J I Ventures

Estonian startup ecosystem:
Goes Deeper, Goes Tech!
Oliver Ait
Commercial Counsellor
Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Japan
Estonian startup ecosystem has displayed a remarkablea startup-minded approach to shaping urban space and thecapacity for resilience in face of global challenges andpossibilities of the community to contribute to the city's

turbulent times. Despite a reduction in the number andhuman-centered, sustainable, and innovative development.

regularity of investments, likely due to the worldwide

Tartu is a smart city from 1632, a year when the University of

economic slump which has led investors to be more cautious,

Tartu was established. Today, Tartu recognizes developing

the sector has proven to be highly adaptable in responding toknowledge and science based entrepreneurship as their great

difficult situations. It appears as though crises are almost

opportunity, with the University of Tartu and other higher

expected and welcomed within the local startup community.

education institutions at the center of the city’s plans. Students,At the moment, Estonia has about 1460 startup companies

academic staff, startup founders, business leaders, investors

and at least 14 of them were added in 2023. This has taken the

all together make Tartu the intellectual capital of Estonia. The

country to Europe’s top in number of unicorns and startup

city supports science-based entrepreneurship in all its strategic

companies per capita. The largest sectors in terms of activeplans and has created a science-to-business system tostartups are Business software & HR, FinTech and Consumer

encourage entrepreneurship in scholars by offering university

products & services, but there are new developments ahead.

pre-incubation programs.

Deep Tech Startups

Tartu is not just a hub for deep tech startups, it is also a citywith a lively and distinctive cultural life and a green mindset.

In order to remain at the cutting edge of global trends, Estonia

The solution-oriented thinking of the city and the community

has been backing startups that specialize in research andsupports the continued growth of the local technology sector,technology. With the world facing complex challenges, there

but also provides a very liveable environment for people of all

is increasing attention being given to Deep Tech startups thatwalks of life. It also hosts one of the coolest startup related

utilize novel technologies to address different problems. To

events called sTARTUp Day that takes place every year. The

encourage the growth and emergence of such teams within

event has also become quite popular amongst JapaneseEstonia, Startup Estonia and the Ministry of Economic Affairs

visitors, corporations and VCs. In addition, the City of Tartu

and Communications of Estonia have created an action plan
aimed at promoting startup entrepreneurship focused on
research and technology, with the objective of positioning
Estonia as a center of excellence for Deep Tech startups.
Today, the Estonian Startup Database is home to 123 DeepTech startups, which is a remarkable number that willprobably rise in the future.

Tartu – Innovative Smart City
In terms of developments regarding deep tech startups, theCity of Tartu is at the forefront of innovation in Estonia, with26

2023.7

City of Tartu (Photo by Ragnar Vutt)エストニアsTARTUp Day held in March 2023

muonFLUXTM tomograph prototype

with its deep tech startups also participated City Tech Tokyoalgorithm. They are far ahead of their competitors by havingthat was held in Tokyo in February. The experience was very

their precise detector-building robotic line ready and in

rewarding and many valuable contacts were made between

production. GScan has strong business relations with Japanese

the Japanese and Estonian stakeholders. Keep an eye oncompanies Kuraray and Hamamatsu Photonics and theEstonian startups and the City of Tartu, as it is quite likely thatcompany has patented their technology in Japan.

the next unicorn company will be born there.
Although the global economic downturn has led to a decrease
LightCode Photonics

in investment, the Estonian startup ecosystem remains

https://www.lightcodephotonics.com/

resilient, adaptable, and expanding. While the challenges are

Let me give a few examples. One of the startups that emerged

global trends and keep their focus on practical solutions andfrom the University of Tartu is LightCode Photonics, afrugal management style, making the ecosystem as resilientcompany that is developing a software-defined camera that is

as ever. Estonia's focus on deep tech startups and Tartus’

resolving fundamental technical problems in 3D imaging.

supportive startup ecosystem have created an environment

Their direct time-of-flight (dToF) 3D-camera utilizes a novelthat encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. LightCode

intelligent perception approach to obtain 3D images,

Photonics and Gscan are just two examples of the many

empowering low-resolution detectors without mechanicalstartups that have emerged from Tartu and are making anscanning. They obtain images with lateral resolution several

impact in their respective industries. As the world faces neworders of magnitude higher than the native pixel count of thechallenges, it is essential to have startups that are working on

detector and produce innovative 3D cameras that could

innovative solutions to complex problems. Estonia's startup

transform how robots perceive the world. LightCodeecosystem and the City of Tartu are proving to be resilient,

Photonics aims at a market leader position in the 3D imaging

adaptable, and forward-thinking, making them a great placeand sensing market and is currently looking for partners andto start a business.

investors in Japan.

serious, Estonian founders have been able to listen to theGScanお問い合わせhttps://www.gscan.eu/

JOI 事業企画部
bd@joi.or.jp

Another startup based in Tartu is GScan. The company isusing natural radiation and AI to detect materials and distressin critical infrastructure and is looking to revolutionise

駐日エストニア共和国大使館
Oliver Ait, Commercial Counsellor
E-mail: oliver.ait@mfa.ee
https://tokyo.mfa.ee/

scanning industry in airports and international borders forexample. GScan is building one of the first muon tomography
3D scanners in the world with a patent for their detection
2023.727