Applicants and Partners
Lead Partner: Võru County Development Center
Partners:
- Wood Competence Center TSENTER
- Southeast Estonia Innovation Center
- Southeast Estonia Wood Cluster
- Tehnopol Startup Incubator
- Võru County Education and Technology Center
- Valga County Vocational Education Center
- Räpina School of Horticulture
Activities
To achieve the project’s goal, an entrepreneurial ecosystem will be created in southeast Estonia, providing necessary support to companies throughout their lifecycle, supporting the emergence of new companies and the growth of competitiveness and sustainability of existing companies.
The network to be created will consolidate incubation services (Southeast Estonia Incubation Center), including personal mentoring support and a well-thought-out incubation program, expert services (sector-specific consultations, product development consultations, etc.), and innovation community services (thematic networks, e.g., wood sector, green topics), including greater integration of various business sectors and potential joint projects.
Thus, the created ecosystem can support both start-ups and already operating companies. The ecosystem will be designed based on existing support services. The core of the cooperation network will be formed by already operating organizations, all of which have previous experience in advising and directing the development of companies.
As a result of the project’s activities:
- Entrepreneurial activity in the region has increased;
- Sufficient and necessary support is offered to Southeast Estonian entrepreneurs at different stages of the company’s lifecycle and development;
- The interest of Southeast Estonian entrepreneurs to continuously invest in the development of their company and the willingness to involve external competencies in development management if necessary has increased. Companies follow the guidelines and opportunities of the “triple helix”;
- Duplication of services between different ecosystem participants is reduced, the services offered better cover the support needs arising from the company’s lifecycle perspective, and the services are better designed to meet the needs of each specific company;
- The socio-economic competitiveness of the Southeast Estonian region is strengthened;
- More high value-added jobs are created in the Southeast Estonian region.
Contact
Lead Partner: Kaido Palu, VAK Business Development Manager,
TSENTER Project Manager: Reelika Soe,
The project is co-financed by the European Union.