The updated legislation will allow self-service pharmacies to operate as automated units of existing pharmacies. Medicines will be sold without a pharmacist being physically present on site, while patients will still get professional advice from pharmacists through remote video consultations.

For consumers, the change will mean access to medicines outside traditional pharmacy opening hours. For businesses, it opens up opportunities to develop new models for delivering healthcare services.

The project began when the technology company Grab2Go encountered regulatory obstacles while developing their automated pharmacy solution. The biggest obstacle was that in the current Medicinal Products Act, the sale of medications can only take place with a pharmacist physically present. Rather than abandoning their idea, co-founders Mart Viilipus and Reio Orasmäe brought the challenge to Accelerate Estonia, setting in motion a process to change the regulatory framework.

For Grab2Go, this is an important step towards bringing automated pharmacy services to market. “Our aim is to help pharmacies extend opening hours and address staffing shortages, while keeping professional advice available through video consultations. The proposed legislation would allow us to move forward with pharmacy operators and make medicines more accessible when people need them,” said Reio Orasmäe, Co-Founder of Grab2Go.

Olari Püvi, Head of Accelerate Estonia: “The milestone illustrates how regulatory innovation can help create space for new technologies, business models and services in Estonia. Moreover, as other countries are also interested in Grab2Go’s solution, it opens up export opportunities for Estonian health tech companies.”

The legislative change has been driven by a collaboration between Accelerate Estonia and the Ministry of Social Affairs, following work to identify the regulatory barriers preventing automated pharmacy services from entering the Estonian market. The bill is now moving to the Estonian Parliament for a vote, with implementation scheduled for March 1, 2027.

• same news on Tech.EU

• Grab2GO has raised 300,000 euros to pilot a fully automated convenience store

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A few years ago, Wisby found itself in a situation familiar to many venture-backed companies: investor capital became significantly harder to access. The company reduced its team from eight people to three and set a clear course toward profitability.

“When our bank balance was approaching zero, I was asked a couple of times whether we should just call it quits,” recalled Kaspar Päll, founder and CEO of Wisby. “I said it was too late for that as our balance sheet was negative, so we had to become profitable just to get back to zero first.”

During this period, the company followed a simple principle: if an activity did not help generate revenue within the next 1-90 days, it was not a priority. In the first half of 2024, Wisby reached profitability, and since then the company has focused on profitable growth.

Funding helped to establish a fair valuation

Wisby did not initially set out to raise new capital. The company needed to convert previous convertible loans into equity, which required establishing Wisby’s current valuation. New investors were brought in who were willing to invest real capital at that valuation. This provided market validation for a valuation that all parties could consider fair. As the new investors wanted to invest in Wisby, the company decided to raise €250,000 and use the additional capital to accelerate its growth.

“We didn’t actually need new capital. What mattered was establishing a fair valuation that both existing and new investors were comfortable with. The best way to do that is to put real money from the market on the table — if a new investor is willing to invest at that valuation, it becomes much easier for everyone to agree that it is fair. Once we saw that investors wanted to come in at that price, it made sense to take an additional €250,000 and push the gas pedal a little harder,” said Päll.

According to Päll, the decision not to raise a traditional seed round, or take on more capital than Wisby could efficiently deploy at its current stage, was deliberate.

“We could have funded our planned growth from our existing resources. Now we can grow more aggressively, but not at any cost. To put it in startup terms, our unit economics need to remain healthy, and we need to retain the ability to return to profitability quickly if needed.”

Wisby projects revenue of €2.2–2.4 million this year and currently has a team of six. The company’s customers are primarily located in Scandinavia and Western Europe.

The financing round was led by Buildit VC with a €200,000 investment, alongside €50,000 from an EstBAN angel investor syndicate led by Martin Goroško. Buildit VC has been active in the investment market since 2014 and has made numerous investments over the years. The partnership between Wisby and Buildit, however, began with a chance encounter at sTARTUp Day.

