Last night, the three best business ideas that passed the 29th batch of the Prototron fund created by Swedbank, TalTech and Tehnopoli were revealed. According to the expert panel, the ideas of BatCycle, Smarif, and Wayren are the most innovative, the team of each of them received 20,000 euros in non-participation funding to further develop the idea or create a prototype.
Prototron’s winning team, BatCycle, develops a solution for repairing and recycling old Li-on batteries, Smarif develops a device for monitoring the condition of refrigerators, and the Wayren team develops a communication platform that enables fast and secure information exchange in crisis situations, when the use of normal channels may no longer be safe.
According to Liisi Himma, head of corporate banking at Swedbank, a member of the panel of experts, all three winners stood out with ideas related to very topical issues. “Both how to use raw materials and energy wisely, as well as how to ensure information exchange in a crisis situation, are important and forward-looking solutions for society.”
According to Indrek Orava, CEO of the research and business campus Tehnopol, a member of the expert council, the goal of Tehnopol is to support world-changing technology entrepreneurship and innovation, which the winners of the just-ended round also excelled in. “All three selected companies solve important problems and bring innovation to areas where it is definitely needed. We are especially happy about Wayren, who is also currently participating in the vigorous growth program of our Startup Incubator,” said Orav.
Henry Härm, the representative of Wayren, commented on the winning news: “We will immediately focus on product design, training and development of the final production-ready solution. We will also use this critical moment for testing, namely, one Ukrainian brigade will have the solution at its disposal.” The team is also very grateful for the support that Prototron helps and supports companies in such a phase.
In addition, at the end of the round held at the Proto discovery center yesterday, the audience award was given to the idea Playerbank, which collected a total of 200 votes. Playerbank focuses on recruiting professional athletes to the team.
In the 29th round, Prototron’s expert panel included: Heidi Kakko (EstBAN), Henrik Roonemaa (Genius web), Liisi Himma (Swedbank), Madis Raukas (Osram), Yrjö Ojasaar (Change Ventures), Jaanus Tamm (Defendec), Andrus Oks (Tera Ventures ), Priit Rohumaa (Nutshell), Mart Enn Koppel (TalTech), Indrek Orav (Tehnopol), Mart Maasik (University of Tartu) and Kristjan Maruste (CoModule).
Prototron is a fund created by Swedbank, TalTech and the research and business campus Tehnopol, which finances prototypes of technological ideas so that world-changing ideas and products reach the market faster. Over ten years, Prototron has funded 98 smart ideas with a total of 1.3 million euros, while the teams have involved more than 85 million euros as follow-on investments. This year, the city of Tallinn also contributes to the Prototron teams.
About the completion of the 29th round of Prototron, photographer Olga Osjen, you can find here.
