The First Half of 2025 for the Estonian Startup Sector: Maturing Through Efficiency and Adaptation
The new half-yearly report on the startup sector for 2025 demonstrates gradual changes in key metrics. On the one hand, the sector shows robust growth, maturity, and further potential. On the other hand, it is shifting toward efficiency, with barely noticeable growth in the workforce for the entire sector and a slight decrease in employee numbers for the youngest startups. The challenges of the national economy, with the GDP having contracted for approximately 2.5 years until the end of 2024 (Eesti Pank, 2025 Q1, Q2) are making new entrepreneurs and investors wary, resulting in fewer new companies and a smaller overall volume of investments. However, the growth of the startup sector isn’t stagnating, as revenue per employee is rising sharply.
Sample
Currently, there are a total of 1,566 startups in the Estonian sector, of which 1,321 (84%) are economically active according to EMTA data; also, about 50 companies are in a problematic state, such as liquidation or bankruptcy. There is a clear trend in the decline of the number of registrations, which has been ongoing since 2022. The startup sector is maturing, though it remains relatively young: the average age of the companies is about 7 years old. Important note: the EMTA data concerns only economically active companies, therefore, according to EMTA the number of people currently employed in the economically active companies of the startup sector is 15 011, while for the Department of Statistics, the number of employees for all companies in the sector is 17082.
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Originally published on 4 Sep
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On 10–11 March 2026, the first Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC) Board Meeting of the year took place in Gdynia, Poland, bringing together representatives of regions, municipalities, experts, and youth organisations from across the Baltic Sea Region. The meeting was hosted by the City of Gdynia and the Pomorskie Region and marked the first Board session led by the Vidzeme Planning Region in its new role as the BSSSC Chair for 2026–2027.
Gdynia, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, provided an inspiring backdrop for the discussions. The first day of the programme offered insights into the city’s development vision, its approach to sustainable urban planning, and its dynamic creative and cultural ecosystem. This understanding set the stage for the strategic conversations that followed.
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Originally published on 13 Mar
The development of a CO₂ hub in Malmö has taken an important step forward. The Swedish Energy Agency has granted 31 million SEK to Nordion Energi through the national Industriklivet programme to complete the analytical work required ahead of a final investment decision in 2027.
The funding supports the joint ambition to establish an open-source hub for CO₂ capture, transport and storage for all interested emitters in the region — a project in which Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP) is a key partner – and where the port in Malmö has been identified as the optimal hub location.
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Originally published on 12 Mar
Asite, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions for the construction and infrastructure sectors, has been selected through a public procurement process to supply the Common Data Environment (CDE) for Rail Baltica – the high-speed rail project that will connect Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and indirectly Finland, to the wider European rail network.
The platform will support governance, collaboration, and structured information management across the Rail Baltica delivery organizations, enabling transparent and efficient information exchange across one of Europe’s largest infrastructure programs.
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Originally published on 11 Mar
Oulu’s position as an international conference and congress city was strengthened by the growth in events held in 2025. At the same time, recent tourism statistics show that 2026 has started strongly for both tourism in Oulu and the Pohjola Route region. This growth is supported by increased event activity, the visibility brought by the Capital of Culture year, and growing international interest in Northern Finland.
According to recent statistics from the Finland Convention Bureau, 36 international congresses were held in Oulu last year, which is five more than in 2024. This result placed Oulu sixth in the comparison of Finnish congress cities.
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Originally published on 9 Mar
Norsk e-Fuel and Aurora Infrastructure have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on the development of Norsk e-Fuel’s Project Rauma in Finland. The partnership focuses on the development and construction of the electrical infrastructure such as grid connection and substation required to enable the large-scale production of synthetic, sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF).
Under the MoU, the partners will explore a model in which Aurora Infrastructure designs, finances, builds, owns, and operates the electrical infrastructure for the planned e-SAF plant. This separation of energy infrastructure from fuel production will allow Norsk e-Fuel to concentrate on its core expertise in developing Power-to-Liquid plants, while supporting stronger overall project economics.
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Originally published on 10 Mar
Estonian Defence Week (EDW) will take place in September 2026, hosted by the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association (EDIA) together with the Ministry of Defence, the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) and Tehnopol Science and Business Park.
Building on the strong foundation of last year’s inaugural edition — with international exhibitors including major global players such as Airbus, BlackBerry, and Saab — the 2026 event will take place under the title “How to Win the Next War”, attracting defence companies, investors, policymakers, and military leaders from Estonia and abroad.
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Originally published on 12 Mar
The Finland Investor Confidence Barometer 2026 sends a clear message: companies already operating in Finland are ready to grow. According to the survey, 54% of respondents expect their workforce in Finland to increase over the next two years, and 44% plan to raise their R&D investments. Among large foreign-owned companies, the share planning to increase R&D investment rises to 49%.
The results underline the importance of foreign-owned companies to Finland’s economy. Although they account for only around 1% of companies operating in Finland, they generate a much larger economic impact through jobs, exports, value added, tax revenues, and R&D activity.
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Originally published on 12 Mar
Last autumn, SEB participated for the first time in the Riga Business School (RBS) Computer Science and Organizational Technologies software engineering course, where students worked on real industry challenges throughout the semester. The course is led by RBS faculty member Uldis Karlovs-Karlovskis, and student teams develop software solutions based on ideas proposed by companies.
The financial sector is currently undergoing rapid transformation—technology increasingly shapes how customers perceive financial services, how decisions are made, and how companies manage their resources. To not only keep pace with these changes but actively shape them, it is essential for banks to seek new perspectives, experiment, and collaborate with environments where future ideas and talent emerge.
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Originally published on 12 Mar
Saab deepens its collaboration with Poland’s defence industry and has today signed further collaboration agreements with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) and WB Group.
“Signing these new agreements with both PGZ Group and WB Group marks important new milestones in strengthening collaboration between the Polish and Swedish defence industries. By sharing expertise and scaling up innovation together, we can ensure the development of advanced solutions and capabilities that will contribute to security and stability in Europe and the Baltic Sea region,” says Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.
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Originally published on 12 Mar
Senior Advisor Trond Waehle from Helse Vest IKT presented the pilot results at the Medanets User Days 2026. Based on the evaluation, the regional board approved the investment in Medanets for clinical use. Helse Vest is currently planning the rollout of the solution across the region and extending the usage to additional features not included in the pilot.
Medanets was piloted with our partner Mesalvo’s EHR solution, which has been in place at Helse Vest since a decade. The pilot utilized Mesalvo’s HealthCentre Cortex technology with Medanets. The piloted scope included mobile Early Warning Score, vital signs and pain assessment using Observation values, and administration of medications. 150 nurses piloted the features for about six months using iPhones and our Next Level iOS app.
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Originally published on 10 Mar