Two Estonian startups raised investments from Finnish VC Icebreaker

Estonian cleantech Grid Raven and agritech Glafos secured pre-seed investments from the Finnish VC Icebreaker in the autumn. The companies do not disclose the amount of the deals, but the fund usually invests from €150K to €800K.

Founded in Tallinn in 2023 by Georg Rute and Henri Manninen, Grid Raven works on building an AI weather forecasting model, which allows grid operators to have a detailed overview of the condition of their network and manage the amount of power better.

In particular, Grid Raven's machine learning model uses numerical wind speed predictions and downscales them with the help of detailed landscape data. According to the company, the startup's technology improves wind speed forecast accuracy by 39% compared to the existing forecast. The higher accuracy of wind speed forecast leads to an increase in the capacity of existing transmission lines by considering actual power flow and weather conditions and, in the end, reducing consumer prices.

Founded in 2023 in Tallinn by Triin Uustalu and Kadri Parikas, Glafos is growing tree seedlings for the forests. It uses AI modeling, tissue cultivation, and other methods to collect data that helps seedlings grow faster, be resilient in a heating climate, and ensure diverse forest ecosystems.

Founded in Helsinki in 2016 by Riku Seppälä, Lasse Lehtinen, Aleksi Partanen, and Atte Hujanen, Icebreaker invests in Estonian, Finnish, and Swedish startups. The fund has invested in over 70 enterprises, including Estonian technology companies Pipedrive, Wise, and Veriff.