The first half of 2026 has been active for EstBAN, with a 2/3 new team on place and strong focus on syndicate investing, investor education, community development and cross-border cooperation.
New Team in place
The beginning of 2026 brought two new team members into EstBAN – as Karin Künnapas stepped down from Managing Director position, Jana Saastamoinen became a new CEO of the network. In March we also welcomed a new Deal Flow Manager Darja Ogorodnik as Margret Kanniste continues as an angel investor member.
Latitude59 Syndicate Investments
In spring, EstBAN strengthened cooperation across the New Nordics. Together with LatBAN and FiBAN, the network backed the Latitude59 Pitch Competition with up to €300,000 in angel investment. The final syndicate was divided between Finnish energy-storage startup Granarium Technologies, receiving up to €200,000, and Estonian working-dog technology company DogBase, receiving up to €100,000.
Training New Angels
EstBAN also continued to develop the next generation of investors through training and educational initiatives, including the Female Angel Investor Training Programme, legal seminars and pitch events for angel investors. At the same time, the network published new Investor Talk interviews to share the experiences of active members and make angel investing more accessible to a wider audience. We also held monthly angel luncheons to support members networking opportunities.
Investing Summary and Board Elections
At the Annual General Meeting, EstBAN approved its 2026 action plan, elected and re-elected board members (welcome Peeter P. Mõtsküla as a newly elected Board Member), and recognised outstanding investors and ecosystem partners through the EstBAN Angel Awards. The annual review also showed that members invested €14.1 million into startups in 2025, while syndicates, funds and cross-border investing continued to play an increasingly important role.
Two New Fund Members
The community also expanded through new partnerships, including TooEarly Ventures and M2 Capital Partners joining as fund members. In addition, EstBAN continued supporting existing portfolio companies: Nanordica Medical announced a €1.6 million funding round with participation from an EstBAN syndicate.
sTARTUp Day Syndicates are on hold
The year began with the sTARTUp Day pitching competition, where EstBAN investors selected two deep-tech companies for syndicate investments: Estonian ImpactPCB and Finnish LifeGlue, each eligible to receive up to €150,000. By June 2026 neither of the syndicates have formulated due to follow-up due diligence issues.
Altogether, the first six months of 2026 have reinforced EstBAN’s role as a connector between investors, founders and ecosystem organisations bringing together capital, knowledge and international networks to help ambitious startups grow.
- See the photo gallery of Spring Season End 2026 (photos by Edmond Mäll)
