a recap of the 2024 study day for e-⁠residents

A peek into a special day in Tallinn in May: exploring the Estonian ecosystem, engaging with top accelerators, and learning from e-⁠resident success stories

Imagine stepping into a country where innovation thrives, digital ease is the norm, and a supportive community of entrepreneurs is eager to collaborate. For e-residents, visiting Estonia is more than just a trip—it's a chance to immerse themselves in their digital home, and a world-class startup ecosystem offering unparalleled growth opportunities to boot. This was the inspiration behind this year’s e-Residency Study Trip, where we invited handpicked startup founders and took them for a whirlwind trip around Tallinn during the Latitude59 conference in May. 

We introduced this exciting new format last year, and following great feedback and a better understanding of what is expected and what we can offer, this year more than doubled the number of participants to fifty. These carefully selected founders had the unique opportunity to participate in a special study day in Tallinn, where they explored the Estonian ecosystem, engaged with top accelerators, and learned from the success stories of other e-⁠resident founders who have built their businesses in Estonia.

This full-day program had a simple yet ambitious goal: to expand the participants’ networks, deepen their knowledge, and ignite fresh business development ideas. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with e-residents describing the study day as "insightful," "well-organized," and "interesting."

“I didn't expect the elaborate trip that they had planned. I had an understanding of something at a small scale, but I was flabbergasted,” shared one participant. Another added, “This was a very good introduction to Estonia and I learned a lot about the ecosystem.”

For those unable to attend the study day, we have compiled a brief overview of the highlights.

The Charm of a Digital Country

Estonia is renowned for its "Skype effect," a term explained by Helery Pops, Investment Manager at Practica Capital. Skype, one of Estonia's earliest and most successful startups, paved the way for the country's vibrant startup scene. Today, Estonia is home to nearly 1,500 startups, many of which were founded by e-⁠residents, like Co-one.

Co-one, an AI & crowdsourced data platform, was founded by two Turkish e-⁠residents in 2020.

One of the founders, Ataberk Arman Kayhan, shared his experience during the study trip. “Due to the nature of our field, we have to process data of large enterprises. If you want to do that in Turkey and have European clients you need to write a lot of legal protocols. We wanted to skip this and started looking around to find countries where this process is easier,” said Kayhan, mentioning that the Netherlands and Estonia both caught their eye. “Back then Estonia was the only country that was offering e-⁠Residency. We applied for it, got the card, started a business and like two months later we got the first investment to our Estonian bank account. We were able to do it all with just a couple of online calls. It was all very easy and it went super fast,” Kayhan recalls.

The digital infrastructure in Estonia continues to make legal processes straightforward and efficient, allowing businesses like Co-one to operate seamlessly and expand their client base. Vicky Brock, an e-⁠resident from Scotland and CEO of Vistalworks, also shared her positive experience.

After Brexit, she found it challenging to do business with Europe from the UK. “I started looking around to find where you could do business in Europe and I came across Estonia. I didn’t know where Estonia was, I had not been to Estonia, but I saw that e-⁠Residency was about 90 euros back then and I thought what's the worst that could happen? So I applied,“ Brock remembers. Now she talks about it as a life-changing decision as she has been able to grow her business, widen her network and even learn a new language. She is also mesmerized by the ability to do everything online. “Compared to the UK it is almost a delight to pay taxes here. It is so easy. I truly struggle to say it is a delight to pay tax but if you have to pay tax, Estonia is a great place to do it,” she said.

Tips for Founders

Brock emphasized that while e-Residency offers significant advantages, it's crucial for entrepreneurs to be proactive. “You can’t just get the card and sit back and wait for things to happen. I suggest you look at different accelerator programs, try to find connections etc,” she shares tips. Brock herself has participated in numerous accelerator programs, including Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), which she found particularly beneficial due to its speed mentoring by local and foreign investment communities.

Estonia offers a variety of accelerator programs to suit different needs, a significant improvement from the past. Martin Henk, co-founder of Pipedrive, recalled the challenges of finding suitable programs in Estonia back in 2010, which led them to the USA.

Despite the challenges, Pipedrive flourished and became Estonia’s fifth unicorn in 2020. Henk shared valuable lessons from his journey, stressing the importance of building the right team and carefully selecting investors who align with the company's vision. “What I learned from my mistakes is that, first of all, hiring is crazy important. You need to have the right team. Another thing you need to keep in mind is that you should approach investors the same way as you would approach hiring key people in the company. For the previous startups we couldn’t really choose – it was either going bankrupt or getting some investors who are willing to give us money. After that we never made that mistake again. Just the fact that someone is willing to give you money is definitely not enough,” Henk stated, adding that you have to work together with the investors and therefore it is better to take your time and choose them carefully.

Helery Pops, Investment Manager at Practica Capital, echoed this sentiment from an investor's perspective, emphasising the importance of a personal connection with founders.

“You have to work with them for 10 years so if there is no personal connection whatsoever, this could become very difficult,” she said.

Participants also heard from the e-Residency team about the benefits of becoming an e-resident and starting a business in Estonia. The session included insights into various accelerator programs open to e-residents, such as Startup Wise Guys, Tenity Nordics, Elevator Startups, and Startup Estonia.

If you missed this year's event, mark your calendars for the next study day in May 2025! Next year's trip promises to be even more ambitious, featuring new exciting founder stories, visits to innovative incubator programs, and much more.

The event was organized in collaboration with our local partner, Akkadian.