Amazing prizes were awarded at Kaleidoskoop

The student pitching competition Kaleidoskoop took place for the 17th time this autumn. 23 teams participated in the pre-selection round and five made it to the finals.

The Kaleidoskoop pre-selection took place on 16 December, with the teams presenting their 3-minute video pitches. The pre-selection jury, comprising Trit co-founder Ants-Oskar Mäesalu, Tartu City Government representative Kertu Tombak, Delta business community coordinator Kristi Vabamäe, Edu and Tegu project specialist Piret Arusaar, Startup Day ecosystem strategist Ermo Tikk and MyGames CMO Taavi Tamm, evaluated the teams based on the development potential of the idea, the existence of a problem, and marketability. Five teams were selected to present their business ideas in the finals on 20 December:

• Harbour-In introduced a booking platform for harbours;
• Join presented an application that helps users set goals and achieve them by supporting each other;
• Urumarja Saunalaager plans a sauna centre that promotes Estonian sauna culture;
• UV Link intends to develop a door handle with disinfectant properties;
• Vinyl Lovers presented an application that helps those interested in vinyl records find a suitable record in stores.

According to Hasan Abdullayev, who made it to the Kaleidoskoop competition with his team Join, the whole four-month business development programme Starter was a valuable experience. He now feels more motivated and capable to start his own business in the future. In addition, he made very good contacts in the startup ecosystem. "I think this practical programme is for anyone who wants to start their own business, especially for those with no previous experience," said Abdullayev.

The teams were awarded worthy prizes for their exciting ideas. Urumarja Saunalaager and Join received tickets to the Startup Day business festival and an opportunity to pitch their ideas there. Harbour-In and Vinyl Lovers got tickets to the technology festival Latitude59 and the Tartu City Government award went to the UV Link team.

The finals jury consisted of Vaido Mikheim, project manager of Tartu Science Park, Ants-Oskar Mäesalu, co-founder of Trit, and Triinu Hansen, COO at Bercman Technologies. According to Mikheim, the Starter programme and the Kaleidoskoop competition are a worthwhile endeavour for student teams.  “It helps create and maintain entrepreneurial interest, shares practical knowledge and experience, and helps create a network of contacts, which can be highly useful in the future,” he said. “This year's Kaleidoskoop finals featured diverse teams and ideas, many of which have a good potential to reach the market and customers,” added Mikheim.

Kaleidoskoop is funded by the European Social Fund.