At Latitude59 this week, a batch of innovators from Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, and Ukraine are pitching for nearly €500k.
The startup conference season is in full swing, and Estonia is ready to field its premier event. Seven finalists from Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, and Ukraine will take to the main stage at Latitude59 in Tallinn this week, competing for an investment prize worth close to €500,000.
Latitude59 is the largest startup and technology conference in the Nordic-Baltic region, held annually in Tallinn. This year’s edition runs from 20 to 22 May at Kultuurikatel — a converted industrial venue in the city — and draws participants from more than 70 countries. The event brings together founders, investors, and ecosystem builders from across the region and beyond, and its pitch competition has become one of the more prominent launchpads for early-stage companies in Northern Europe.
Latitude59 fields a new line-up
This year’s competition attracted a record 465 applicants, the highest number in the event’s history. The seven finalists span defence technology, artificial intelligence, and deep tech.
The finalists are:
- Callsy AI (Lithuania) builds AI-powered workforce agents to automate sales processes, customer support, and user onboarding, reducing the need for human intervention in routine business interactions.
- FleetFox (Estonia) offers an all-in-one fleet management platform aimed at vehicle fleet operators across Europe, consolidating tools for tracking, maintenance, and operations into a single solution.
- Getpin (Estonia)helps local businesses improve their visibility in AI-driven search environments — an increasingly relevant challenge as search engines incorporate generative AI into results pages.
- FPV Battleground (Ukraine)develops a tactical simulator for first-person view (FPV) drones, used for military training. FPV drones — small, agile unmanned aircraft controlled via a live video feed — have become a significant feature of modern warfare, and the demand for effective training tools has grown accordingly.
- DogBase (Estonia)is an AI platform built for working dog units, providing tools to support the training and performance monitoring of service dogs used in law enforcement, security, and search-and-rescue contexts.
- Granarium (Finland)produces supercapacitors made from renewable materials, targeting grid stabilisation applications. Supercapacitors store and release energy rapidly, making them useful for smoothing out fluctuations in electricity networks — a growing concern as grids absorb more variable renewable energy.
- Backoffice (Lithuania)offers a workforce management solution specifically designed for the restaurant industry, addressing scheduling, staffing, and operational efficiency.
The prize pool is assembled from a syndicate of angel networks and venture funds. Estonia’s EstBAN contributes €200,000, Latvia’s LatBAN adds €100,000, and Lithuanian venture capital fund FIRSTPICK VC puts in a further €100,000. Finland’s FiBAN joins the syndicate representing Nordic investors. Additional support comes from SEB, TalentHub, Knowzilla, Widen Legal, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud.
Jana Budkovskaja, a board member at EstBAN and partner at BSV, noted that this year’s applicant pool reflects broader global trends. Early-stage startups are increasingly focused on defence and security, energy optimisation, and workforce efficiency — themes that have gained urgency across European markets over the past two years. “Reviewing applications is at times like reading science fiction,” she said, “except that AI agents and drones are now part of everyday life.”
The final pitch session takes place on 22 May at 14:00 on the Latitude59 main stage.
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