{"id":193664,"date":"2026-01-28T13:54:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T11:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/?p=193664"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:33:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:33:29","slug":"government-launches-a-new-economic-growth-driver-with-e12-6-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/government-launches-a-new-economic-growth-driver-with-e12-6-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Government launches a new economic growth driver with \u20ac12.6 million"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Today, Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki\u00a0Keldo\u00a0announced a new chapter in Estonian innovation in Tartu: in cooperation with science parks and universities, a \u20ac12.6 million\u00a0programme\u00a0will be launched to accelerate the development of deep tech\u00a0companies. Over the next four years, the aim is to\u00a0establish\u00a037 internationally competitive, research-intensive enterprises.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the opening of the \u201cThinking in Billions\u201d conference in Tartu, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry,\u00a0<strong>Erkki\u00a0Keldo<\/strong>, stated that this investment will help new science-based companies overcome early growth challenges,\u00a0the valley of death,\u00a0enabling them to\u00a0release\u00a0innovative ideas \u2013 as have been achieved by Starship with their delivery robots, Skeleton Technologies with energy storage devices, and Milrem Robotics with unmanned vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile technological advancement enabled the start-up boom, the next wave of innovation, which will positively\u00a0redefine\u00a0the economy, is deep tech.\u00a0If we want to lead this wave, we must support the bridge between ideas born in laboratories and everyday life \u2013 precisely what the\u00a0DeepTech\u00a0Start-up\u00a0Network does. The network allows scientific ideas to be developed into functioning businesses. In the future, these could grow with both investor funding and support from the state\u2019s applied research\u00a0programmes, and, if necessary, test their products at applied research\u00a0centres\u00a0to reach industrial production,\u201d said\u00a0<strong>Keldo<\/strong>, adding:\u00a0<strong>\u201c<\/strong>These companies create high value-added jobs, attract foreign investment to Estonia, and support the development of a knowledge-based, export-oriented economy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The investment will\u00a0establish\u00a0a\u00a0DeepTech\u00a0Start-up\u00a0Network that brings together the\u00a0expertise\u00a0of\u00a0Sparkup\u00a0Tartu Science Park,\u00a0Tehnopol, the University of Tartu,\u00a0TalTech, and the Estonian University of Life Sciences. To achieve results, the network plans the following over the next four years:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Map 350 potential deep tech ideas.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Organise\u00a0pre-incubation for 200 teams, of which 57 will\u00a0proceed\u00a0to the accelerator.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide over\u00a010,000 hours\u00a0of mentoring support for start-ups.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Launch 37 new operational deep tech companies.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The state will support the implementation with \u20ac12.6 million, and the network will also help companies attract around \u20ac38 million in capital, of which \u20ac29 million is expected to be private investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-science-parks-are-strong-partners-nbsp\"><strong>Science parks are strong partners<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEstonian universities and research institutions conduct high-level, internationally visible research. Too often, however, the value created by science does not reach our daily lives, and new enterprises are not born. To change this, the entire ecosystem needs a push. The\u00a0DeepTech\u00a0Start-up\u00a0Network addresses these bottlenecks.\u00a0Tehnopol\u00a0is pleased to be part of the consortium and to offer practical support to early-stage teams so that science-based solutions can develop into strong, export-capable, internationally competitive companies,\u201d said\u00a0Tehnopol\u00a0board member\u00a0<strong>Agnes\u00a0Roos<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe reason why many innovative scientific discoveries do not become products that drive the economy and create jobs lies in the complexity and high risk of starting out,\u201d said\u00a0Sparkup\u00a0Tartu Science Park board member\u00a0<strong>Pirko Konsa<\/strong>. \u201cIt is precisely the early stage where many\u00a0good ideas\u00a0get stuck. The network\u2019s goal is to share these risks with entrepreneurs and\u00a0scientists and\u00a0help overcome the so-called valley of death \u2013 the moment where potential exists, but support and certainty are still missing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Startup Estonia, there are 1,620 companies\u00a0operating\u00a0in Estonia\u2019s start-up sector, including 216 deep tech start-ups. In 2025, deep tech start-ups paid \u20ac68 million in\u00a0labour\u00a0taxes to the state, 27% more than the previous year,\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0steady growth. By year-end, the number of employees in science-based companies had grown to 2,544. Deep tech companies attracted\u00a0nearly \u20ac161 million\u00a0in investment, which accounts for just over 52% of the total \u20ac309.9 million invested in the entire start-up sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The largest employers were Milrem (342 people),\u00a0Threod\u00a0Systems (187 people), Starship Technologies (181 people), Cleveron (120 people), and\u00a0Defsecintel\u00a0Solutions (110 people). Working in these companies requires knowledge of physics, electronics, software development, machine learning, and robotics; however, softer skills \u2013 such as problem-solving, willingness to collaborate, and\u00a0proficiency\u00a0in English \u2013 are also valued, as teams\u00a0operate\u00a0internationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-thinking-in-billions-brought-bold-ideas-to-tartu-nbsp\"><strong>Thinking In Billions brought bold ideas to Tartu<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The conference did not focus solely on\u00a0Estonia, but\u00a0sought inspiration from global leaders. In one panel, representatives from Singapore\u2019s venture capital fund Mirana Ventures,\u00a0<strong>David Toh<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Ben Hartley<\/strong>\u00a0from Cambridge University, and\u00a0<strong>Jussi\u00a0Sainiemi<\/strong>\u00a0from Finland\u2019s Voima Ventures shared their experiences. Together, they concluded that bold investments require\u00a0courage, but\u00a0yield tangible results. Another panel discussed Estonia\u2019s opportunities to become a global technology leader, with contributions from investor and EIC ambassador\u00a0<strong>Heidi Kakko<\/strong>,\u00a0SampleFacts\u00a0CEO\u00a0<strong>Maryam\u00a0Poorafshar<\/strong>, and Skeleton Technologies Vice President\u00a0<strong>Arnaud Castaignet<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cThinking In Billions\u201d conference is the opening event of\u00a0sTARTUp\u00a0Day in Tartu, bringing together representatives of the state, universities, entrepreneurs, and investors. The aim is to promote knowledge-based entrepreneurship and support the international competitiveness of companies. The conference is\u00a0organised\u00a0by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/184496731@N07\/albums\/72177720331671631\/\">sTARTUp Day, Merilyn Sepp<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki\u00a0Keldo\u00a0announced a new chapter in Estonian innovation in Tartu: in cooperation with science parks and universities, a \u20ac12.6 million\u00a0programme\u00a0will be launched to accelerate the development of deep tech\u00a0companies. Over the next four years, the aim is to\u00a0establish\u00a037 internationally competitive, research-intensive enterprises.\u00a0 At the opening of the \u201cThinking in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":193659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193664","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=193664"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197448,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193664\/revisions\/197448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}