The Brain Hunt competition yielded 104 business ideas that advanced from the preliminary round. In ten days’ time, the Brain Hunt Jury will select the top 30 who will enter a valuable development program. 

Inge Laas, Strategy and Product Development Manager at Enterprise Estonia, was one of those who evaluated the ideas submitted to Brain Hunt. A total of 294 ideas were submitted. Laas confirmed that the world has not run out of exciting business ideas. “The people of Estonia are resourceful. Several interesting ideas emerged that focused on the development of children’s social skills, such as involving older generations, smart apps, or specialist help. The profiles of those who submitted the ideas show that the Brain Hunt accelerator is increasingly appreciated not only by young people but also by experienced entrepreneurs,” said Laas.

She added that teams that have come back with a stronger team or business idea, despite the failure last year or even before that – deserve praise – it could be concluded from the questionnaires that development has not stalled in the meantime.

The regional breakdown of the 104 ideas that moved on from the preliminary round is as follows: 58 from Tallinn and Harju County, 14 from Harju County, 18 from Tartu County, 4 from Pärnu County, 3 from Ida-Viru County, 3 from Saare County, 2 from Järva County, 2 from Valga County and 1 from Viljandi County.

Out of the advanced ideas, 26 ideas come from the field of ICT, 20 from social entrepreneurship, 13 from tourism and service economics, 8 from energy and environment, 7 from creative Industries, 5 from industry and design, and 4 from health and biomedicine. 21 advanced ideas were listed under another category.

Brain Hunt is Estonia’s largest competition for business ideas, offering top-notch mentoring, training, and funding. Brain Hunt has boosted businesses like Bolt, Bikeep, Click & Grow, GoWorkaBit, FoodDocs, UpSteam, Groveneer and many more. Over the past 12 months, start-ups from that have emerged from Brain Hunt have attracted investments worth more than EUR 12 million. This year, the monetary fund of Brain Hunt reaches a record EUR 140,000.

Brain Hunt has been initiated by the Enterprise Estonia Foundation. The competition partner is SEB, and major sponsors are Elisa and Maxima. Enterprise Estonia finances the implementation of the competition from the resources of the European Regional Development Fund. In addition, Brain Hunt is supported by investors from EstBAN, TRINITI Law Office, Lingvist, Tartu Center for Creative Industries, UMA Workspace, Harku Parish, Saue Parish, City of Tartu, City of Pärnu, and the City of Tallinn.