The development of research-intensive entrepreneurship in Estonia requires much more than researchers’ good ideas. How can we overcome systemic challenges and find opportunities to transfer research-based solutions from universities into business?
The worlds of research and entrepreneurship do not always align. Only around 10% of the population is said to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Most researchers prefer solving scientific problems over setting up companies. Therefore, experienced entrepreneurs should also seek ideas for research-intensive businesses.
Estonia needs a model where researchers, entrepreneurs and students to cooperate and establish new companies together. A promising approach would involve researchers as technical founders, with the enterprise developed by technology entrepreneurs or economics students. It is essential to leverage individual strengths: Estonia’s leading researchers and the experienced tech sector should be brought together.
Universities generate a wealth of research with commercial potential. Although most innovative initiatives come from natural sciences, medicine and biotechnology, the entire university creates knowledge that can help address societal problems through entrepreneurship.
In research-intensive entrepreneurship, the key concerns include the ownership of an invention or technology and who has the right to benefit from it in the future. To mitigate intellectual property risks, the University of Tartu has established a holding company UniTartu Ventures OÜ, through which the university invests its intellectual property into companies in exchange for equity.
Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, which has a comprehensive system for evaluating scientific discoveries and creating start-ups. The University of Tartu’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation actively collaborates with KTH to refine similar systems in Estonia. For example, since 2019, the Feasibility Fund grants have been awarded each year to support early-stage business ideas. In total, the university has invested over two million euros in these initiatives.
Although successful deep-tech companies have the potential to generate significant profits, this is not the primary motivator for researchers or investors. They would rather see their ideas improve people’s lives. The university’s mission to serve society could be realised through entrepreneurship, so that knowledge generated within the university would reach people directly through products and services and, more broadly, a smarter economy.
