olga Kurdovskaja, head of the Narva Hub Startup Incubator.

Kurdovskaja added that she was pleased to see ideas from further regions as well participating in the competition. “And it is especially positive that the technological solutions reached the market of Ida-Virumaa through the innovation competition”.

The next stage of the competition is now ahead to identify the ideas that will receive support from the Fund. On February 17, Tehnopol and the city of Kohtla-Järve jointly selected the strongest ideas. On February 22, the chosen teams made a presentation to the committee, which included experts from the city of Kohtla-Järve and Tehnopol. The next application round of the Innovation Fund will take place in August, the exact dates will be confirmed.

More information about the innovation competition: innovatsioonifond.tehnopol.ee