The Ajujaht Development Programme is a non-participatory accelerator programme that takes place from November to February each season. Teams that made it to top 30 will participate in the development programme, which consists of training weekends, theme nights, and personal mentoring. The best teams will continue to compete during and after the development programme on a TV show called Ajujaht (Brain Hunt) on TV3, competing for the prize pool of 75,000 euros.

The management team of Brain Hunt supports all teams participating in the development programme by helping them find relevant investors, accelerators, incubators, and other contacts and organisations needed to start a business. All teams will receive help during the development programme and afterwards, during the Brain Hunt Alumni Programme.

The Brain Hunt Development Programme will bring together experts from both Estonia and abroad. The network created during the development programme will help you start a business also after the competition.

Mentoring

Teams participating in the Brain Hunt Development Programme will be brought together with a mentor network at the beginning of the programme. One of the first events in the development programme is called MentorMeetUp, where all teams can get to know the mentors and find the right mentor based on the specifics and field of their business idea. The mentors guide and advise teams throughout the development programme.

The mentors include renowned entrepreneurs, investors, network members, and the top experts of Brain Hunt supporters and sponsors. Click here to see Brain Hunt mentors here.

Accelerator and training

The development programme consists of training weekends. The training will provide both the knowledge and the tools to do whatever it takes to create, rethink, and develop your own business model. The topics and trainers of the Brain Hunt Development Programme include:

• Business model innovation and prototyping (trainers Alar Kolk, Amid Moradganjeh, Markko Karu)
• Product development, marketing and sales (trainer Howard Kingston)
• Presentation techniques and pitching (trainer Gleb Maltsev)
• Investor relations and financing (trainer Riivo Anton)

The training topics will be tailored to the needs of the teams participating in the development programme. Training weekends are meaningful and use a hands-on approach – each team can simultaneously pursue their own business idea, develop it, and test it right away.

We have planned the training sessions for weekends so that all teams participating in the development programme could attend as much as they can. Furthermore, top 100 teams will receive first-rate training before appearing before the jury. This training is focused on polishing your pitching technique.

In addition to the training provided by the programme, there will be several theme nights throughout the competition, open to all other Brain Hunt friends and enthusiasts.

TV show Brain Hunt

The Brain Hunt competition will be complemented by an eight-episode TV show which will monitor team development throughout the development programme and introduce to Estonian people business ideas put forward in the programme. The TV show will challenge the teams and only the strongest will be victorious. The TV show will air on TV3 in spring 2021. The show will be hosted by Marii Karell.

You can watch the shows of the last season here.

Events

Brain Hunt is not only a competition for business ideas but also a network, which is why in addition top-level training and developing business ideas, we place great emphasis on joint ventures and exchange of experience. We will organise joint outings, and as usual, watch a TV season opener, get together for the exciting super finale, and share both wins and challenges.

Network and contacts

As the main competition for business ideas in Estonia, we are constantly cooperating with the start-up community, umbrella organisations, and a number of initiatives and events. The Brain Hunt Development Programme offers all teams the opportunity to participate in conferences (Latitude59, Arctic15, etc.), pitching events (EstBAN pitch, etc.) in a favourable and stress-free way.