Martin Aadamsoo to lead Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Green Transition programme at ESTDEV

Estonia's entrepreneurial mindset and innovation are already known and recognized around the world. All our partner countries are interested in creating an environment that supports entrepreneurship, trade development, and investments. Estonia's journey over the last 30 years and the lessons learned along the way are experiences that we can share with our development cooperation partner countries, which are just beginning the same journey or want to take a new step forward. 

Therefore, supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and the green transition has always been a priority in Estonia's development cooperation. The aim of projects in this area is to help increase the competitiveness of the partner countries in global digital entrepreneurship and to support the twin transition of developing environmentally friendly digital technology solutions. 

“Entrepreneurship, innovation, and the green transition are topics that ESTDEV has always worked on together with its partner countries, but now it is time to develop this into one comprehensive programme. This is my primary task, and I must say that it is extremely exciting,” said Martin Aadamsoo, programme manager for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Green Transition at ESTDEV.  

“Our European partners must adapt to the strict requirements of the European Union, and our African partners must make the necessary leap towards smarter and more sustainable solutions. Europe has also set a target that 30% of European development cooperation funds must support environmental protection. This presents an opportunity for Estonia, our private sector companies, and civil society to share our experience and technologies, build partnerships, and launch initiatives that are beneficial to both sides,” said ESTDEV’s Executive Director Klen Jäärats. 

Through annual calls for applications, ESTDEV has funded multiple entrepreneurship and innovation projects, such as Visionest Institute's export training programs in Ukraine and Armenia, Garage48 hackathons in Kenya and Uganda, and bringing Latitude59 events to Kenya. 

ESTDEV also contributes to the European Union's Team Europe Digital and Green Innovation Action, aimed at empowering innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurs in African countries to enhance their capacity to develop innovative digital green-technology solutions. To implement these activities, ESTDEV signed a grant agreement for more than €1.5 million in donor funding.