23rd of May saw the announcement of the winner of the entrepreneurship competition Ajujaht. The jury awarded the main prize to Timey, which produces chemical indicators for monitoring the shelf life of food. The winning team received the main prize of 30,000 euros and, in cooperation with the Funderbeam investment platform, the opportunity to visit three foreign markets to meet potential clients and investors.

The founder of Ajujaht, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Enterprise Estonia Erki Mölder, said that you need to be brave enough to make mistakes to succeed in entrepreneurship. “All three finalists have dared to take risks and thus improve themselves. Timey owes its success to its distinct, smart solution, which they made a reality in the course of the competition,” said Mölder.

SEB’s Innovation Lab Director Mart Maasik said that Timey took note of the feedback given to them. “They are a dynamic team who have not only taken the feedback from us and clients into account but responded to it, which is why their improvement has been evident throughout the competition,” said Maasik.

Sami Seppänen, CEO of Elisa, finds that a victory in Ajujaht acknowledges the team’s work at maintaining their focus and the potential to take their product to various markets in Europe and the rest of the world. “Their technology offers many possibilities, but they have maintained a strong focus on fish products,” Seppänen added.

Second place in Ajujaht (€15,000) went to self-adhesive wooden wall covering manufacturer Groveneer and third to ALU, a board game designed for the visually impaired (€5000).

Additionally, the sponsors of Ajujaht gave out the following special prizes:

• Best Social Enterprise – Võõras Sõber (€5000); the prize was given out by SEB and the Estonian Social Enterprise Network
• Harku Rural Municipality’s Favourite – HopKid (€5000); the prize was given out by Harku Rural Municipality
• Saue Rural Municipality’s Favourite – HopKid (€5000); the prize was given out by Saue Rural Municipality
• TRINITI Law Office Special Prize – Timey (support and advice on entering foreign markets); the prize was given out by TRINITI Law Office
• Estonian Employers Confederation’s Favourite – Võõras Sõber (€3000); the prize was given out by the Estonian Employers Confederation
• City of Tallinn’s Favourite – Lumebot (€3000); the prize was given out by the Tallinn Entrepreneurship Department
• City of Tartu’s Favourite – Edible (€4000); the prize was given out by the City of Tartu

Timey is a smart indicator that can be fastened to food packaging or boxes and changes colour if the product has not been kept in appropriate conditions. The colour-changing indicator creates additional value in the supply chain of goods and prevents excessive food waste. Timey was created by TalTech chemistry students Laurent Läheb and Martin Möllits.

Estonia’s largest business idea competition was established by Enterprise Estonia, partner SEB and main sponsor Elisa. In addition, Ajujaht is sponsored by Funderbeam, Lingvist, TRINITI Law Office, the Estonian Employers Confederation, the City of Tallinn, the City of Tartu, the City of Pärnu, Harku Rural Municipality, Saue Rural Municipality and the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce. Ajujaht is funded by Enterprise Estonia from the European Regional Development Fund.

Ajujaht is organised by Civita Estonia, Miltton JLP and Tehnopol.