Estonian Development Fund to invest up to EUR 192,000 in startup companies

BNS - The Estonian Development Fund will invest up to three million kroons (EUR 192,000) in startup information technology companies Sportlyzer and Inner Circle.

Sportlyzer and Inner Circle are seed-phase investments where the prototype or business model are still undergoing testing, head of the fund's investment division Heidi Kakko said.

Sportlyzer is developing for the international market a web environment to bring fitness enthusiasts together with training and motivation software. The company's aim is to link up training recommendations and feedback. Sportlyzer has passed the Development Fund's international business incubator where its business plan was polished. The company's leader is the founder of Vomax Tonis Saag and it has Juri Kaljundi, one of the founders of CV Online and Nagi, on board. Former manager of Playtech's Estonian unit Rein Lemberpuu has invested in it.

Inner Circle positions itself as a social network free from information noise. The company plans to create a private environment for groups to communicate and take it to foreign  markets. The technology entrepreneur Allan Martinson is one of its founders and the team is led by Andrus Raudsalu, former CEO of the Delfi portal. In addition to the Development Fund the founding team brought in Regio and Live Nature Eesti headed by Raivo Vare as private-sector investors.

(EUR 1 = EEK 15.65)