In its latest round, Prototron awarded funding to three technology startups, which will jointly receive €75,000 to develop their first functional prototypes. The selected teams are ORMIA, Bitlab and WISIA, whose solutions range from drone detection and device control to AI-based brand visibility analytics.
The main prize of €35,000 was awarded to ORMIA, which is developing a compact biomimetic acoustic drone detection device. The goal of the prototype is to enable real-time drone detection and localisation in outdoor environments.
ORMIA’s solution is fully passive, immune to jamming, and optimised for low-power, battery-operated use. The prototype combines MEMS microphones, a semi-directional foldable antenna, and a local processing module running real-time algorithms for sound direction finding. With Prototron’s support, the team will measure detection range, accuracy, false alarm rates, and resilience to environmental noise, preparing the solution for pilot deployments.
Bitlab received €20,000 to develop a cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Android) application for controlling, monitoring, and diagnosing audiovisual systems. Bitlab’s product enables centralised control of audio, lighting, projectors, and presentation systems from a single interface, significantly reducing technical complexity in both live events and permanent installations.
The solution includes core audio mixer functionality, simplified lighting and projector control, QLab-style show management, automatic network-based device discovery, and real-time device status monitoring. A global command history with undo/redo functionality improves operational safety and reliability.
An additional €20,000 was awarded to WISIA, which is developing an MVP for calculating and visualising the WISIA Visibility Score™. The solution reveals how brands are “seen” by AI systems and public data sources by combining signals from search engines, answer engines, and large language models.
At the core of WISIA’s prototype is WISIA GraphCore™, a graph-based data model that represents entities, user intent, and their interconnections. The platform provides a single-screen overview of visibility scores, trends, and key drivers, and uses AI to generate recommendations to increase visibility online and across AI platforms. Results are delivered via an API and a user-friendly interface.
According to Prototron CEO Brait Pilvik, this funding round once again demonstrated the maturity and ambition of early-stage technology startups.
“All of the winning teams share a clear problem definition and a strong desire to build solutions that can be tested in real-world environments. Prototron’s role is to support this critical step–from idea to a working prototype,” said Pilvik.
“Very often, it is precisely at the early stage–from idea to functional prototype–when it becomes clear whether a good concept can grow into a truly viable solution. Early-stage technology companies like ORMIA, Bitlab and WISIA are the engines of Estonia’s future economy. They create smart, practical solutions to real problems. Swedbank supports innovation by helping prototypes take shape, because this is how solutions with lasting value and international potential are born,” said Astrid Maldre, Small Business and Startup Segment Manager at Swedbank.
A representative of TalTech noted that the winning teams demonstrate strong potential in applying research-based and technological solutions in practice.
“It is great to see teams successfully combining scientific expertise with clear market needs. Supporting such ideas helps move knowledge created in universities from the lab into real-world use. At TalTech, we see every day how important it is for research outcomes to find practical applications. Prototron helps take one of the first and most critical steps on that journey,” said Rasmus Kalep, TalTech Startup Centre Manager.
The Prototron fund was established by Swedbank, TalTech, and Science and Business Park Tehnopol to support the development of technology prototypes. Over more than thirteen years, Prototron has supported over one hundred teams, helping them progress from initial ideas to market readiness.
Applications for the next Prototron funding round are open until 15 February 2026 and can be submitted via the Prototron website at prototron.ee.
