Estonian start-up to launch innovative, all-natural messaging service
Tõnu Meriviir, who was at the forefront of the development of six Estonian startups to go worldwide, discovered that in an age where everyone is able to instantly send and receive music, movies, photos, and even money all over the world instantly, people were finding that they still longed for an old-fashioned way to send a message sometimes — where a video call, text message or other means of mobile communication just wouldn’t do.
“There are certain people in everyone’s lives who you just think deserve something more, and an online or mobile message just somehow feels too… sterile,” Meriviir explained. “At the same time, people are rediscovering the simple, more tactile pleasures of such things as vinyl records, homebrewed beer, and film photography — the market is full of it these days! So when a few of us at the most recent startup to go worldwide noticed that many of our users wanted a way to send more than just messages, money, or flowers online to these special people in their lives, including employers, in-laws, and the parents of their children, we realized that an entire segment of international possibilities had been brewing for some time, yet this need always remained priority number two.”
Which is why Meriviir decided, after sitting on it for so long, to finally get off the pot and unveil a new app with which users from around the world can use to ship those special someones a special gift straight from Mother Nature.
Dubbed dood.ee (pronounced “dude-ee” in English), the new service is revolutionary in bridging the gap between the country’s modern, clean e-Eestonia, the booming technology world that has put the tiny Baltic State on the map, and its older, earthier, and somewhat messier past in agriculture.
dood.ee is partering with the Estonian Chamber of Agricultural and Commercial Industries (E-CACI) to allow the international shipping application to send recipients chosen by users the finest final products their network of dairy, pig, sheep, and chicken farms produce; all materials shipped by the service will be certified “Made in ESTonia”.
E-CACI Chairman Ott Tõnisson was very enthusiastic about the partnership. “Of course, meat and dairy are the farms’ primary goods, for which there is a constant demand in supermarkets and grocery stores across Estonia,” Tõnisson explained, “But what about the rest? Surely it wouldn’t be very green to just let it all go to waste. So this is a wonderful opportunity for us to show the world what we are made of, in terms of both technological and ecological prowess. It is also a perfect fit for today’s consumers, who are demanding more and more all-natural products, as you cannot get more natural than this.”
Teele Tobreluts, head of Estonian Startup League at the Fund for the Development of the Estonian Economy (FDEE), a state-run public institution aimed at supporting the development of the national economy in Estonia, likewise praised the innovative new service.
“In the startup and technology worlds, Estonia cannot just sit on the throne forever,” Tobreluts explained. “It is a demanding field, with a constant, urgent need to discharge the old and outmoded and bring in the freshest of innovations for consumption. We at the Estonian Development Fund are pleased to support dood.ee’s swift spread around the world, and hope that their services will provide users with the best possible opportunities to express themselves as needed.”
Minister of Business and Entrepreneurship Kadri Roosiaed also stated that the Estonian Ministry of the Economy also supports Meriviir's new service 100 percent. “It is quite embarrassing,” Roosiaed confided, “But the Estonian economy has been straining to make a full recovery after the economic bubble burst last year, and I am confident that profits driven by innovative businesses such as dood.ee will offer us the relief we so desperately need. I look forward to seeing the fruits of their labor, and monitoring what message we send to the world with this service.”
Roosiaed, Tobreluts, Tõnisson, and Meriviir himself are all scheduled to speak at a press conference in Tallinn tomorrow regarding the launch of the new Estonian startup. For the full schedule and more information regarding the upcoming service, visit dood.ee.
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik