Vectiopep won the deep-tech pitching competition at Startup Day

Winner of the Nordic Deep Tech Pitch Match, the University of Tartu spin-off Vectiopep is developing new cancer treatment technology that activates a person’s natural immunity to cancer.

The biotech company Vectiopep’s innovation is based on a unique chemical compound that delivers therapeutic RNA to the patient’s immune cells using specific cell-penetrating peptides. It helps activate the defence mechanisms in the body without using foreign and toxic substances. Vectiopep’s novel technology and advances in mRNA therapy offer new opportunities in cancer treatment and oncology.

The winner was selected by a jury comprising Kristjan Järvan, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, Verónica Rodríguez García of the EIT Manufacturing Innovation Community, and Eve Peeterson, Head of Startup Estonia. The winner takes home a travelling trophy and two tickets to the next Startup Day.

Besides Vectiopep, five other companies set up by the University of Tartu researchers participated in the deep-tech pitching competition: Silklytics, EsaDres, GalTec, FireSand and RedoxNRG. In addition, PrintyMed (Latvia), Victorioso Nutrition (Germany), CorFlux (Finland) and OptySun (Ukraine) presented their pitches.

The Ukrainian company OptySun received a special mention from the jury and 800 euros worth of development and business advice from the University of Tartu and Tartu Science Park. The jury also recognised Esadres, which develops personalised wound care products. EsaDres won the opportunity to participate in the annual university spin-offs’ pitching competition StageTwo in Berlin.

Nordic Deep Tech Pitch Match is a pitching competition for research-based businesses of universities. The competition was initiated by the University of Tartu and it took place for the seventh time this year. The event idea came from the University of Tartu’s collaboration with the Universities of Turku, Uppsala and Helsinki. The winner of last year’s pitch match was UCOT, an electronics company team formed by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland and Aalto University.