“Of course, the goal of every investment is to generate a return, but behind every investment there is also a unique story. For Wisby, the headline would be ‘in the right place at the right time.’ Timing and being in the right place undeniably play an important role in business: I met Kaspar from Wisby at sTARTUp Day while rushing from one meeting to another, when Martin Gorosko, who was sitting with Kaspar, spotted me and asked if I had one minute. Kaspar gave me a very quick overview of Wisby, and my immediate reaction was: ‘Yes, this sounds interesting,’” said Matiss Neimanis, Partner at Buildit VC.

“EstBAN angels saw a strong growth opportunity in Wisby in a sector that might not initially look like a classic venture capital investment. For us, the deciding factors were a strong team, an already proven international customer base, and the ability to grow profitably without relying on constant external capital. The company has demonstrated that its business model works and that customers are responding – the additional capital now gives Wisby the capacity to scale that model faster across new markets,” said Martin Goroško, who led the EstBAN angel investor syndicate.

For Wisby, the €250,000 investment represents strategic growth capital, not a seed round. The company plans to use the capital to accelerate product and business development and strengthen its position in its existing Scandinavian and Western European markets, while maintaining its focus on profitable growth.

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Nanordica’s Premotiv® dressing has demonstrated a 43% reduction in wound area size after just one week of treatment compared to 13% with standard silver dressings in a randomized controlled trial on 30 patients with diabetic foot ulcers. The study was recently published in the scientific Journal of Wound Care^[2].

Around 100 million people worldwide have chronic wounds that fail to heal. More than half of these wounds become infected, often leading to severe complications such as sepsis, amputation and death. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are the leading cause of infections and leg amputations among chronic wounds. Every 20 seconds, someone with diabetes loses a leg due to amputation. Often called a “silent killer,” DFUs have five-year mortality rates and treatment costs comparable to cancer^[3].

Systemic antibiotics are currently the only treatment recommended for infected wounds by DFU treatment guidelines. However, they often fail to reach wound sites at sufficient concentrations. Their use is also increasingly restricted due to the rise of antimicrobial resistance.

Existing antibacterial dressings are not recommended by wound care guidelines largely because most lack clinical evidence. In addition, to effectively treat infection, many antibacterial dressings typically contain high concentrations of antibacterial agents that can delay healing by damaging healthy skin cells.

Nanordica Medical is addressing this challenge through its patent-protected Premotiv® technology that PREvents infection and proMOTes wound healing at the same time. By overcoming the longstanding trade-off between antimicrobial activity and safety to skin cells, Premotiv® enables faster wound healing and is suitable for both infected wounds and wounds at risk of infection.

In addition to the already published pilot study with 30 patients, Nanordica Medical is currently conducting a multicentered, double-blind, randomized clinical trial in patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

With more than 120 patients already enrolled, it is one of the largest studies of its kind. It is expected to generate strong clinical evidence supporting reimbursement, future treatment guideline recommendations and broader clinical adoption of Nanordica’s technology.

“Current DFU treatment guidelines are not fully aligned with everyday clinical practice, where there is a clear need for effective antibacterial dressings”, said Prof. Dr. José Luis Lázaro Martínez, the Chair of the Diabetic Foot Committee of the European Wound Management Association and the Principal Investigator of Nanordica Medical’s multicentered trial. “Antibacterial dressings supported by robust clinical evidence may influence future guideline recommendations and become category-defining solutions.”

The company’s innovative approach has gained international recognition. In 2026, SmartTRAK, a leading wound care market intelligence platform, named Nanordica Medical among four advanced wound dressing companies to watch, highlighting the company’s unique approach to addressing the “Silver Paradox” in antimicrobial wound care.

“Antimicrobial resistance is one of the defining healthcare challenges of this decade and most wound care products are making it worse. Nanordica has built a clinically proven alternative that doesn’t rely on antibiotics, doesn’t compromise healing, and leaves a significantly smaller environmental footprint. We backed the team because they had both the science and the conviction to see this through”, says Martin Koppel, the Founder Partner of 2C Ventures.

Nanordica Medical launched its first veterinary wound care product, Ravimus Vet^[4], in 2023. The product has received positive market acceptance and is currently distributed in six countries.

