EIT Digital and Startup Estonia Join Forces to Boost Estonian Startup Ecosystem

BRUSSELS, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

EIT Digital and Startup Estonia today signed a Memorandum of Collaboration to help the Estonian innovation ecosystem develop further during Estonia's EU presidency and also play an increasingly important role in the international digital landscape.

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"Estonia is a cradle of European innovative entrepreneurship. We are happy to sign this collaborative agreement with Startup Estonia, which will benefit both of us by connecting our respective ecosystems," said Willem Jonker, CEO, EIT Digital.

"We are happy to announce the partnership with EIT Digital, certain as we are that this collaboration will strengthen the Estonian startup ecosystem, encouraging greater openness towards the European landscape," added Lehar Kütt, CEO, Kredex.

Startup Estonia, a governmental initiative aimed at supercharging the Estonian startup ecosystem, and EIT Digital, the leading European digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organisation driving Europe's digital transformation, signed on May 25th a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) to join forces to support the development of the Estonian innovation ecosystem.

Startup Estonia will bring to the table the skills and the expertise developed in several years of activity in this Baltic nation. EIT Digital meanwhile catalyses digital innovation and entrepreneurship through a number of initiatives aimed at driving the digital transformation across Europe and beyond. The goal: helping the Estonian innovation ecosystem grow and also play an increasingly important role in the international landscape by fostering Estonian startups access to European markets and by making Estonia a more attractive destination for tech companies, investors and talents coming from abroad.

The signing, in the context of the innovation and startup conference Latitude59, was done in Tallinn by Willem Jonker, CEO, EIT Digital, and Lehar Kütt, CEO, Kredex Fund, home of Startup Estonia in the presence of Mari Vavulski, Head of Startup Estonia and Siim Sikkut, Government CIO of Estonia. 

EIT Digital will join the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Startup Estonia, the European Commission and Dell to co-host the Startup Nations Summit in November 2017, which will be held in the framework of Estonia's EU presidency.

Estonia is part of ARISE Europe, EIT Digital's implementation of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS). ARISE Europe is designed to stimulate regional growth in EU countries where EIT Digital is not physically present with a node. Its objective is to connect local and regional innovation centres and their ecosystems to EIT Digital's innovation and education ecosystem.

About EIT Digital 

EIT Digital is a leading European open innovation organisation that brings together a partnership of over 130 top European corporations, SMEs, start-ups, universities and research institutes. EIT Digital invests in strategic areas to accelerate market uptake of research-based digital technologies and to bring entrepreneurial talent and leadership to Europe.

EIT Digital is a Knowledge and Innovation Community of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). EIT Digital headquarters are in Brussels with co-location centres in Berlin, Budapest, Eindhoven, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Trento and a hub in Silicon Valley.

Contact:

Edna Ayme-Yahil
edna.ayme@eitdigital.eu