LIFT99co

We put out hot female posters next to male workrooms looking for a male model for our mingling event. For unknown reasons noone applied so we had to source from accross boarders. We managed a male model with perfect grapes from Sweden posing for the community. Everybody gave their best using different techniques, see the gallery beneath. And keep an eye on our events on luma https://luma.com/user/usr-iF2XpCioWMMbHzf

Every year, the Estonian Startup Awards honor both 🏆The Founder of The Year and 🏆The Newcomer of The Year. These categories celebrate founders who excel not only in their products but also in building strong teams.

Käthe-Riin Tull, Co-Founder of Talent Hub, takes a look at the history of Estonian Startup Awards and shares some insight on what has made some ouf our most celebrated founders and startups succeed, especially from the very early stage.

In the past 6 years, the Newcomer of the Year title has gone to:
🔹2024: Frankenburg Technologies — DefenceTech
🔹2023: VOOL — GreenTech
🔹2022: KOOS.io — Fintech / Community Tech
🔹2021: Lightyear — Fintech
🔹2020: Woola — GreenTech
🔹2019: Salv — FinTech

Despite coming from different industries, these companies have built magnetic teams early — and it shows. Whether it's , , or the latest wave of , the patterns behind standout newcomers go beyond the sector.

Other notable examples include Pactum AI, Sera, and Arbonics! So what are the patterns that unite them?

🐝 Read on: https://www.lift99.co/blog/how-to-stand-out-as-a-newcomer-estonian-startup-awards-2025

📍PS. The nomination round for Estonian Startup Awards 2025 is still open! Who do you think should be ✨THE NEWCOMER OF 2025? The founder who impressed YOU with how they led their early-stage team and launched the product? Give them a boost and a nomination for !