The human product will be launched following CE marking. To support commercialization, Nanordica Medical has completed key regulatory and operational milestones, including certification of its quality management system in accordance with ISO 13485:2016 requirements. The company has also recently been granted a European patent, strengthening its market defensibility and supporting the expansion of its product portfolio. These activities, including the ongoing multicentre clinical trial, were supported by a €2.4 million European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator grant.

“This financing round will enable us to complete a large randomized clinical study, strengthening the economic case for Premotiv® and finalize CE marking for commercial launch in Europe. Our clinical data suggest that Premotiv^® helps wounds heal faster by managing infection without compromising natural healing process. Faster healing has the potential to reduce complications, lower treatment costs and improve outcomes for patients with chronic wounds”, said Olesja Bondarenko, CEO and co-founder of Nanordica Medical.

About Nanordica Medical

• Nanordica Medical is an Estonian medtech company founded by scientists and medical doctors, dedicated to transforming laboratory innovations into practical medical solutions. The company is Estonia’s National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics spin-off.

• Estonian MedTech company Nanordica Medical receives €2.4M EIC Accelerator funding and closes €375k oversubscribed investment round

• The winners of sTARTUp Pitching 2022 have been announced!

Referrals:

^[1] https://www.2cventures.eu/

^[2] Roosimaa M, Ilumets H, Kaha T, Kubo AL, Valkna A, Sihtmäe M, Kadaja M, Russell DA, Bondarenko O, Vasiliev G. A wound dressing with copper and silver nanoparticles versus ionic silver hydrofibre dressing for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a randomised clinical trial. J Wou the nd Care. 2026;35(4):300-310. doi: 10.12968/jowc.2025.0002

^[3] Armstrong DG, Swerdlow MA, Armstrong AA, Conte MS, Padula WV, Bus SA. Five year mortality and direct costs of care for people with diabetic foot complications are comparable to cancer.

J Foot Ankle Res. 2020;13(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s13047-020-00383-2

^[4] https://www.nanordica.com/ravimus

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Why does this matter? – Because today, women make up less than 15% of EstBAN members, and startup investing remains a space where female role models, knowledge-sharing, and trusted communities are limited. Some say it’s because there’s also only around 11-12% of female founders and too few female-led company exits. Meaning – there are not enough role models that other women can relate to. The attitude of “if she can do it, I can do it too!”.

Women can and want to build world changing companies, but the stakes seem too high. The self-doubt keeps them away.

Over the past 1.5 years, our Female Angel Investor Training Programme has brought together angel investors, VCs, lead investors, legal professionals, startup mentors, and founders to openly share what they know about supporting startups, raising millions in investor capital, navigating high-risk investments, conducting due diligence, building a portfolio, and developing an investment strategy.

Startup investing is not for everyone regardless of gender. However – greater diversity in angel investing strengthens the ecosystem. Yes, everyone bold enough can step into the unknown and sure, it takes conviction, emotional resilience, a portfolio approach, a strategy, and genuine curiosity about what and why you invest in. High-risk investing should be approached thoughtfully and intentionally, and it is something that everyone can learn. And that’s why programmes like this matter. We believe that EstBAN and partners’ systematic, hands-on angel investing programme specifically designed for women is a step towards more open and supportive startup ecosystem. We have always had our events for everyone, and then somehow, mostly men show up.

To end in a positive note, 7 out of the training programme participants became members of EstBAN and 20 of them made at least one angel investment within past 1,5 years. Altogether 26 investments into EstBAN syndicates were made by women from these three cohorts.

Huge thank you to all our speakers, partners, and participants who are helping to grow the next generation of informed and confident angel investors.

Thank you Hedman Law Firm, SEB Eesti and Meelis Nurk, Swedbank Estonia and Astrid Maldre, Karin Künnapas, Merlin Seeman and your team, Jana Saastamoinen, Allan Gaidunko, Triin Hertmann, Kaari Kink, Heidi Kakko, Kati Pino, Kadi-Ingrid Lilles, Kart Siilats, Jana Budkovskaja and all the participants who came to learn.

