Tehnopol is a unique incubator that is a part of a science park while offering business and innovation services. But its competitive edge is not just that—Tehnopol Startup Incubator offers a compelling alternative to the accelerators with private capital that shy away from investing in services and pipelines. In contrast, Tehnopol, as a public entity, focuses on providing those services with sustainability at the heart of its mission, and a good financial background to boot. As such, green technologies, health technologies, and ICT are at the core of Tehnopol’s activities.

Estonia⁠—a breeding ground for innovators

Much of the needs of the companies that approach Tehnopol are striving to reach the European market, and Estonia is one of the beelines for several reasons. For one, Estonia is not just for Estonians. Establishing a business entity in Estonia is as easy as 123. Being a tech-savvy country, e-residents here can establish and manage a paperless EU-based company 100% online, which is one of the reasons why Estonia has the most startups per capita in the EU. Moreover, Estonia emerges on the top of the EU Digital Economy & Society Index, WEF Entrepreneurship, and OECD Tax Competitiveness rankings—certainly paving the way for registered startups to fully immerse themselves into the European business environment. In short, in order to build up your idea and reach a large market, you do not necessarily have to go to Silicon Valley.

The Estonian hub of incubators

You have an idea, a clear concept with business milestones and potential for scalability, and what you need is resources for testing your prototype, and finding team members—in Estonia, you can find 21 pre-startup accelerators and incubators, among which many have a lengthy experience and trustworthy reputation, such as Buildit, Tallinn Business Incubators, and, among them, Tehnopol. With an impressive palette of verticals, the Estonian incubator scene covers everything from A to Z, be it hardware and IoT, Clean and GreenTech, MediaTech, SpaceTech, Creative and AdTech, and HealthTech.

Access to Nordic investors

Being one of the most long-standing incubators in Estonia, its reputation precedes it in the best possible way, having a clear-cut process and a high success rate. The incubator investment community comprises Nordic and regional investors—be it venture capital or business angels—who target B2B solutions in the early stage of their development. Having raised 200 million euros for its startups, Tehnopol is one of the most successful parks in the region.

Business–at the core of activities

Tehnopol is the largest science park in the Baltics, established by the government of Estonia, Tallinn University of Technology and the City of Tallinn. And this is where one of the secrets to Tehnopol’s success lies—it combines the scientific and technical expertise offered by these hubs with the business acumen of the mentors, creating an all-round exhaustive list of support services a startup might need. Skype, Toggl, and other 200 companies have chosen to build their offices here.

For one, inasmuch as soft-landing services are in high demand, so too does the science park provide business and innovation services, assisting health, green, and ICT technologies by offering mentorship, networking and matchmaking, business development, fund- and investment-raising services, which include elements, such as marketing, testing, product validation, etc. The teams can count on 60+ coaches during the incubation program to uncover their full potential. It is said that 9 out of 10 startups fail, but in the case of Tehnopol, 7 out of 10 companies that go through the incubation program are still operating.

Tehnopol Startup Incubator has two business models: startups can either get the services by giving a 2% equity or paying a monthly fee of 100 EUR on top of the success fee; this is in conjunction with the equity-free grant of 50K EUR for prototype development.

Strong track record

Tehnopol has helped grow some of the hottest startups in the country, including Defendec—a company specialising in the development of world-class remote premises surveillance technology, Toggl— an online time tracking tool, and Clipman— a software tool for creating product videos in minutes to boost e-commerce marketing and drive sales.

Ongoing application process

So, you, who might be interested in the programme can apply—any week, in fact! As long as the validation panel gives you the green light, you might possibly become one of those companies whom Tehnopol has helped raise 20 million EUR in pre-seed and seed capital, overall. However, the competition is tough—with around 200 annual applicants, only about 70 are recruited.

The incubation program lasts for a maximum of 1 year, but it ends for the startup as soon as they raise 200K EUR capital or 100K EUR in investments. Also, keep in mind that Tehnopol Startup Incubator is open to all ICT projects, but also Health and GreenTech!

Incubator is a part of IRIS project that is financed by Interreg Baltic Sea Region.