(photo by organizer)

On 8 December, the sTARTUp Day business festival will be held in Tartu for the second time. The main topic of the event is “From Zero to Hero”, covering presentations and seminars by leaders of international startups who have the experience of developing a successful company using limited resources.

The sTARTUp Day 2017 event is held in AHHAA Science Centre, which becomes the Mecca for startups. From morning to night, the participants can enjoy a rich programme divided between four stages, two workshops and the entire science centre.

Elevator pitches are given on one of the stages, the pitching stage.  During the whole day, it is possible to deliver sales presentation to investors, partners and future customers. In addition, on the Firelight stage it is possible to ask well-known people for advice.

Rick Rasmussen, faculty member of the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the experts who is waiting for participants’ questions and is ready to share his experiences. Rasmussen has been connected with really successful companies – the three companies in which he held top positions were sold for a total of eight billion dollars. Rick hopes he will also be able to learn something at the event. “Estonia has an excellent reputation in terms of entrepreneurship and business management, which is why I expect a mutual exchange of ideas.”

Compared to the last year’s opening event, the organisers offer several innovations and surprises this year. “We have put together an even better programme with nearly 100 speakers. Thanks to an application for making preliminary appointments, there are better opportunities to meet partners and investors. Also the preceding and the following day are full of events – the EstBAN anniversary gala, seminars and an international fashion design fair,” said head organiser of the festival Ermo Tikk.

The topics dealt with this year are product development, biotechnology, branding, data security, space technology, etc.

Kristjan Korjus, head of computer vision and perception at Starship Technologies startup, will talk about machine learning, a topic that has caused much sensation. “Machines have been gradually making our lives more convenient for thousands of years already. This process is accelerating and keeping pace with it has been beneficial for countries and people. Nevertheless, even I feel uncomfortable thinking that machines are now also going to take mental works away from us,” Korjus explained the background to his speech.

Besides discussions on important issues, all participants will also get a free ticket to the afterparty, which will be an impressive event held in the sports hall in Turu street.

sTARTUp Day 2017 main organising partners are the city of Tartu, the University of Tartu, Startup Estonia and Tartu’s startup community. sTARTUp Day is the biggest business festival in the Baltics, aimed at startups, investors, technology leaders, young people, officials and the media.

Festival tickets are available on the event website https://www.startupday.ee.

Additional information: Ermo Tikk, head organiser of sTARTUp Day 2017, +372 53 432 165, ermo.tikk@startupday.ee