Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN)

What a journey in 2024 for Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN)! In May, we proudly hosted Europe’s biggest angel investor congress with EBAN - European Business Angel Network, welcoming 600+ global investors, founders, and innovators to Tallinn, and even brought home the 🏆 Best Performing Business Angel Network of the Year award! EstBAN has long been a role model in business angel networks in Europe and we're happy to have been recognized for this. During the year we also facilitated 487 deals, organized 14 startup-pitch events, and initiated two major syndicate investments at sTARTUp Day and Latitude59. We strengthened our investor community through investor training programs like #4NGELS & #Connect2Scale, explored Europe’s innovation hubs on inspiring study trips to Finland, Sweden, Poland, Germany and Lithuania, and had the joy of welcoming Karin Künnapas back as our new Managing Director. We're super happy to have good relations with other European business angel networks, such as COBIN Angels, Business Angels of Slovenia, Lithuanian Business Angel Network LitBAN, Latvian Business Angels Network and Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN). 🙌 We’re immensely proud of the achievements, the recognitions by EBAN for Heidi Kakko and Ivar Siimar, and the incredible community we’ve built together. We also kicked off Investor Talk interview-series, made dozens of interviews with our members, networked a lot and were invited to have an opinion here and there in the startup and investment circles. Here’s to dreaming big and achieving even more in 2025! 🌟 Take a look what we did, which moments we captured and if you want to be part of it, join our network in 2025! As you can see from the photos - almost nothing important is accomplished alone, all great things are done in a group. 👯👯 Margret Kanniste Lauri Antalainen Robert Laud Kristi Saare Jaak Ennuste Mait Sooaru Jan Lätt Martin Gorosko Beamline Accelerator Anu Oks Civitta Read more in our blog. The link is in the comments.👇

EstBAN business angels and Sparkup Tartu Science Park had a common Season End and Christmas mingle last week in Tartu! (Almost) everyone was wearing an Ugly Christmas sweater (and still looking good), we played bingo, decorated gingerbread, cut some snowflakes, listened to Xmas hits and had a brief panel about how the investment year went. In general it was all very Merry and Sweet and the networking didn't want to stop! Nordic people are not introverted, at least it doesn't apply to investors, it seems. ❄️🧑🎄🎄🔔 Thank you Andrus Kurvits 🇪🇪Hanna-Liis Remmelg Sigrid Mölder Karin Künnapas for organizing and bringing people together! Photos: Silver Gutmann

We are part of a new startup-investor education project that we've been working on for quite a while now - FINEST SCALEUP Project is aiming to boost deep tech scaleups and encourage investing into them. Last week our project team gathered in Riga to discuss the launch of the activities so that scaleups and investors could finally meet and international investing would become more common.

On EstBAN website, there's several angel investor training videos and documents. So if you have questions where to get the angel investor journey started, we can always direct you to right training sessions. 📚 The latest add on to our reservoir of information is the Slovenian 🇸🇮 start-up ecosystem guidebook. This is designed to provide invaluable insights into the innovation landscape of Slovenia, helping you make well-informed cross-border investments. Whether you're already an experienced investor or new to angel investing, this guidebook will help you understand Slovenia's unique opportunities and challenges. It's put together by our friends from Business Angels of Slovenia and when talking about Slovenia - there's hardly more passionate people advocating doing business and investments in Slovenia. (thank you for all the inspiration Maja Križan and Nina Dremelj) 👉 Find and download the guidebook for free from EstBAN website - the link is in the comments! Happy reading! PS! There's also guidebooks for Finnish and Estonian startup ecosystems. 🇪🇪🇫🇮 4NGELS is an international initiative designed to support business angels and startups through cross-border investments in innovative projects. Project partners are COBIN Angels (Poland), Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN), Business Angels of Slovenia. Coordinated by Civitta and funded by the European Union, #4NGELS helps startups connect with investors and secure funding for international growth. 🇪🇺

