Starting October 9, deep technology start-ups in Estonia can submit applications to the joint agency of EAS and KredEx to receive support for their business development projects.
Vaido Mikheim, head of the deep tecn field at Startup Estonia, said that the products and services developed by start-ups in the field of deep tech are characterized by a strong scientific basis. “Today, the commercialization of science is seen as a great global potential for both solving complex problems and achieving economic growth, and with the help of the new support measure, we want to encourage the creation of products and services with greater added value in Estonia, as well as their export,” explained Mikheim.
The goal of start-ups in the field of deep tech is to bring scientific results to society as real products and services. The areas of deep tech are, for example, high-tech materials, new energy solutions, including hydrogen technologies, artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, including synthetic biology and novel food, autonomous vehicles, robotics and space technologies.
“As a country, our goal is to become technology creators from technology users – but this is capital-intensive and risky. Especially for deep tech companies, it is important to test potential customers and market niches of their novel solutions at an early stage. This is what the new support encourages: testing your product or service concepts with potential customers or researching market suitability in export destination countries,” said Sigrid Rajalo, head of development and innovation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
The purpose of the support is to increase the creation of products, services and technologies with greater added value in the Estonian economy and their export. deep tech micro and small enterprises registered in the Estonian business register that have been in operation for up to five years and have at least two employees can apply for support. The maximum support is 50,000 euros per company, and the minimum self-financing is 25%. The total budget of the measure is 1,000,000 euros, and the volume of the first support round is 250,000 euros.
A deep tech startup is an entrepreneur that develops technologies that are characterized by a time-consuming and capital-intensive process and greater uncertainty and business risk regarding the viability or applicability of that technology.
The application round is open from 09.10.2023 at 12.00 to 08.11.2023 at 16.00.
More information: https://eas.ee/grants/iduettevotja-toetus
Startup Estonia is a national program for the development of the Estonian startup ecosystem, giving impetus to the emergence of start-ups and becoming international success stories. The Startup Estonia program is implemented by the joint institution of EAS and KredEx, and the activities of the program’s research accelerator are implemented by SmartCap. The Startup Estonia program (project number EU50651) is financed from the resources of the European Regional Development Fund.