• See more about the programme
• Spring 2026
• Autumn 2025
• Spring 2025

Photos: Jaana Süld

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Up to €200 000 goes to Finnish startup Granarium Technologies

EstBAN lead investor and BSV partner Jana Budkovskaja and co-lead David Clark say that the Granarium Technologies’ up to €200k investment reflects the current needs in the global economy. “A key structural shift is that storage is no longer just a ‘backup power’ – it is becoming core grid infrastructure. Granarium is the perfect addition to our angel investment portfolio because the company is solving a massive global challenge in a safe and scalable way. We are impressed with their technology and experience, as well as the capacity to use local raw materials to make the production process sustainable and inexpensive,” Jana Budkovskaja explains.

• Granarium Technologies is a Finnish deep-tech specializing in developing 100% renewable supercapacitors made from nanocellulose and activated carbon, designed to stabilize electricity grids and manage power fluctuations. Granarium Technologies was founded in 2022 by Paula Viinamäki (CEO), Otto-Ville Kaukoniemi, and Vesa Kunnari.

Up to €100k investment is announced for Estonian DogBase

And second part of the overall up to €100k investment goes into DogBase, the working and rescue dog training platform solving a specific need for dog trainers whose end goal is to save human lives. “We were convinced by the team’s deep domain expertise as well as clear market validation, with a strong share of users converting into paying customers. This combination of real-world impact, functional technology, and a validated business model gave us the confidence to invest. The team behind could not be better with awesome Echo the dog,” Budkovskaja says.

• DogBase is an Estonian based, AI-powered operations and training platform built specifically for professional working-dog teams, including K9 Search and Rescue (SAR), law enforcement, military units, and service dog programs. It replaces outdated paper logs and spreadsheets with mobile-friendly tools to track training progress, certifications, and health records. DogBase was founded in 2022 by Almog Koren, an active SAR dog handler with a military special forces background.

FIRSTPICK is investing up to €150,000 in Lithuanian startup Backoffice

Lithuanian venture capital fund FIRSTPICK is investing up to €150,000 in Lithuanian startup Backoffice, which is developing a workforce management solution for restaurants.

The Vilnius-founded startup Backoffice (building workforce management and operations software for the hospitality industry) was founded in 2025. The company was created by founders Erikas Pakenas and Denis Stech.

On the same topic:

• Startups from Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Ukraine Reach the Finals of Latitude59’s Pitch Competition

• New Nordics Angel Investors Back Latitude59 Pitch Competition with up to €300,000

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Startups from Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Ukraine take the stage at Latitude59, the flagship startup and tech conference of the Baltics and Nordics, held in Tallinn, Estonia. Seven finalists compete for an investment of nearly half a million euros.

The seven finalists are:

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According to EstBAN President Lauri Antalainen, the past three years have been relatively similar for angel investors. “In 2020 and 2021 investment activity was at record levels. Today, many investors are waiting for the results of earlier investments, which would release capital for new startup deals. For EstBAN members, last year was exceptionally successful. Three of our syndicate investments exited, and participating investors achieved multiple returns,” Antalainen said.

Investors Are Looking for Strong Leadership

EstBAN Managing Director Jana Saastamoinen notes a growing trend among angels to invest together and in a more passive role. “A large share of angel investors now invest through syndicates and increasingly also through venture capital funds. This helps reduce the risk of individual decisions. As a result, we are placing more focus on training lead investors and strengthening the investor community,” she explained.

Syndicate investing allows investors to participate with tickets of just a few thousand euros, while investing through a VC fund requires significantly larger commitments. “In Estonia we have both new angels who are still building their portfolios and experienced investors who invest hundreds of thousands independently. We also see a new generation of angel investors emerging, along with a growing share of women investors. Our role in educating and supporting different types of investors is therefore significant,” Saastamoinen added.

Fewer Deals, but Active Investment in Estonia and Nearby Markets

Angel investors remain broadly interested across sectors, with a primary focus on seed and early-stage companies that typically raise between one hundred thousand and one million euros.

In 2025, investors reported 247 deals, compared to 311 the year before, and named 109 startups they invested in, compared to 158 in 2024. The most frequently mentioned companies included SafePAS, BrachyDOSE, MarkeDroid, Bolt, Nanordica Medical and Lightcode Photonics.

