Estonia, a relatively small country, has significantly impacted the startup world thanks to its innovation and enthusiasm. It is a top startup ecosystem because of its supportive government policies, strong digital infrastructure, and high-quality talent pool.
The country bordering the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland continues to progress this year in the startup sector.
According to a report published by Startup Estonia, investments into Estonian startups have reached the €1B benchmark in the first half of 2022, more than quadrupling the sum of investments made in the same period last year.
In total, 44 new investment deals were averaging almost €23M each, 28 of those were worth at least €1M, adds the report. The biggest investment in the first half of 2022 was raised by Bolt (€628M), followed by Veriff (€89M ), and Starship Technologies (€87.4M).
Further, the Estonian startups generated a record-breaking €958M in turnover in H1 2022, a 68 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2021, which amounted to €571M.
“With resolving new challenges ahead, the Estonian startup sector is staying on course, visioned by the founders and implemented with the help of all the participants in the ecosystem,” concludes the report.
In this regard, we have listed Estonian startups that raised funding in August and are now hiring.
Redstone
Founder/s: Jakub Wojciechowski
Fund raised in August 2022: €6.9M
HQ: Tallinn
Hiring status: Yes
RedStone is a Web3 startup that creates a cross-chain data oracle providing pricing data for Smart Contracts & DeFi protocols. The company’s Oracle delivers data feeds to over 30 chains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Celo, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Fantom.
The Estonian company raised €6.9M in a Seed round of funding led by Lemniscap. Other participants include Coinbase Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Distributed Global, Lattice, Arweave, Bering Waters, Maven11, and SevenX Ventures.
Currently, RedStone is hiring for Mid Frontend Developer, Senior Backend / System Engineer, Senior Backend Engineer (Node.js / TS), and Marketing & Twitter Manager at RedStone. If you are interested, you can apply here.
BITLEVEX
Founder/s: Mihails Skoblovs
Fund raised in August 2022: €50M
HQ: Tallinn
Hiring status: No
BITLEVEX is an investment platform focusing on cryptocurrency options trading. The company has around 50,000+ registered users and is looking to launch its native token, BLEX.
The Estonian company is on a mission to provide Web3-compliant financial education, goods, and services. As a result, BITLEVEX has begun developing a wide range of investment solutions that reward user engagement.
The so-called “next-gen BTC derivative platform” raised €50M in a fresh round of funding from Bahamas-based GEM Digital Limited.
Ready Player Me
Founder/s: Timmu Tõke
Fund raised in August 2022: €56.4M
HQ: Tallinn
Hiring status: Yes
Ready Player Me is a cross-game avatar platform. The company believes in using one avatar across the metaverse instead of creating a new avatar for each game and experience.
The company has developed an avatar system across the metaverse, providing distribution through its network and opening new revenue opportunities through interoperable avatar asset sales and a cross-game economy.
The company has over 5M avatars across approximately 3000 partners, including VRChat, Spatial, Somnium Space, RTFKT, and many more. The Estonian company raised €56.4M in a Series B round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Ready Player Me is now hiring across Art, Developer relations, Operations, Product & Engineering, and Sales & Marketing departments. Click here to apply.
RecruitLab
Founder/s: Paavo Heil
Fund raised in August 2022: €1.9M
HQ: Tallinn
Hiring status: Yes
RecruitLab is a recruitment software provider that streamlines and automates the recruitment processes and handles more candidates while reducing hiring time by 50 per cent.
The platform optimises candidate management, tracks progress, provides insight into project statistics, automated interview scheduling, and feedback emails integrated with recruitment channels, and creates professional job advertisements in minutes, including for social media.
The company focuses on an underserved market segment like recruiters at SMEs and small recruitment agencies who require a plug-and-play solution.
RecruitLab secured €1.9M in a Seed round of funding led by Change Ventures. The company has five vacancies — Head of Marketing, Head of Sales, Customer Success Manager, Full-Stack Engineer, and B2B Sales Executive. You can apply here.
Cookie3
Founder/s: Filip Wielanier, Wojtek Piechocinski
Fund raised in August 2022: €2.5M
HQ: Tallinn
Hiring status: No
Cookie3 is building a data engine that interprets NFTs, smart contracts, and tokens on various chains to understand the behaviour of Web3 users.
The Estonian startup provides B2B services like ads targeting tools in the Metaverse, content personalisation for dApps, customer insights dashboards, and behavioural scoring of investors. The company aims to cement its position as a leader in the behavioral analytics market on the blockchain, including Metaverse, Gaming, NFTs, DeFi, and the entire Web3 ecosystem.
Earlier this month, the company raised €2.5M in seed and strategic rounds led by Spartan Group.
Antegenes
Founder/s: Dr. Peeter Padrik
Fund raised in August 2022: €2.3M
HQ: Tartu
Hiring status: Yes
Antegenes is a health tech company that develops genetic tests based on polygenic risk score technology, which helps to clarify an individual’s genetic predispositions to cancer.
The company’s novel genetic tests assess patients’ cancer risks and offer clinical recommendations for further personalised cancer prevention. According to the company, this allows for more accurate prevention and early detection measures.
Earlier this month, the company raised €2.3M in funding from Seed round and grants. Currently, the company has one vacancy for a Sales Manager. Click here to apply.
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