Tera Ventures and EstBAN syndicate invested €1,25M in three Estonian startups
Estonian fund Tera Ventures and Estonian syndicate of business angels EstBAN invested €1,25M in three Estonian startups during Latitude59 Pitch Competition 2023. It was held in Tallinn from 24 to 26 May 2023.
Based in Estonia, Flowstep received the most amount of investment - €600K. The startup was founded by Matt Clannachan and Nikita Uans in 2022. It is a UX library, consisting of recordings and screenshots of top applications such as Airbnb, Klarna, Spotify, etc. The company solution helps users analyze these applications and design their own products faster. The company is currently participating in Lithuanian Firstpick pre-acceleration program.
Cino, an Estonian virtual card that splits bills, got €500K. The company was founded in Tallinn in 2021 by Elena Churilova and Edward Poot. The card is available through digital wallets like Apple and Google Pay. It can be used for online payments. Cino card can be shared with anyone invited within a group, who actively connects their bank account – meaning all transactions remain private and safe. Once a virtual card is created, group members choose their auto-split ratio (what fraction of each transaction is paid by each member), and then each transaction is auto-split amongst the group members.
Tallinn-based Äio Tech received €150K. The startup was launched in 2022 by entrepreneurs and researchers of Estonian University TalTech Petri-Jaan Lahtvee and Nemailla Bontur. ÄIO utilizes locally available by-products and side streams from the food, agricultural, and wood industry. Then it grows microorganisms capable of producing fatty acids, antioxidants, and pigments. These oils and fats are sustainable and plant-based alternatives to the palm, coconut oils, and animal fats currently used in the food industry. This year Äio was accepted into EIT Food acceleration program, which can provide investment for European agrifood startups. The financial support to startups can be up to €500K from EIT Food Startup Impact fund.
According to Latitude59, €1,25M was the biggest investment announced on the stage of Baltic and Nordic tech conferences.
Tera Ventures is an international investment firm based in Estonia. Tera Ventures has 12 active investments in its first fund. Earlier, this fund was managed under the Estonian venture capital fund SmartCap. The founding partner is Andrus Oks.
EstBAN (Estonian Business Angels Network) is a syndicate organization of angel investors, founded in 2012. The lead investors are Martin Gorosko and Mait Sooaru.