The most popular sectors were deep and space technologies at 15 percent, health and wellbeing solutions at 14 percent, fintech at 11 percent, business and HR software at 10 percent, and industrial technologies at 9 percent. Three percent of angels invested in defence innovation. Based on the survey, 49 percent of investors invested in Estonian startups, while 22 percent of capital went into neighbouring markets in the Baltics and Scandinavia.

Risk and Returns Vary Widely

Of the 93 investors who responded to the EstBAN survey, 63 percent plan to continue investing in 2026. The most common individual angel ticket sizes range between 2,500 and 50,000 euros.

Angel investing carries high risk and returns vary significantly. In 2025, some investors lost their entire investment due to startup bankruptcies, while others achieved returns of seven to eight times their original investment. Experienced angels recommend keeping startup investments at around ten percent of a total portfolio and making at least 10 to 20 investments over several years.

At the end of 2025, EstBAN had 202 individual angel investor members. Members consider the network’s strongest value to be high-quality deal flow, syndicate opportunities, investor training and a strong community. The results confirm that Estonian angels remain an important source of capital for the startup sector and play a central role in company growth from the earliest stages.

See more

• EstBAN Annual Reviews 2016-2025
• Annual Review 2025 (pdf)

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Due to the very strong competition, the EstBAN syndicate will be divided between two promising deep tech startups: ImpactPCB gets up to €150k, and LifeGlue (FIN) gets up to €150k.

EstBAN syndicate co-lead Martin Goroško commented that the startups were impressive, and it wasn’t an easy task to pick the winners. “All the top 30 companies that made it to the sTARTUp Day pitching stage are investable, and I believe investors will pick them up sooner or later. Regarding the angel investor syndicate, we were weighing the decision pretty intensely until the last minute,” Goroško mentioned.

Lead investor Heidi Kakko said that the winners were the strongest in all aspects that investors are looking for. “They know how to validate a problem early enough in a complex field and create a corresponding solution. For investors, it’s also important to understand their specific markets,” Kakko said.

How are the investment winners going to change the world?

ImpactPCB offers a validated, revenue-generating deep-tech solution for chemical-free e-waste recycling, addressing a critical EU resource challenge. Strong founder expertise, early customer traction, and scalable modular technology support an attractive growth opportunity.

• Founders: Artur Klauson, Deniss Klauson
• Read more: https://www.impactpcb.com/our-solutions

LifeGlue is developing a scalable biomaterial platform with strong scientific foundations and broad application potential. Early validation and a clear value proposition position the company well for long-term impact and growth.

• Founders: Laura Kuittinen, Paula Puistola, Anni Mörö
• Read more: https://www.glue4life.com/

Rest of the TOP5 startups of the sTARTUp Day 2026 Pitching Competition

These companies made it to the finals together with two winners from a pool of over 200 promising ventures:

• Thistle and Gerda-Annika Laager (EST)
• EsaDres and Karin Kogermann (EST)
• BabAI Orbital and Roman Karpenko (UKR-EST).

More on the same topic

• Read more about the sTARTUp Day 2026 syndicate
• Take a look at former EstBAN syndicates too.

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What it means to be a lead investor and why are you doing it?

Martin: Leading a syndicate gives you in a few months the experience that usually takes years: scouting dealflow, running due diligence, negotiating terms, and closing the deal. It’s an experience every angel should aim for – when you make decisions later during your investment journey, you know each step first-hand and have tested the investment process. In the context of an event like sTARTUp Day, the lead role helps to shape a very resilient angel investor.

How do you rate the overall level of startups this year?

Martin: As expected, strong. All ~30 companies that passed the main screening are investable, and I believe investors will pick them up during sTARTUp Day or afterward. While there’s talk in the ecosystem about a shortage of founders and difficulty finding good companies, this selection doesn’t support that. It was diverse by stage, from deals for early angels to A-round VCs, and by verticals, from deep tech to simple, scalable mobile apps. The international angle stood out as well. Latvia and Lithuania have made a big leap, and serious deep tech is coming from there.

Heidi: The share of women founders could be higher, although a few women-led teams did make it to the top this year.

Which fields stood out, and what was specific about this year?

