The Prototron’s Autumn round is open, € 70,000 to be distributed


Prototron kevadvoor 1

Estonia’s first prototype creation foundation Prototron has announced its Autumn round with up to € 70,000 funding. Prototron has allocated funding for 68 smart ideas for a total of approximately € 833,000.

Jana Pavlenkova, who is celebrating her seventh year as Prototron’s CEO, said that in Estonia, the challenge is not just to find innovative and smart ideas but to choose from a variety of powerful ideas, the most potent solutions, including those with a background in science.

“Prototron appraisers, mentors and expert committee, as well as other innovation sponsors, are confronted with ideas every day, most of which could make a successful startup. Many do so without the support of Prototron or anyone else. It is our job to identify ideas that will benefit as many people as possible and that will specifically manage some bottlenecks in our daily lives and help bring them to life as soon as possible,” Pavlenkova said.

For example, the team Futuclass, who won funding in the Spring round, makes school subject learning more playful using virtual reality technology and brings ultra-cool science experiments to the classroom. Another example is a snowplow robot Lumebot, which is special because it starts to work when it starts to snow outside; it is able to charge itself; works 24/7 and, for instance, keeps parking areas clear in the snowy season.

“Applying research findings to everyday life and bringing high-tech and complex solutions to the market often requires more time than, for example, the creation of some much-needed app. Prototron is the best breeding ground for such ideas. We are flexible, patient and our expert mentors are able to provide the teams with the support they need,” Pavlenkova explained why it is worth it to apply for money even with complex ideas. “We are aware they are not only money- but also time-consuming,” she confirmed.

Ideas can be submitted by October 15 at www.prototron.ee. The winners will be announced on December 1 as part of the Robotex Festival. The funds for this round are put together by Swedbank, TalTech, Science park Tehnopol, Tallinn city and Samsung Electronics.

Established in 2012 with the cooperation of Swedbank, Tallinn University of Technology and the Tehnopol Science Park, Prototron Foundation has allocated funding for 68 innovative ideas to date for the amount of 833,000 euros. Teams whose ideas were supported by Prototron, have already raised over 20 million euros in follow-up investments.