Put
on by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in cooperation with
Enterprise Estonia, the three-day event covered topics including
biotechnology, electronics, energy production as well as IT, the
field in which Estonia has become known as a startup hotspot.
Jaan
Tallinn, one of the founders of Skype, and Steve Jurvetson, managing
director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) were among the speakers at
the workshop, which also included a pitching contest where
participants were given valuable feedback for their business ideas.
Speaking
on Estonian Television, Shaun Bamforth, an organiser of the workshop,
noted that Estonian technology-based startups and Estonian startups
in general have done well around the world. “We have Estonian
startups in Boston, Silicon Valley," he said.
Estonia
was recently named by the Wall Street Journal as the country that
produces more startups per capita than any other in Europe. Apart
from its most famous success story – Skype – it has given birth
to several other enterprises with global reach such as GrabCad,
Transferwise, ZeroTurnaround, Fortumo, Pipedrive and Click&Grow.
Last
year, Estonian startups raised 17 million euros in capital, including
2 million euros from Estonian investors.
