The Entrepreneurship team has a tradition of bringing together students from different entrepreneurship courses at the end of each semester to get feedback on their projects from practitioners and experts, and to see what business ideas other groups have developed to what level. The format of this event also evolves every year. The organisers are the entrepreneurship lecturers.
This time, 136 students participated, representing 47 registered teams and projects. 15 mentors from very different backgrounds were involved to advise them. Ideas ranged from simple consultancy services, interest-based platforms and campervan hire to more complex solutions. The search for solutions for energy savings and alternatives continues, as well as getting rid of many loyalty cards and unnecessary Christmas presents.
Mentors included Enterprise Estonia innovation advisors, Mektory and new business experts, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial academics, and entrepreneurship PhD students. The mentors had 'tokens' for investment, plus one to recognise a sustainable green project, which they invested at their own discretion after the student teams' presentations. At the end, the recipients of the biggest investments were also able to present their project to everyone. These were:
TraynMe: Mal Kubati, Argo Käsper, Toomas Tahves, Carlo Porcelli. Idea for a website that speeds up the rendering process (converting a 2D drawing into a 3D image).
LabMeat: Kerit-Lii Joasoon, Saari Anete Loog, Kristina Joarand, Angelika Nahabenko. The idea is to produce meat from animal cells grown in a lab, with the same nutritional value and composition as conventional meat, but without killing the animal in the production process. This project also received a "green" award.
The presentations were very well prepared. Unit head Sirje Ustav listened to five presentations and could have listened more, but sparkling eyes and very realistic, well thought out and executed projects (including both winning teams) had already drained the investment fund. The room was full of entrepreneurial spirit and enthusiasm, with fierce competition for investment. According to the mentors, there were plenty of good, implementable ideas. Time will tell who will actually make it to the market, or Ajujaht, for example. TalTech's start-up centre invites those interested to further free consultations.
The feedback was positive from both sides, with suggestions to set a time limit for mentors as well and to increase investment. We will definitely take this into account.
The organisers would like to thank all the participants and helpers and invite you to the next event in spring, on 17 May.