Stephow’s 'Wissly' Selected for Estonia’s ‘Test in Tallinn’ Innovation Program

TALLINN, Estonia — The Seoul Business Agency (SBA), led by CEO Hyun-woo Kim, is aggressively accelerating the European expansion of promising South Korean startups through a strategic partnership with the City of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

The SBA announced that it successfully supported five Seoul-based startups in launching local proof-of-concept (PoC) projects and driving global commercialization through Tallinn's premier public innovation program, ‘Test in Tallinn.’

Known as the "Silicon Valley of Europe" thanks to its pioneering e-Residency program and boasting Europe's highest number of unicorns per capita, Tallinn utilizes the ‘Test in Tallinn’ initiative as a living lab. The program allows global startups to test cutting-edge technologies in real-world urban environments to solve future municipal challenges. Out of 21 competitive applicants from Seoul this year, a local evaluation committee selected five finalists: StepHow Inc., MOaLAdO, BNV Solutions Inc., Airbility Inc., and ZEP Co., Ltd.

Among the cohort, StepHow is set to drive administrative efficiency and urban operational innovation using 'Wissly,' its advanced AI-powered document extraction and automation solution.

The other selected startups are also tackling key urban and educational challenges. MOaLAdO and BNV Solutions are introducing AI-driven personalized learning and evaluation platforms tailored to Estonia's digital education framework. Airbility is bolstering urban infrastructure safety with its counter-drone detection and mitigation technology, while ZEP is deploying 'ZEP QUIZ,' an AI-powered gamified learning platform.

On May 19, the selected startups visited the Tallinn Strategy Centre to receive their official certificates and discuss specific integration plans with local host institutions. The companies will now spend the next few months to a year conducting live tests alongside the Tallinn City Government to validate their scalability and technology.

This initiative stems from a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the SBA and the City of Tallinn in 2025. Last year’s cohort has already achieved significant commercial traction; Dabida, an AI-powered learning platform, successfully completed its PoC across three Estonian schools and is currently in talks with the Estonian Ministry of Education. Another alum, Ground1, signed an NDA and business agreements with the 'Ülemiste City' smart city testbed to optimize energy infrastructure.

In tandem with the pilot program, the SBA made waves at Latitude59, the Baltic region’s flagship tech and startup event. Attended by over 3,000 global founders and investors, the conference served as a launchpad for the SBA to deepen international investment networks.

To solidify this cross-border bridge, the SBA signed a fresh cooperation agreement with the Latitude59 organizing committee and Seoul’s own global startup festival, ‘Try Everything 2026.’ Under this new pact, the two organizations will co-operate exchange programs, enable cross-participation for innovators, and link global venture capital networks. As an immediate next step, the City of Tallinn will dispatch a dedicated delegation of AI and Deep Tech startups to Seoul this coming September for Try Everything 2026.

"Tallinn is a globally recognized hub of innovation and the perfect gateway for Seoul's tech startups to enter the European market," said Hyun-woo Kim, CEO of the SBA. "By co-building a robust, interconnected startup ecosystem between Seoul and Tallinn, we will actively champion our homegrown startups as they scale into global leaders."