Taavet Hinrikus: "If you don't help the community grow, it's going to be a really bad place to exist"

TALLINN — Speaking at Norrsken Evolveevent at Latitude59, Wise co-founder and tech veteran Taavet Hinrikus laid out the fundamental vision driving Kasvuhoone, an ambitious 15,000-square-meter technology hub currently under construction in Tallinn’s Krulli quarter.

For Hinrikus, backing the project isn't just about real estate development — it is an existential requirement for the sustainability of Europe’s technology ecosystem.

"I think if you don't help the community grow, then it's going to be a really, really bad place to exist ultimately," Hinrikus said. "To me, it feels quite natural that if you have the opportunities, then you should spend some of your time and efforts on helping the ecosystem around you."

Inside Kasvuhoone: The "Nordic Hub" for 100 Companies

Designed by prominent Danish architects, Kasvuhoone (which translates to "Greenhouse") is positioned to become the largest Nordic hub dedicated strictly to technology and creative industries.

While structural building work is just beginning — with a targeted completion date at the beginning of 2028 — the ultimate goal is to house over 1,000 operators and 100 fast-scaling companies.

Hinrikus noted that physical infrastructure is much more inefficient to build than software, but argued that a physical environment is something digital founders desperately need to compress their timelines.

"What we need is capital, we need talent, and we need customers," Hinrikus explained. "And I think if people are congregating in one place, all of this will happen a little bit quicker... I do believe that if people are in one physical environment, that's going to help them do things faster. Ultimately, it's all about how do we accelerate things."

The Shift to Defense Tech and "Reinventing" Europe

Reflecting on Estonia's massive per-capita success with tech unicorns — a legacy built on the foundations of early successes like Skype — Hinrikus pointed to a profound shift in regional founder mindsets over the last several years.

He noted that the smartest, most ambitious minds across the eastern flank of Europe are no longer just building traditional software platforms; they are pivoting directly into defence tech.

"If anyone told me five years ago that I'm going to be investing in missile companies, I wouldn't have believed them," Hinrikus admitted. "But today, I think when you are in Estonia, that feels kind of a given — that we need to build the technology which will protect the country. And I think that's actually a huge opportunity for Estonia and for all of Europe."

He added that while the continent finds itself facing a harsh reality, it opens the door for profound systemic upgrades. "The continent is in war, but the way we fight it is very different to the past. We need to reinvent a lot of things."

Though the physical structure of Kasvuhoone won't open its doors until 2028, Hinrikus emphasized that programme operations and ecosystem building with partners like Norrsken Evolve are starting immediately, utilising existing spaces.

"I think it's cool that we can start doing things before Kasvuhoone is ready," Hinrikus concluded. "Because these spaces don't come to life overnight."

Norrsken Evolve is running a programme in Estonia in September-October 2026.