How should Estonia fund healthtech startups so new solutions actually reach patients?

A panel discussion organized by Health Founders Estonia is coming up at the Opinion Festival on August 8, 2026

Estonian health technology companies have products and services that could improve people’s health and ease the burden on the healthcare system. However, many of these solutions never reach widespread use because Estonia’s funding models do not support their journey from idea to market quickly or clearly enough.

Where does today’s funding go, and where does it leave gaps—for example, in prevention or early detection? To what extent does the funding model itself influence whether healthcare providers adopt innovations that could benefit patients? And what could Estonia learn from international examples to accelerate the delivery of innovations to patients?

To address these issues, Health Founders Estonia has established an expert group on funding models, comprising the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Health Insurance Fund, EIS, EstBAN, the Estonian Hospitals Association, the Estonian Research Council (ETAG), and representatives of startup founders. These are stakeholders who have largely operated separately until now, without a common platform or shared understanding. The expert group’s work will result in a White Paper offering concrete proposals on how funding decisions can support a company’s journey from start to finish, rather than being made in isolation from one another.

Each participating institution can use the document as input for its own strategic decision-making, whether regarding investment policy, a cooperation model, or an internal development plan. For the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the White Paper is intended as direct input for future funding proposals and as a tool for ecosystem participants to advance their action plans with funders and partners.

We will present this conversation to the public for the first time at the Opinion Festival. 8. On August, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., a panel discussion on health freedom titled “How Can We Fund Health Initiatives So That New Solutions Can Also Be Implemented in Estonia?” will take place, featuring Eva Paalma (Health Insurance Fund), Kitty Kubo (Ministry of Social Affairs), Andreas Kotsjuba (Salu), and Martin Goroško (EstBAN). The discussion will be moderated by Mart Toots (Metrosert).

We invite entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, policymakers, and patients to come listen and join the conversation—come to Paide and join us!

📍 Opinion Festival, Health and Freedom Zone, Paide
📅 August 8, 2026, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
🎟️ Admission to the Opinion festival is free. You can view the program on the Opinion festival website, and if you’d like, you can purchase a ticket or make a donation to support the festival on the Fienta website.