Alumni

STARTERcreative was a great launching pad and connection builder for Makery. It acted as a doorway for us to walk right into the Estonian startup ecosystem and meet incredible mentors along the way. Being a part of the STARTER program is less like being in a lecture and more like being in a supportive community. Everyone from our peers in the program to the representatives of Estonia’s most innovative startups became long-term friends and collaborators. I would not hesitate to recommend Starter to any student looking to learn a bit about what it feels like to start an innovative company.

www.makery.eu

eCommerce retail of vegan and cruelty-free make-up and skincare products.
ILUSPEKTER took part in IdeaLab STARTER Advanced programme. At the Kaleidoskoop pitching competition they won the tickets to sTARTUp Day.
Currently they have an online store where they sell vegan and cruelty-free make-up and skincare products and they have created a blog on the same topic.
Find out more about them: https://iluspekter.com
Read their blog:
https://iluspekter.com/blogi

Team TRIT won the main award – tickets to European Innovation Academy in Portugal from Kaleidoskoop Finals at sTARTUp Day 2019. They also pitched at the STARTER Pitching Finals!
Team TRIT develops a solution for the translation service. They wish to make ordering translation service easier. The client receives immediately an estimate of how much time and money it takes to complete the work. The TRIT algorithm also finds the most appropriate professional freelance translator for each project, taking into account different criteria, such as the previous experience of the translator and feedback received for the work. TRIT unites the best features of translation and IT to make life easier for both clients and translators. 

Hirehunt (now Move on Miles) is powerful recruitment hub, helping companies hire the top talents fast and on a scale using the crowdsourced power of multiple recruiters, direct staffing and referrals. According to their words, STARTER program was extremely useful – during the program they learnt how to test their idea, ask the right questions and look at the problems from different angles. After STARTER program at IdeaLab Hirehunt was chosen to one of the top accelerators in Europe where they made it to TOP3. Currently they are working on an ambitious hiring project with the client from the Silicon Valley and are planning to raise the seed round for the further rapid growth of their business.

www.hirehunt.io

Io Developers are developing optical eyeglasses that are controlled via mobile app or manually and allow customers to continuously asjust focus on the objects regard to their vision.
In spring 2019 they won Kaleidoskoop wain award – tickets to the University Startup World Cup in Copenhagen. They also won second place in pitching competition of the international business development programme NGAL® (Network Globally, Act Locally) in USA.

Konku is a web and mobile application that provides rental ads without estate agent fees. Furthermore – in a case of a successful deal they ask people to evaluate the property owners, so the next tenants know whether to trust or avoid the owner. That way, Konku makes home renting more personal and secure. After participating STARTERlab program at IdeaLab, Konku was selected to represent University of Tartu in an international business development program NGAL where they won 2nd place and got experiences for a lifetime!

www.konku.ee

Ethico Food develops and manufactures a range of healthy, vegan, high-protein, soy & gluten free food products that has the taste and texture of meat.
The STARTERtech Advanced program has given them the fundamentals and structure to get from idea to the first sales. The program also expanded Ethico Foods’ network by organising mentors and coaches, in addition to bringing in experienced speakers to inspire and educate.
After the program, Ethico Foods participated in the University Startup World Cup 2017 in Copenhagen in September 2017 and won the First Prize in the GreenTech category and the prize money of $5000.
The company is run by a husband and wife team wanting to make a difference in people’s lives through healthy eating and also reduce climate change by reducing dependency for meat consumption.

ethicofoods.com

Cody is a personal coding platform that teaches coding like Lingvist teaches languages with numerous interactive exercises. After getting special prize in the finals of STARTERlab final event Kaleidoskoop, they made it to Ajujaht TOP 10 and participated in an exclusive business development program NGAL where they had a chance to pitch and compete in Charleston, USA.

www.cody.ee

Through this program I acquainted myself with the world of startups and acquired the knowledge of how to create a startup of my own. This is a great opportunity to gain insights about various industries and fields of business. Throughout the project I received excellent guidance from mentors and industry professionals who shared their experience and wisdom. Thanks to Starercreative I met with various mentors who helped to identify the weaknesses in my business plan and whose workshops gave me wisdom and practical know-how I could put to use in my venture.

Liisi Tarvo, Co-Founder of Wrap Cafe Wrap´n´Roll

Decomer Technology develops bioprotein-based bioplastics, which they currently use for packaging honey. Bioplastic dissolves in hot tea water and is not harmful to health, therefore it is an eco-friendly and convenient alternative to sugar.
After activly participating in UT IdeaLab’s STARTER Advanced programme, Decomer Technology won 2017 autumn Kaleidoskoop and then got to STARTER Finals at sTARTUp Day which they also won.

decomertechnology.com

A mobile application that enables the user to discover the city through literature or other cultural content. Their goal is to introduce different cities through poems, texts, old photos and cultural heritage,
In 2017 spring they got Tartu City Government special prize in Kaleidoskoop business idea competition.

Advanced edition of the Mektory Start-up program was a logical choice for MoleQL, as we participated in 2 previous batches. During this time we gradually evolved the passionate team with an interesting idea and raw prototype to the promising and profitable company. Incubation program gave us the chance to deepen our knowledge about various aspects of start-up life along with the stunning pitching and networking opportunities, for example, at Latitude59 conference, Startup Day in Tartu and at Young European Innovators forum Unconvention in Brussels. We are grateful to Anu Oks for all her support. Mektory’s team is doing a remarkable work to prove Estonia’s status as one of Europe’s fastest developing start-up nations. Our team would definitely recommend to participate in the next program to everyone willing to kickstart their world-changing ideas!

ArtiSun has invented a cheaper and a more environmental way to produce LED lighting for greenhouses. Their solution increases yield as well as decreases light pollution.

Team leader Tatsiana Zaretskaya (Student of TTÜ): “When I saw the information about the STARTER program in the Internet I decided to use this opportunity as I have just started my last year being a student.
At first I wanted to join some team, but ended up pitching my idea to others and creating my own team. I never took part in startup events before and just wanted to see how is it and meet same-minded people. I really liked that the schedule was set up in the beginning of the program for all the dates, it made it really easy for me to attend the events. Also as all the deadlines where stated in the beginning of the program we could arrange ourselves efficiently and prepare everything needed in advance. I always had a lot of questions, mentors and STARTER team always were very supportive and I got all the answers I needed. It was very interesting to see all other teams during other events and see how they are developing together with you. I think the most important that during all the events/seminars/workshops you are getting a lot of feedback and it’s the most crucial part for the development of the startup.
I would recommend the program to all the students and anyone who want to try themselves in startup field. The program basically gives step by step instruction of what you need to think about and what you need to do if you want to have your own startup. Also it is a great possibility to meet interesting people or find friends/business partners like in my case.”

ArtiSun was the winner of the pre-incubation program STARTERtech Autumn 2017 and third place on the TTÜ Mektory Startup Competition 2017 (December, 2017)
In February 2018 ArtiSun won the Polar Bear Pitching 2018 in Oulu, Finland where all participants were supposed to introduce their ideas while standing in the icecold seawater.

And the story continues …