Heidi: Defense and dual-use, AI, and healthtech dominated. The strongest rise was in defense and dual-use technologies, not necessarily new products were introduced, but existing companies have redefined their market segment and go-to-market strategies. We aimed for balance so the strongest teams from different sectors were visible. Still, those two areas are the hottest globally right now.

Who made the finals, and on what basis?

Heidi: Simply put, companies that are market-ready, with a clear go-to-market strategy and a capable team to execute their plans. Every selection also reflects the lead investors. Since we’re drawn to more technically complex products like deep-tech, those teams were chosen.
Martin: As EstBAN represents angels, we also have to consider capital fit: stage, valuation, and ticket size need to match angel logic, and angels should be able to make a meaningful difference in the company’s progress. The capital-company fit is crucial, sometimes even more than the sector. In my view, the top five is strong, varied, and most importantly, well suited for angel investment.

On Thursday, 29 January, 30 startups will pitch on the sTARTUp Day stage, and on Friday, 30 January, a winner will be selected from the five finalists. The investment will come from both angel investors and the venture capital fund BSV.

• See all EstBAN previous syndicates
• Read more about the sTARTUp Day investment

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International perspective is always on the table

With 12% international members, EstBAN’s internal communication runs mostly in English. This year we strengthened ties with fellow BANs in the Baltics and joined or organized study trips to Latvia, Malta, Armenia, and Portugal. We also launched the first pan-Baltic angel syndicate call during the Latitude59 tech conference. In addition, EstBAN’s Managing Director Karin Künnapas represented the Estonian startup scene internationally, from Uruguay to Armenia and many countries in between.

Strong positioning in Estonia’s startup ecosystem

We aimed to be among the most active players in Estonia’s ecosystem. Together with EstVCA, Invest in Estonia and the Estonian Founders Society, we hosted a Season-End party and supported communication for the Estonian Startup Awards. All this is a reminder of the power of the community coming together. Twice this year EstBAN contributed to the Estonian Startup Ecosystem Annual Fireside Chat: first in January to recap 2024, and again in mid-December to reflect on 2025. For EstBAN, it is essential that early-stage angel investors, so critical in a startup’s first years, are visible in public discussion.

EstBAN network keeps evolving

We welcomed four new partner members: SEB, Triniti, Hedman Partners, and Accelerate Estonia, as well as three new fund members: Unmanned.VC, UniTartu Ventures, and Neer Ventures. At year-end we announced Jana Saastamoinen as EstBAN’s new Managing Director. She is already warming up and will fully step into the role after head-organizing sTARTUp Day 2026 at the end of January.

Initiatives that boosted angel investing awareness

• Connect2Scale New Angels Academy and Connect2Scale Mature Angels Academy raised the quality of angel-investing knowledge for both newcomers and experienced investors. Watch the training sessions online.
• The Female Angel Training Programme delivered high-quality training for future women angels. Today, women make up 11% of our membership, so there is meaningful work ahead. We trained 45 women with the help of industry professionals. 5 of them have become EstBAN members so far.
• Investor Talks opened our community members mindsets to each other: we interviewed members Paavo Siimann, Sandra Golbreich, Jan Lätt, Jana Budkovskaja, and Aleksander Tõnnisson.
• A new format, angel luncheons, gathered dozens of investors informally in Tallinn and Tartu. 

The core: pitching and investing in 2025

• 55 direct investing opportunities were offered
  
• 40 startups pitched at our events
  
• 15 different syndicates were opened to members
  
• About one-third of Q1 and Q2 pitch teams raised funding from angels
  
• 144 startup decks were validated and introduced to members 

Looking ahead

EstBAN board is currently made of 7 members: Lauri Antalainen (also a President), Mait Sooaru, Jan Lätt, Jana Budkovskaja, Olga Luštšik, Martin Goroško and Aleksander Tõnnisson serve as board members. Office team is currently four people: Karin Künnapas, Margret Kanniste, Annelis Rum and Jana Saastamoinen.

EstBAN will continue to support early-stage investing, educating investors and boost networking. The network’s efforts have lifted Estonia’s startup ecosystem and contributed to the broader European investment landscape.

On the same topic:

• EstBAN recap of 2024
• EstBAN Annual Review of 2024

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