578 applications, 115+ companies and €12.8 million raised – Tehnopol Startup Incubator 2025 wrap-up

The new year is already well underway and the next cohort of specialised accelerator programmes is about to kick off. Before 2026 fully gains momentum, it’s a good moment to look back: what did 2025 look like for Tehnopol Startup Incubator, and – most importantly – what kind of impact did it have on our startups and the wider ecosystem?

2025 was a fast-paced year by the numbers. We received 578 applications across our accelerator programmes, and 115+ companies joined our programmes during the year. A clear trend is that new cohorts are becoming more mature from day one: teams enter the programme with sharper focus, more realistic market validation and a clearer development roadmap.

Funding remained strong. Companies participating in our accelerator programmes raised a total of €12.8 million in 2025 – €5.4 million in private funding and €7.4 million in public funding. These figures reflect a growing ability to execute alongside ambition – both in product development and in investor readiness.

The Incubator’s own capacity grew as well. Our team expanded to 11 people, with three new colleagues joining in 2025, enabling us to strengthen programme delivery, community building and the development of new strategic directions. The Incubator’s recommendation score (NPS) reached 97.1.

Diverse programmes and several “firsts”

In 2025, we ran multiple accelerators and development programmes in parallel, including a technology-agnostic accelerator, the Film & Multimedia Accelerator, the AI Accelerator, the Cyber Accelerator, the NATO DIANA Estonia Accelerator, the Defence pre-accelerator, and several Estonia-focused programmes. In addition, the AI development programme started a new period in January 2025 (running until 2027), during which we will support 40 companies using AI technologies.

The year also brought several milestone “firsts”:

Defence Innovation Day – the Incubator’s very first conference, which opened Estonia’s first-ever Estonian Defence Week.
Defence Business Lab – a new-format defence pre-accelerator programme that concluded with a Demo Day.
Foreign Founders Meetup – community events commissioned by EIS for international founders residing in Estonia.
The first Film & Multimedia Accelerator hackathon in Jõhvi, bringing together 90+ participants and helping shape several strong teams and ideas.

Film & Multimedia Accelerator: strengthening structure and impact

For the Film & Multimedia Accelerator, 2025 was primarily a year of deepening impact and partnerships. We contributed to several sector events and panel discussions, including talks and panels as part of the kood/Jõhvi JobFair, activities at sTARTUp Day, bringing an international speaker to Jõhvi Film Day, the Film & Multimedia Tech Hackathon, and representation at PÖFF Industry. Collaboration strengthened with IDA Hub, PÖFF, kood/Jõhvi and BFM, with a clear goal: building real bridges between the creative and technology sectors.

A key step was the partnership agreement between BFM and the Tehnopol Film & Multimedia Accelerator, making it possible to complete an entrepreneurship internship within the accelerator. In 2025, the Film & Multimedia Accelerator also launched an Advisory Board for the first time, adding strategic guidance and diverse perspectives (including well-known experts such as Tiina Lokk and Kaupo Karelson).

Defence and dual-use: consistently full rooms and strong results

Interest in defence and dual-use innovation remained very high in 2025. Several events – such as the DIANA kick-off event, the Defence pre-accelerator info session, community coffee mornings, Demo Day, new-call webinars, and Estonian Defence Week events (including regional meetups) – were sold out or extremely popular online. DIANA-related topics were also consistently visible in our communications throughout the year.

Importantly, strong interest translated into strong outcomes. In 2025, three Estonian companies were selected for the NATO DIANA accelerator (Spacedrip, C2Grid and LSMedical; C2Grid also completed the defence pre-accelerator). The performance of the NATO DIANA Estonia Accelerator improved as well: 3 out of 7 companies advanced to Phase 2, resulting in a 42.86% success rate (up from 33.33% in 2024). NATO DIANA Estonia Accelerator companies were also the most active users of mentoring, with mentoring rated 4–5 out of 5 and overall satisfaction at 9.57 out of 10.

Startup highlights that stood out in 2025

Several teams made notable progress during the year:

Wayren secured a €7.9 million strategic investment from defence industry company EFA Group.
Lobster Robotics’ underwater robots were adopted by the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2025 (after earlier testing with the Estonian Navy).
Defence pre-accelerator team Thistle made strong strides internationally through sales, partnerships and testing across multiple markets.
From the Cyber Accelerator, Askara AI Solutions began cooperation with defence industry prime Thales.
Film & Multimedia Accelerator teams also moved forward visibly – for example, SyncHub gained its first paying customer, StudioStack grew its user base, and several teams increased their visibility through pitching opportunities and stage appearances.

Looking ahead to 2026

2026 brings several major next steps: a Deep Tech programme in preparation with universities and Sparkup Tartu Science Park, continued growth in defence and dual-use activities (including new accelerators and hackathons), and in the creative sector, a shift toward deeper integration of AI – from individual tools to end-to-end workflows (from scripting to editing, visuals, and virtual/hybrid production). A key milestone is also ahead in Jõhvi: the IDA Hub grand opening in August 2026, giving new momentum to the film campus ambitions.

In one sentence, 2025 was a year where both scale and quality increased: more applications, more mature teams, stronger partnerships, and very tangible results – both in funding raised and international breakthroughs.