{"id":179349,"date":"2025-07-24T22:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/?p=179349"},"modified":"2025-07-24T22:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:12:01","slug":"startup-story-spiiker-x-tehnopol-startup-incubator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/startup-story-spiiker-x-tehnopol-startup-incubator\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup Story: Spiiker X Tehnopol Startup Incubator"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, dozens of high-potential startups develop their products or services in the Tehnopol Startup Incubator acceleration program. One of them is Spiiker\u2014let\u2019s get to know them better!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spiiker is an AI-based AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) application that automatically converts communication images into speech, helping people with speech difficulties express themselves clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spiiker was founded by Elery Vaik<\/strong> and Georg Sten Toots<\/strong>. Elery has a background in service design and occupational therapy and has worked with people with special needs for years. Georg is a UI\/UX designer and software developer. Elery introduced us to Spiiker\u2019s story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the idea to start your own startup come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea came directly from practice\u2014working as an occupational therapist, I faced a daily reality where high-tech communication image tools were either too complicated, too expensive, or just ridiculously ineffective (read: extremely time-consuming). Clients kept asking if there really wasn\u2019t a \u2018normal\u2019 solution out there. When I shared my frustration with Georg, I finally felt like maybe we didn\u2019t just have to roll our eyes\u2014maybe we could actually make something better. And so we started!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been your biggest challenge or failure so far, and your greatest win?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge so far has definitely been finding funding\u2014a good idea is great, but without money it remains just a good idea. Our greatest win has been the honest and direct feedback from users and professionals\u2014questions like \u2018Why hasn\u2019t this been done before?\u2019 keep coming up. That confirms that what we\u2019re doing is truly needed!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What sets your startup apart from the competition?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe use AI to generate communication images (pictograms)! Our biggest strength on the Estonian market is Estonian-language speech synthesis\u2014though the solution supports other languages too, with the potential to scale internationally. The app can be used on any smart device and via the web\u2014yes, this is still a major issue in 2025, and our solution addresses it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why the Tehnopol Startup Incubator?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone had seen potential in us before, but no one was truly willing to help\u2014until we reached the Tehnopol Startup Incubator. They were the first who not only listened but also said: \u2018Let\u2019s do this!\u2019 In just four months, we\u2019ve gone from a design concept to an MVP, and we believe that this is where our solution will finally gain the momentum we\u2019ve long been seeking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you see your startup one year from now? And five years from now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne year from now, Spiiker\u2019s full version will be on the market and we\u2019ll have over 2,000 active users. Five years from now, Spiiker will be a familiar name to many families and professionals. Hopefully, we\u2019ll have expanded into neighboring countries and gained the trust of over 20,000 users.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who will be the next Estonian unicorn?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLightyear! We\u2019re also rooting for 7sense! And hopefully in the future\u2014it will be us too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What books, podcasts, publications, or industry experts do you follow and recommend to other early-stage startup founders?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of books! I recommend J. Margus Klaar\u2019s \u2018How to Get More Value from Your Product\u2019\u2014it\u2019s clear, straightforward, and practical. For generating ideas, my secret weapon is \u2018The Design Thinking Toolbox\u2019\u2014like a Swiss Army knife for service designers, all nicely unpacked according to the design cycle. For managing emotional chaos (and let\u2019s be honest, there\u2019s plenty of that in startup life), I recommend Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy\u2019s \u2018Big Feelings\u2019\u2014an honest and human read that helps you make sense of what\u2019s really going on in your head. And honestly, my biggest tip? You can set up PubMed alerts with the right keywords to receive relevant scientific updates straight to your inbox\u2014this way I always stay up to date with new professional literature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Tehnopol Startup Incubator<\/a>\u00a0will start accepting new applications from\u00a0August 11<\/strong>. Follow our channels and register your interest today to get early updates!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year, dozens of high-potential startups develop their products or services in the Tehnopol Startup Incubator acceleration program. One of them is Spiiker\u2014let\u2019s get to know them better! Spiiker is an AI-based AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) application that automatically converts communication images into speech, helping people with speech difficulties express themselves clearly. Spiiker was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":179310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup-incubator"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179351,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179349\/revisions\/179351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}