With a female head of state and prime minister, Estonia stands as a beacon of gender equality. The stance also extends to its startup ecosystem, where many female founders are making waves.
In the last several years, Estonia has seen an increase in the number of female founders. In 2020, women made up 10 per cent of startup founders in the country. By 2023, this figure had risen to 17 per cent. The number is 2 per cent higher than the European average of 15 per cent.
The highest concentration of female startup founders in Estonia lies in the health industry, with 30 per cent of startup founders in this sector being women. Following closely is the education technology industry, where 24 per cent of founders are women. In third place is communication services, with 21 per cent female founders.
In addition to that, women also make up a huge chunk of the workforce in Estonian startups. Women hold 40 per cent of startup jobs in the country, a substantially higher amount than the global average of around 27 per cent. Moreover, approximately 10 per cent of them hold managerial positions in their workplace.
With that said, here are some of the female-founded startups in Estonia making waves locally and internationally.
Jobbatical
Founder(s): Allan Mäeots, Karoli Hindriks, Ronald Hindriks
Founded: 2014
Funding: $19.7M (€18.17M)
Hiring: Yes, check out vacancies here
Jobbatical is a platform that handles the immigration and relocation processes for global teams. Started as a cross-border recruitment platform, Jobbatical now focuses on employee relocation.
The platform puts a strong emphasis on reducing bureaucratic hurdles. Its service automates paperwork and immigration processes, which saves time and reduces errors. The company also adopts new approaches that help employees settle into new locations smoothly.
Co-founder Karoli Hindriks has been named one of the most influential women in the European startup and VC space. She is also known for her advocacy for gender diversity, having founded many companies and spoken for TED on various occasions.
Haut.AI
Founder(s): Anastasia Georgievskaya, Konstantin Kiselev
Founded: 2018
Funding: €2M
Hiring: Yes, check out vacancies here
Haut.AI offers a SaaS tool for tracking and analysing skin health using AI technology. The platform is used by skincare brands to create personalised product recommendations.
Its AI was trained using millions of annotated images to provide accurate skin health assessments. Top skincare brands can build skin analysis apps to better understand the needs of their customer base. The tool is available as an application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK) for integration into other applications and platforms.
CEO Anastasia Georgievskaya has a background in biophysics and bioengineering. Her vision is to make high-quality skincare accessible and scientifically backed. While Haut.AI currently operates in 32 countries, she plans to establish a US branch after further research.
Certific
Founder(s): Jack Kreindler, Liis Narusk
Founded: 2020
Funding: Undisclosed
Hiring: No
Based in Tallinn, Certific offers a clinical communication and data capture platform. One of its core missions is to address inefficiencies in healthcare. It automates time-consuming tasks, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on patient care.
Certific is led by chief executive Liis Narusk, an entrepreneur with a background in banking innovation. It was also co-founded alongside Taavet Hinrikus, the chairman and former CEO of Wise (formerly TransferWise) and physician Jack Kreindler.
The company was initially focused on remote testing services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it aims to minimise paperwork and streamline patient interactions through automated solutions. Certific claims that its digital system can reduce the number of phone calls to clinics and free up staff.
The platform has entered the Irish market as part of its expansion to English-speaking markets. It also has plans to enter the US and Canada in the long run.
FoodDocs
Founder(s): Karin Repp, Katrin Liivat
Founded: 2017
Funding: $2.7M (€2.49M)
Hiring: No
Founded in 2017, FoodDocs is a digital platform for creating and maintaining food safety management systems. It helps businesses remain compliant with food safety regulations, all while reducing costs and training time. The company’s customer base consists of over 7,000 businesses across 59 countries.
FoodDocs’ product offering includes a smart recipe book. It is a tool for organising recipes with allergen information and preparation instructions. Its allergy matrix is automatically updated to allow quick access for customers’ safety.
With a 50/50 gender split in its team, co-founder Katrin Liivat continues to advocate for gender equality. According to her, women who understand what they’re capable of achieving will realise that the sky’s the limit.
Fyma
Founder(s): Karen Burns, Taavi Tammiste
Founded: 2019
Funding: $4.2M (€3.87M)
Hiring: No
Fyma (For Your Motion Analytics) is a platform that uses computer vision technology to create empirical data on urban movement. The company started with a project for the Tallinn City Council, and it has since expanded to London and New York.
Fyma’s technology is used for analysing video feeds to offer real-time insights into urban environments. This is mostly beneficial for commercial real estate developers, asset managers, and city planners. The platform works with any IP camera; therefore, no hardware upgrades are required from the client’s end.
The company’s CEO Karen Burns is passionate about gender parity. She uses her platform to encourage more women to get into STEM and management roles.
Grünfin
Founder(s): Alvar Lumberg, Karin Nemec, Triin Hertmann
Founded: 2020
Funding: €4M
Hiring: No
Grünfin is a sustainable investing platform focusing on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. It offers personalised investment portfolios aligned with users’ values.
With it, users can invest in climate change, equality, or health efforts. Its other offerings allow businesses to offer sustainable investment benefits to their employees.
The company is led by CEO Karin Nemec, an impact-focused investment manager. Grünfin is also co-founded by investor Triin Hertmann, who took part in scaling companies like Skype and Wise. Drawing on her 20 years of experience in the finance and tech industries, she is vocal about the biases women face in these male-dominated spaces.
Single.Earth
Founder(s): Andrus Aaslaid, Merit Valdsalu
Founded: 2019
Funding: $7.9M (€7.28M)
Hiring: Yes, check out vacancies here
Fintech startup Single.Earth uses blockchain technology to tokenise forests, wetlands, and other natural resources. Its approach allows landowners to generate profit through carbon and biodiversity credits.
Building a digital twin of nature reveals how much area of ecological significance absorbs CO2. The tokens derived from conservation can be used as an investment instrument or compensate for the CO2 footprint. This allows landowners to combat climate change by selling their credits. Single.Earth is under the leadership of co-founder Merit Valdsalu and head of Sales Maarika Truu, both of whom are seasoned entrepreneurs. By providing a financial incentive for preserving natural environments, they aim to support global sustainability goals.
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