Estonian startups to compete in the PowerUp! country final have been announced, competition can be watched online

On April 30, for the first time, the Estonian final of the CEE green tech start-ups competition PowerUp! will take place online. This year, for the sixth edition of the competition, the internationally record-breaking 425 applications were received. From Estonia, seven outstanding start-ups will enter the competition.

Under the leadership of Business Campus and Science Park Tehnopol, the sixth edition of the prestigious competition in the field of sustainable energy will take place in Estonia. According to Ragmar Saksing, Manager of Greentech field at Tehnopol, start-ups also need support in the current difficult economic situation and the PowerUp! competition is a good opportunity for them to make themselves visible.

“InnoEnergy is indisputably one of the strongest organizations in Europe that has helped many start-ups take off. A good example from Estonia is Skeleton Technologies, which, with the support of the InnoEnergy network, is changing the future of urban transport in Warsaw today with its supercapacitors. In addition to financial support, companies highly value belonging to the inner circle, where the contacts and opportunities created help to make the business sustainable.” – added Saksing.

The competition, launched by EIT InnoEnergy, the engine behind Europe’s sustainable energy transformation, this time received a record-breaking 425 applications from 24 European countries, of which the selected start-ups will participate in local finals via the web from April to May – seven of them in the Estonian final.

The winner of each country will be awarded the national title Start-up of the Year. Those teams will also advance to the grand finals in Krakow with the chance to receive financial prizes up to €65.000 and other valuable offerings from key partners such as Amazon Web Services, Revolut or SpeedUp Group.

PowerUp! competition is part of the InnoEnergy PowerUp! Challenge program which offers the opportunity of multi-million-euro investment to innovative ventures and the possibility to join the EIT InnoEnergy network. These companies will get a variety of support opportunities such as product enhancement and development, pilot projects, commercialisation strategies, international market introduction, expansion, and further funding opportunities.

“It was a decision call if we wanted to proceed with our event despite the Europe-wide lockdown aimed at containing the COVID-19 virus.” – says InnoEnergy Central Europe’s CEO, Jakub Miler. “We decided to go ahead precisely because of it – although doing everything online in a safe and responsible manner. We want to keep supporting innovative ventures to help them survive, develop and thrive at a time when the economic outlook is rather grim. While many channels and sources on the market might dry up for them, with the backing of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology we are here to continue our support of innovative entrepreneurs with financials, know-how, and valuable partnerships.”

The PowerUp! Estonian country final will take place on April 30 at 16.00 – all those interested are welcome to watch the competition online.

More information and registration on the Facebook event page Virtual PowerUp! Country Final Estonia (https://www.facebook.com/events/223359208906653/).

Meet with the finalists here.

The partners of the PowerUp! Estonian final are Enterprise Estonia (EAS) and the Environmental Investment Center (EIC). EIC has also presented an award to the local winner – tickets for the business festival sTARTUp Day 2021.

EIT InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe. InnoEnergy’s partner in Estonia is business campus and science park Tehnopol, which shares the goal of supporting the development and sustainability of Estonian innovative companies in the energy sector. Business campus and science park Tehnopol, the largest of its kind in the Baltic States, strives to foster the emergence and advancement in Estonia of globally prominent technology companies, supporting their expansion into foreign markets and providing solutions ranging from commercial real estate to needs-based business services. Tehnopol has been operating in the development of the Estonia green energy sector since 2010 in collaboration with PAKRI Science and Industrial Park.

About InnoEnergy

InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe.

We support and invest in innovation at every stage of the journey – from classroom to end-customer. With our network of partners, we build connections across Europe, bringing together inventors and industry, graduates and employers, researchers and entrepreneurs, businesses and markets.

We work in three essential areas of the innovation mix:

• Education to help create an informed and ambitious workforce that understands the demands of sustainability and the needs of industry.
• Innovation Projects to bring together ideas, inventors and industry to create commercially attractive technologies that deliver real results to customers.
• Business Creation Services to support entrepreneurs and start-ups who are expanding Europe’s energy ecosystem with their innovative offerings.

Bringing these disciplines together maximizes the impact of each, accelerates the development of market-ready solutions, and creates a fertile environment in which we can sell the innovative results of our work.

InnoEnergy was established in 2010 and is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).