Health Founders Estonia, the country’s first national healthtech accelerator, has opened applications for its second cohort. Until 4 May, teams developing health or biotech solutions with ambitions to reach international markets are invited to apply. The first cohort brought 34 companies into the programme.

Early-stage investment in healthtech has grown 800 percent since 2020. Capital and interest are there — what is missing are founders who can bring science-based ideas from the lab to the market.

Tõnu Esko, Vice-Rector for Development at the University of Tartu, genomics researcher and investor, notes that healthtech is no longer a narrow niche.

“Our comparison of 2020 and 2025 shows early-stage investment in healthcare technology companies has grown 800 percent, reflecting both the rapid development of biomedicine and digital health and growing confidence in commercialising science-based solutions,” Esko says. In his view, the trend signals that healthtech is becoming one of the central engines of innovation, where academic knowledge and entrepreneurship meet.

Among the 34 companies in the first cohort are anESTesia, founded by anaesthesia nurses at Tartu University Hospital to streamline the daily work of anaesthesia teams, and TalTech research team CogniFlow, which is developing microdroplet technology for biotechnology laboratories.

A Startup Bootcamp held in March drew nearly a hundred participants and produced 27 new healthtech concepts.

Siim Saare, Programme Director of Health Founders Estonia and founder of Lifeyear, encourages teams to apply even if they are not sure they are ready.

You don’t have to know everything to start. Health Founders Estonia helps you figure out step by step what actually works. If you are solving a genuinely important problem, the rest can be learned. HFE is a place where learning happens quickly and together with others.

Siim Saare, Programme Director of Health Founders Estonia and founder of Lifeyear

The accelerator offers practical support throughout the journey — mentorship, regulatory guidance, a clinical partner network, prototyping support, and investor readiness development.

Teams are supported through three tracks based on their stage: DEFINE helps early-stage teams move from idea to validated value proposition; DEVELOP focuses on product development, clinical validation and regulatory certification; and GROW supports companies with a domestically validated solution in launching international growth and exports. All participants receive office space in Tallinn or Tartu.

Solutions are welcome from digital health, life sciences and biotech — ranging from software as a medical device to gene technology and drug development.

Applications are open until 4 May at https://hfe.ee/programs/startups/.

More info: Keiu Käära, Health Founders Estonia Project Lead, keiu.kaara@healthfounders.ee

About Health Founders Estonia

Health Founders Estonia (HFE) is Estonia’s first national healthtech accelerator. It is run by a consortium of four organisations: the Estonian Health Economy Association, the University of Tartu, Tartu Science Park, and Civitta. The programme is funded by the European Union and Enterprise Estonia (EIS) through the Startup Estonia programme. HFE brings together founders, experts, mentors, and partners to build the next generation of health economy companies.

In the photo: Siim Saare, Programme Director of Health Founders Estonia and founder of Lifeyear

27.04.2026.