March was a good month for the Estonian startup scene, and the #estonianmafia, as they call themselves, has totally deserved a standalone news recap.
The global tech job platform Jobbatical secures €1.9M
The Estonian startup is a platform showcasing short-term career opportunities in tech, making it a good meeting point for savvy-travelers (geeks, marketing specialists, sales) and tech businesses, including startups themselves, looking for the injection of “new blood”.
The seed round, led by Union Square Ventures along with Local Globe and SmartCap, provided the team of 10 people at Jobbatical with €1.9m for further development. They are planning to triple the headcount by the end of 2016, to open an office in Singapore, to further develop the product. Previously, Jobbatical has secured €510,000 in 2015 and €260,000 in 2014. More information.
Estonia uses blockchain technology to secure medical records of its citizens. Image credit.
Estonia secures its citizen’s health records with blockchain technology
The forward-thinking and one of the world’s most digitalized governments, Estonian authorities hired Guardtime, to secure healthcare data of 1 million of Estonians. The startup provides security encryption using blockchain technology, just like the one behind bitcoin, the digital currency. Blockchain makes sure that every transaction is tracked and recorded, which makes it impossible for government or doctors to hide or cover-up any records. BusinessInsider has details.
GlobalReader gets €165K to expand beyond Estonia
GlobalReader, an Estonian company developing cloud-based monitoring systems for production lines , has secured €165,000 in seed money. The funds will go for expansion beyond Estonia, where the startup already serves 38 customers. Source.
High Mobility secures a 7-digit seed funding
Keyless access control, communication with car park payment machines are just examples of what connected cars have to offer
High-Mobility GmbH, with offices in Berlin and Tallinn, was founded in 2015 by two Estonians, Kevin Valdek and Risto Vahtra. They closed a seed round led by Fabian von Kuenheim with participation from the Berlin-based venture capital firm IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft. The startups graduated from Startupbootcamp Berlin.
High Mobility develops a platform for connecting cars with the environment. Their technology allows car makers and independent developers to easily innovate and launch new apps for connected cars. The key feature that distinguishes High Mobility from competitors is that it works offline, which comes handy when you are in an underground parking or on a roaming plan abroad. Read the full post on Medium by Risto Vahtra, the CEO of High Mobility.
Estonia has established a €60M EstFund
The European Investment Fund, KredEx and the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications announced the Fund-of-Funds with a capital of €60m. It will focus of small and medium enterprises, and will complement the existing Baltic Innovation Fund, focused on large-scale deals. Check the European Commission’s website for a full overview.
