# Rene Tõnnisson

> Rene Tõnnisson is co-founder and CEO of Baltic Innovation Agency, a Buildit partner and investor, and a founder and board member of the Institute of Baltic Studies. Based professionally in Tartu, he works across startup development, international cooperation, innovation funding and regional policy, including community engagement for the RETIME project.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Baltic Innovation Agency
- **Organizations:** Baltic Innovation Agency, Buildit, Institute of Baltic Studies, Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform, Tartu Science Park (former board role), Tartu Biotechnology Park (former board role), Smart City Lab, Connect Estonia
- **Education:** Master’s degree in Public Administration and Policy, University of Tartu, Certificat d’Etudes Politiques, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Strasbourg (Sciences Po), Université Robert Schuman, Cambridge Advanced Programme on Rethinking Development Economics (short programme), University of Cambridge, European Law and Legal Framework (short programme), European University Institute
- **Known for:** Co-founded Baltic Innovation Agency and Buildit., Founder and board member of the Institute of Baltic Studies., European Innovation Council biography records investment and investment-committee work across four funds in Estonia and Latvia.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Co-founded Baltic Innovation Agency.
- **2013** — Joined the founding effort and original board of Buildit Accelerator in Estonia; the company was registered on 13 June 2013.
- **2014** — Buildit opened its first hardware accelerator application round.
- **2017–2019** — Worked on EstLat-Accelerate, preparing early-stage Estonian and Latvian teams for acceleration and seed funding.
- **2018** — BIA began providing expert services to the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform.
- **2019** — Co-organised a Buildit startup workshop described in a participant’s January account.
- **2025** — Led RETIME stakeholder focus groups in Tartu and appeared in a project interview; listed as an Interreg Europe conference speaker in Krakow.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Baltic Innovation Agency and Buildit.
- Founder and board member of the Institute of Baltic Studies.
- European Innovation Council biography records investment and investment-committee work across four funds in Estonia and Latvia.
- Led Tartu stakeholder focus groups for RETIME in February and March 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — RETIME published an account of Tartu stakeholder focus groups led by Tõnnisson with support from Mari Einmann during February–March 2025.
- **2025-06** — Featured in RETIME’s pilot-leader interview series discussing climate adaptation in Tartu.
- **2025-03** — Listed as a Smarter Europe thematic expert speaker in the Europe, let’s cooperate! session on communication with policy beneficiaries in Krakow.

## Links

- Website: https://bia.ee/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rene-tonnisson-8a966315/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rene-tonnisson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26