🚀 Join Us for the 4NGELS Final Pitching Session organised by our friends at COBIN Angels – Today at 17:30 Estonian time! Register for 4NGELS programme to get your invitation: https://lnkd.in/d53kvHgu 🗓️ 5 outstanding startups from Poland and Europe will be showcased. Each of them are seeking funding from angel investors as part of the 4NGELS program. This is your opportunity to join your first cross-border syndicate. 🌍 4NGELS brings together business angels from Poland, Estonia, Finland, Slovenia, and beyond, creating a unique opportunity to engage with innovation ecosystems across Central and Eastern Europe. 🏆 The Final Session is your chance to discover the TOP startup, for which an investment syndicate will be created, allowing you to co-invest alongside international investors. 🌟 The lineup features 5 startup presentations: - Complok: AI-driven compliance and risk management for fintechs. - play.air: Breath-controlled games revolutionizing speech therapy for children. - MinervaS: Reducing CO₂ emissions in transportation with real-time optimization. - FEYENALLY: Smartphone-based vision testing powered by AI. - TerraEye: Satellite imaging and AI for environmental monitoring and mineral exploration. More details: 👉 Training webinars and recordings: https://lnkd.in/dSNzz4mE 👉 Startup pitch decks: https://lnkd.in/dHeJsc4i 4NGELS programme is funded by the European Union and coordinated by Civitta. Project partners: Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN), , Business Angels of Slovenia, Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN) and COBIN Angels.

Open event for all our friends and fans! Together with our partner Workland Offices we'll host a "Morning Mixer" coffee morning with a keynote at Workland Vabaduse happening next week, on Wednesday, December 4. PR-expert Gvantsa Kikalisvhili will hold super interesting keynote on "The Power of PR in the Digital Age". This is a topic that all businesses, but also solopreneurs have something to do with - how to tell your story, how to get your message through and what are your unique selling points from the communication perspective. Recommended for all PR and marketing enthusiasts, but everyone is welcome and will hear interesting samples on big (international) communication campaigns. 😉 Sign up link in the comments 👇

This week! 🤩 Sign up for Tehnopol Demo Day organized together with Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN). Be the first to explore the next generation of startups from the Tehnopol Startup Incubator: selected teams will present their startups this Thursday, November 28! There'll be a panel discussion, startup pitches and networking. Registration link in the comments.👇

🌟 If you can be behind the computer or use your headphones this evening from 17:30 Estonian time (16:30 CET) - then come and join us for the last 4NGELS webinar before the Final Pitching Session! The registration process is still open for potential investors who want to participate in the upcoming cross-border syndicate: https://lnkd.in/d53kvHgu The webinar will provide valuable insights into the Polish startup ecosystem and share details about the upcoming investment syndicate. Join us and learn about: ➡️ Key insights into collaboration opportunities with Polish startups. ➡️ Practical tips from experienced investors and experts. ➡️ An overview of the future of angel investor cooperation within the 4NGELS program. Speakers: 🔸 Adam Radzki – Impact Angel Investor, HearMe.pl, and member of COBIN Angels. 🔸 Eliza Durnakowska – Entrepreneur, Co-founder, Partner at HB Premium and member of COBIN Angels. Join us if you are: ➡️ Investor interested in exploring opportunities in the Polish startup ecosystem. ➡️ Business Angel planning to engage in the investment syndicate. ➡️ Anyone looking to understand collaboration possibilities across the region. About 4NGELS: 4NGELS is an international program connecting Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN), Business Angels of Slovenia, and COBIN Angels with an aim to foster cross-border collaboration and investment opportunities. Coordinated by Civitta and funded by the European Union, 4NGELS supports startups and investors in building a stronger, integrated ecosystem across CEE Region. Don’t miss this opportunity – register now and join us on today, November 21st!

As always - Slush is grand! 🎆 The production is huge and speakers world-class! 🇫🇮 🙌 As we're here in Finland making new connections, meeting old friends and paving the way for more cross-border deals, we wanted to remind you that on EstBAN website we have two guidebooks that make your dive into Estonian and Finnish angel investing and startup world way easier. There's two versions: - A guide to cross-border investing in early-stage startups in Estonia 🇪🇪 - A guide to cross-border investing in early-stage startups in Finland 🇫🇮 Just download the guidebook that you need - the link is in the comments.👇

This week kicked off with angel investors visiting Finnish startup ecosystem within the #Connect2Scale project - a cross-border investor training program. Our excellent partners at Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN) curated a fantastic agenda. What stood out? 💡Visiting Varjo HQ: Experiencing the world’s most advanced virtual and mixed reality technology, was absolutely amazing! Their innovations are utilized for training pilots and surgeons, as well as designing cars. 💡FiBAN Pitching Finals: We heard new startup ideas that might change the world 💡 Defence Tech Meetup (DECOI): Exploring the Defence Ecosystem of Innovators and its cutting-edge initiatives. 💡#Slush Investor Day: A perfect start to Slush, networking with fellow investors from across the globe. As always, networking with Finnish investors was a highlight—it’s the most dynamic part of these events! Our collaboration with FiBAN continues to grow, particularly in deal flow and investor training. Together, we’re driving cross-border opportunities to scale innovation! 🇪🇪 🤝 🇫🇮