Uncovering the future of climate tech in Estonia
Estonia built one of the world’s most successful digital societies. Now, it has the potential to lay the groundwork for Europe’s climate-resilient future.
FOR CLIMATE FOUNDERS, INVESTORS, AND DECISION-MAKERS SHAPING ESTONIA’S GREEN SOCIETY
FOR CLIMATE FOUNDERS, INVESTORS, AND DECISION-MAKERS SHAPING ESTONIA’S GREEN SOCIETY
This site brings together stories, strategies, and signals from over 100 contributors to inspire the next generation of climate solutions in Estonia—and beyond.
Estonian Cleantech Association (Photo Credit to Silver Gutmann)DATABASE
A living ecosystem of Estonia’s climate actors.
FUNDING
The latest in capital across Estonian climate solutions.
RESOURCES*
Material for founders, investors, and policymakers.
REPORT*
A vision for Estonia’s climate tech ecosystem.
*Coming Soon!
Explore the Ecosystem
A LIVING LAB
Estonia’s reputation as a digital pioneer—home to Skype, Wise, and e-residency—is well known. But the next frontier of technology is different. Tackling the climate crisis requires hardware, deep tech, and real-world infrastructure.
FOR CLIMATE INNOVATION
Estonia can lead as Europe’s green testbed, where climate infrastructure is built, piloted, and launched to facilitate progress across the continent.
Making Estonia a core climate tech collaborator is a strategic direction—one where technology, nature, and culture intersect to build regeneration and economic renewal. But to achieve this, we’ll need better financial attractiveness, stronger university spinout pathways, and more cross-border collaboration across the Baltics and Nordics.
CLIMATE TECH IN ESTONIA
CLIMATE TECH IN ESTONIA
ONE YEAR IN ESTONIA
AND ITS CLIMATE TECH ECOSYSTEM
I'm Kevin Lu, a Fulbright Researcher at the Tallinn University of Technology. Over the past year, I’ve been studying Estonia’s climate tech ecosystem, collaborating with founders, meeting policymakers, and mapping the landscape of a pivotal time in the country’s startup ecosystem.
Our collective research explores how Estonia can navigate its digital prowess into a new territory of deep tech ambitions. This project is an online archive of the opportunities, bottlenecks, and momentum behind Estonian solutions tackling the climate crisis.
1. HURDLES
Climate tech founders in Estonia face several challenges: Talent shortages, funding gaps, and limited pathways to scale beyond the country.
2. SCIENCE + HARDWARE
Estonia is rich in software talent but needs deeper support for science-driven and hardware-enabled climate solutions.
3. SANDBOXES
There is untapped potential in Estonia’s forests, coasts, and local communities as technological sandboxes for climate innovation.
4. COLLABORATION
The notion of a climate tech hub cannot exist just within Estonia’s borders—regional collaboration is necessary to share resources and align in effective policy tailwinds.
WITH DEEP GRATITUDE
This project could not have been made possible without the generous support of all who have contributed:
The Fulbright Program and the U.S. Embassy in Estonia, for funding and supporting this important initiative.
The TalTech Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance, for hosting this project and supporting my academic inquiry into climate tech ecosystems.
Professor Erkki Karo, my research advisor at TalTech, whose expertise and guidance helped me navigate the greater Estonian innovation landscape.
And of course, the biggest thank you to all of those within the Estonian climate tech ecosystem for welcoming me to Estonia with open arms. Tackling climate change requires reaching across borders, and I’m so grateful to have met so many mission-driven innovators here.
Dr. Kaija Veskioja, who provided me with incredible introductions and resources for understanding the history of Estonian climate technologies.
