kood/Alumni Night

On Tuesday evening, the //kood community filled SEB Innovation Centre with something you can’t manufacture: human connection. Our alumni night brought together graduates and reminded us once again why community is at the centre of everything we do.

A community built on curiosity

Every time, alumni night is a moment to pause and look around. To see how far we’ve come. To realise how much of our school’s impact lives in the people who continue the journey long after graduating.

The heart of the night was networking, meeting old friends but also a fireside chat on building side projects, featuring Rainer Sternfeld, //kood Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Nordic Ninja, in conversation with our moderator Mart Maasik, //kood Advisor and General Partner at Nordic Science Investments.

“Say yes, test, learn and keep moving.”

Rainer’s story carries a theme that resonates deeply with the kood mindset: start before you know, and learn as you go.

As he shared:

“In my 20s, I just said yes to everything. Most projects never became anything, maybe three or four meetings and that was it. But every experiment teaches you something, and that mindset shapes your whole path.”

He also reminded us that side projects aren’t only for future founders — they shape engineers, artists, designers, product thinkers:

“It’s not about entrepreneurship. It’s about doing the things you want to do, and doing more of them – that’s what makes you better in any discipline.”

And perhaps the most powerful takeaway of the evening:

“Be 1% better today than you were yesterday. If you do that every day, it compounds massively.”

Real support for real builders: SEB on growing startups

We closed the stage program with a short but insightful introduction to SEB’s founder support tools from Aleks Korolenko, SEB Baltic Venture Debt Manager.

Aleks shared how SEB helps founders bridge the gap between early traction and scaling, especially through venture debt, aimed at startups with proven product-market fit but ongoing burn.

Networking as the real programme

After the talks, the evening slipped into conversations that lasted past the official closing time. Alumni reunited. Some met future collaborators. Others shared what they’re building or learning.

This is why we host alumni night.

This community – curious, supportive, ambitious – is what makes //kood truly special.

Thank you to everyone who came, to SEB for hosting us, and to our speakers for inspiring the room!

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//kood was founded in Jõhvi, Estonia in 2021, with the aim of making technology education accessible to everyone and address the software developers shortage. Now, students can study in Jõhvi, Võru and Paide. Its 12–15 month curriculum is based on 100% practical, self-directed and peer-to-peer learning, covering full-stack software development, teamwork and problem solving. Students can later specialise in fields such as cybersecurity, mobile applications, or AI.

Until 2025, //kood has welcomed more than 1,200 students in Estonia with over 350 graduates – nearly two-thirds of whom are now working in the technology sector. Students represent over 30 different nationalities and 21% are women. You can find the //kood peer-to-peer learning method and curriculum also in Finland, Ukraine and Kenya.

In 2025, the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications recognised //kood as one of the best entrepreneurship promoters in the country.

The accessibility of IT education is supported by Skaala, Swedbank, Wise, Kaamos, LHV, SEB, Barrus, SA Võrumaa Arenduskeskus, SA Järvamaa, ESTDEV and others.