sTARTUp life (p.1)
The pace of progress is rapidly accelerating, and in parallel with this, the number of world-leading technical hubs is growing, accumulating fundamental resources and providing the most comfortable environment for the development of new promising projects. One of the most famous European start-up centers, attracting specialists from all over the world is Tartu.
Many people are already talking about the second-largest city and capital of education in Estonia, as the new Silicon Valley. And this status is more than justified.
Tartu is the home for one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe, which annually manages to rise in global education rankings and is famous for its financial accessibility for international students. A large number of grants for education in various fields motivates young talents and breaks the stereotype that success in career depends on financial well-being.
The city itself is characterized by amazing dynamics. New buildings are constantly being built with free, state-of-the-art co-working space, which collects initiative groups of students with innovative ideas and solutions. Moreover, the Government of Estonia annually allocates funds to support and further develop start-up initiatives. A person or group with an interesting idea can always seek information or finance from the Estonian Development Fund or Enterprise Estonia.
In 2018, the famous Tartu University Library was completely renovated and in 2020 the large Delta Center was opened, which includes the Faculty of Economics and Computer, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Tartu Science Park incubators and the representative offices of several companies that work most closely with the University. Thanks to the sTARTUp HUB, UT sTARTUp Lab, sTARTUp Day festival Team, and student organizations more and more professionals, representatives of the start-up community, and successful companies attend exhibitions, conferences, workshops taking place in new buildings every year.
Most of them are open-type and attendance is free of charge, but even for paid events, there is always an opportunity to purchase an early bird ticket (discount price) or to participate as a volunteer (during the annual largest Baltic festival sTARTUp Day among those who wish to attend the event in as “behind the scene wizard” real excitement flares up and competition is running). sTARTUp Day has been held for 4 years, it attracts different levels of businesses, research organizations, coaches, investors, and world-known journalists. The created atmosphere allows to be inspired, learn incredible things, make new acquaintances, and useful contacts. Often students find internship or work options during the festival or join one of the start-up teams, which must be constantly improved in order to be successful on pitching stages and increase the chances of getting noticed by investors. In the labor market and start-up contests, there is healthy competition that stimulates the deepening of knowledge and polishing skills.
Estonia is a unique country in terms of competition, as the Estonian government provides an opportunity to develop a business remotely through the e-Residency identifier accessible to anyone in the world. It makes it easy to run a location-independent online business. Using Estonia’s convenient digital entrepreneurial services, a start-up for a short period can reach a good level of income.
How to implement the idea to reality and be competent at project and budget management are presented at regular learning sessions dedicated to start-up related events led by the already mentioned UT sTARTUp Lab. (Those who are interested should check the calendar).
Long story short: sTARTUp has an ulterior motive to contain the name of the Estonian city of good thoughts and real opportunities, and the motto of sTARTUp Day festival “From zero to hero” reflects the future path of many people who will come to live and study there.
Stay tuned! Soon, more information about start-up life in Tartu!
