Nominations are open for Estonian Startup Awards 2026

It's time to pull your (woollen) thinking cap on and pick your 'best of 2026' for the next Estonian Startup Awards. Nominations have opened for the coveted awards that reflect on the Estonian startup ecosystem’s brilliance over the past year.

This years we've had unicorns, soonicorns, teenagers building, seasoned players giving back and a good sprinkling of representing Estonia on a global scale. With no less than ten categories to choose from, you can be sure you’ll squeeze your favourite nominee in somewhere.

The eighth iteration of the awards, organised by the Estonian Founders Society, Startup Estonia and LIFT99, will be presented at a gala on 11 February 2027. The winners will be chosen from the shortlisted nominees by over 200 Estonian startup founders.

The categories

The four main categories of the Estonian Startup Awards 2026 are The Founder of the Year, The Investor of the Year, The Newcomer of 2026 and The Giving Back Powerhouse.

This year, six awards will be presented in special categories: The Hardware of 2026, The DeepTech of 2026, The AI Game Changer of 2026, The DefenceTech of 2026, The NextGen Founder and The Impact Visionary. The Impact Visionary Award will be presented for the second consecutive year, while the NextGen Founder Award is a new addition, recognising an outstanding young founder from the next generation of entrepreneurs.

“Just a few years ago, the focus of Estonia’s startup scene was largely on fintech and software-as-a-service (SaaS). Today, we are seeing major breakthroughs in defence technology, deep tech and artificial intelligence, and this year’s award categories reflect this shift.” said Elise Sass, co-founder of LIFT99. “The more people take part in the nomination process, the clearer picture we get of what is happening in Estonia’s startup ecosystem. Now is the perfect time to look back at the achievements of 2026 and bring outstanding people and companies into the spotlight.”

Read about some of the past winners

Incidentally, the awards will also mark a full year of Fomo.Observer. The publication was launched at the 2025 awards gala with an exclusive interview with Founder of the Year 2025 Kaarel Kotkas CEO of Veriff. The company also won Revenue Hack of the Year and FinTech Startup of the Year.