Demo Day in Tartu: HFE’s First Batch Takes the Stage

At the end of January, the first cohort of Health Founders Estonia accelerator teams gathered in Tartu for Demo Day — a milestone moment where months of work translated into live pitches, honest conversations, and concrete next steps. For many of the founders in the room, it was the first time they had presented their solutions to investors and the wider ecosystem. For the programme itself, it marked the end of an intense six-month run.

What Was on Stage

The breadth of the batch was visible from the pitches themselves. Teams tackled chronic disease management, early diagnostics, hospital efficiency, and tools for healthcare professionals. Some were helping children find their voice — MILO is building an AI-powered speech therapy app for kids aged 3 to 10, while Helli is developing AAC software for non-verbal children to express their needs and emotions. Others were working at the frontier of diagnostics: LSMedical is developing materials for earlier disease detection, Pathogora connects pathologists across borders through tele-pathology, and one team is even working on a device to detect microplastics in blood samples.

The clinical ambitions ran deep. Padakonn Pharma has developed monoclonal antibodies targeting fibrosis in chronic kidney disease and preeclampsia. SPADAwaves is building a low-cost device for malaria treatment. CogniFlow is making strain engineering dramatically faster and cheaper with droplet biotech instrumentation. Meanwhile, teams like Glurry, AVARA, and NeuralBiome are working on the quieter but pervasive challenges of diabetes management, recovery and microcirculation, and gut-brain health.

Patient safety and caregiver support also featured prominently. CareHand is developing a robotic lateral transfer solution to reduce strain on care staff. Boundee is helping hospitals stabilise nurse staffing. Evie offers personalised pelvic floor care for pregnancy and postpartum. Auraguard monitors elderly or chronically ill people at home using AI. And Priotech and PropsAid are both focused on improving medical training quality.

Several startups had already built working prototypes and were moving toward market entry. Many of the solutions drew on data and AI to support clinical decision-making, streamline workflows, and improve patient outcomes — reflecting broader trends shaping healthtech innovation today.

“The six-month programme has been intense and very hands-on. Demo Day was an important milestone where teams could test their solutions and receive feedback from investors.”

— Siim Saare, Programme Lead

The Conversations That Stayed

For the founders, the real value of the day was often found not on stage but in the exchanges that followed. Investor follow-ups, unexpected connections, and questions that had been sitting unanswered for months.

“What made this experience truly valuable was the people. Being among founders who are going through similar challenges creates a rare sense of understanding and calm. You realise that the stress, doubts, and pressure are not signs of weakness, but they are simply part of the journey.”

— Khrystyna Didukh, Founder, AVARA

“Demo Day was extremely valuable for us as an early-stage startup. It gave us the opportunity to present our idea, our vision, and the progress we have made. That visibility is important for building investor trust — when we pitch again, they will already know where we started and where we are now. We met many interesting people and built connections that will be very useful for our next steps. We also received answers to some questions we had been struggling with for a long time, and we learned about potential collaborations that opened new doors and opportunities for us.”

— Harleen, CareHand

The momentum did not stop at the venue doors. Some conversations had already reached well beyond Tartu — one team is now in discussions around potential pilots with University of Cambridge Hospital, a significant signal for what early-stage healthtech from Estonia can achieve.

Watch the Demo Day aftermovie here  and catch up on all the team presentations on the Health Founders Estonia LinkedIn page.