First day of NGAL® (Network Globally, Act Locally) was all about getting to know each other, discussing the business ideas and setting goals for the project. 

The program started with opening words from prof. Erik Puura, Vice-Rector for Development of University of Tartu; prof. Maaja Vadi, Head of University of Tartu School of Economics and Business Administration; Joonas Põder, co-Founder of KONKU and the second prize winner at NGAL 2.0 and Ermo Tikk, Main Organizer of sTARTUp Day business festival.

Then everyone had a chance to say a few words about theirselves, share their expectations on the program and what they wish to accomplish during those three weeks. Fun fact – as it turns out, most of the participants are fans of soccer and skiing / snowboarding!

After the introduction, participants went to SPARK business centre to attend their first workshop to get some tips on pitching and future meetings with the investors. Some teams even skipped the lunch to get some personal advice from Startup Wise Guys repre-sentative! Back at IdeaLab, it was time to put the learned knowledge into practice, pitch their own ideas and get feedback from mentor Vaido Mikheim (Tartu Science Park). Here are the ten pitched ideas!

• SideKick - a feathered shuttlecock-type ball. It’s a method for professional soccer players to warm up before the training or a way for kids to play ball around the house without actually breaking everything that’s valuable.
• WisdomMothers - a platform for people to capture their wisdom anywhere in the world and let everybody access it through mentoring, forums, blogs and online marketplaces.

Nebraska Wesleyan University :

• MyPetTrax - an easy way to communicate with veterinarians for pets with chronic diseases. It lets the user answer some questions about their pet’s health, analyzes the collected data to diagnose possible health problems and notify the owners.
• Identical Draw  - high quality filming and production to create the most enjoyable visuals. As hunting enthusiasts, they wish to create a professional outdoor channel, focusing on hunting in particular.
  

• Aude Opus - a power storage solution for small renewable energy plants. Their plan is to store hydrogen and use it to generate electricity. Never experience a power loss again!
• Móday - customizable modular USB-C adapters. It removes the need to spend a lot of money to buy many different adapters. And it’s like a magnetic lego!

• Forget-Me-Not - a battery based monitoring system for vehicles that will alert drivers if they have left their child or pet inside and the temperature rises above certain threshold.
• MyGameOn - a service that allows its users to quickly check out and locate what sports game events they can watch in a specific bar or restaurant close to them.

University of Tartu:

• Cody - a platform for learning coding easily. It will adapt to user which means it lets them learn code faster and more efficiently, being similar to language learning apps like Duolingo.
• Coulomb Sailing Group - working with a cutting-edge technologies: a novel propulsion system for travelling in the entire Solar System and an effective deorbiting services that will allow to mitigate the escalated space debris/junk catastrophe.

This year, NGAL®  takes place from 5th to 24th June, engaging five universities from Estonia and from United States. The program starts with the boot camp at UT IdeaLab and ends with a launch-camp in Charleston, USA.  

The project is financed by Harry and Reba Huge Foundation. 

Kristo Kilk