International law firm Hedman Partners has joined the distinguished ranks of Swedbank, Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol and Tallinn Technical University as a sponsor of the startup funding program Prototron. In addition to the considerable cash prizes, the four finalists will split 5000 euros worth of professional legal advice provided by Hedman Partners, one of the leading start-up biosphere legal advisers. The winners this year included SprayPrinter, Sympower, TNSound and FeelingStream, sharing 27 000 euros to build their prototypes.
Merlin Salvik, managing partner of Hedman Partners said that in heir experience, cash awards may not be enough support for aspiring entrepreneurs, as startups need a lot of encouragement and professional advice in the early stages. “Expert legal help at the right time may be invaluable to any company at later development stages and therefore we’re pleased to share the wealth of our unique knowledge with the winners of Prototron,” noted Salvik.
The Prototron funding applications round for 2015 ended on October 15th, collecting altogether 152 ideas, of which 20 teams were selected to participate in 100 mentor meetings at the Tallinn Tehnopol Science Park. 11 teams were chosen to pitch to the panel of experts.
SprayPrinter will be awarded 8000 euros to develop a wall printer that enables to print any design or image on a smartphone onto any wall. Sympower will use their 7000 euro award to build a system that manages the energy consumption of domestic appliances to help balance power usage in the house electricity system. TNSound shall build anti-distortion speakers that enable the perfectly authentic listening experience and FeelinStream shall develop an analytical tool to help telecoms and banks to raise the quality of customer communication.
Prototron was founded by Swedbank, Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol and Tallinn Technical University to support aspiring entrepreneurs and inventors in building their first working prototypes. The Prototron program has thus far received over 1100 smart ideas and more than 345 000 euros have been invested in 29 projects in total.
Prototon’s press release can be found here – http://tehnika.postimees.ee/3421277/need-neli-varsket-ariideed-said-prototronil-rahastuse
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