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e-⁠Residency for startups

Estonia, Europe's startup powerhouse, is the ultimate destination to test, build, and scale your groundbreaking tech ideas and innovative products.

Test your ideas
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Build your product
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Scale up your venture
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Funding opportunities
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Hire employees
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Join a vibrant community
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Estonia loves ambition

Estonia’s vibrant startup ecosystem and accelerator programmes are open for all ambitious e-⁠resident founders
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Easy to start

e-⁠Residency makes it easy to start and run a company online, including with multiple co-founders
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Test ideas at low cost

Experience a startup-friendly regulatory environment and enjoy low costs to test your innovative tech ideas
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Attract investors

Global investors consider Estonia an attractive and safe business jurisdiction to get strong ROIs from local startups

Estonia is Europe's startup powerhouse

Estonia has world-class human capital, unique digital capabilities and ranks highly on ease of doing business, making it a smart and agile country for all companies with global ambitions.

Experience advanced digital infrastructure for seamless, remote business administration. Hire from a STEM-educated, English-speaking labour force. And secure your intellectual property rights with fast, digital registration. Plus:

  • Entrepreneurial culture and easy access to a close-knit startup ecosystem
  • Pro-business regulations, plus supportive state grants and agencies
  • Access the EU market, funding opportunities, and a competitive tax system
  • Easy, quick company formation with e-Residency
Man standing in front of self-driving bus labelled To the Future created by Estonian startup Auve Tech

Interested in personalised support?

Book a call with Ülane, our Head of Business Development, and herself a founder who has successfully raised money for her tech startup in Estonia and beyond.

  • Tell us about your startup idea
  • Understand better, how e-Residency could help you
Profile of Ülane Vilumets, Head of Business Development at e-Residency

In numbers: our startup ecosystem

Estonia ranks highly in Europe and the world for startups, investment potential, and support programmes:

  • Most unicorns per capita in the EU
  • #1 in VC funding relative to GDP globally (State of European Tech 2024)
  • Tallinn 15th most startup-dense city (Deelroom Global Tech Ecosystems Index 2026)
e-Residency - running an EU business in record-breaking Estonia

Test your idea

  • Find support at the early stage, thanks to Estonia’s startup-friendly regulations, low compliance costs, deferred taxes, and liberal labour laws
  • Build and test your innovative tech products, especially in Deeptech, Defencetech, Healthtech and Cleantech sectors
  • Join an accelerator to refine your prototypes and MVPs, find product-market fit, and get mentoring from the best
Two people talking at Latitude59 surrounded by e-Residency and startup neon signs

Build your product

  • Lively early stage investment scene and business angel network (EstBAN)
  • Bring your team here, thanks to Estonia’s Startup Visa
  • Incorporate a private limited company easily and quickly with e-Residency
  • Spend less time on the legal things by with the help of experienced Service Providers and widely available and accepted Model Documents
An e-Residency card and welcome kit

Become an e-⁠resident

Scale up your venture

  • A variety of funding and growth opportunities in Estonia are open for e-residents, with a heavy focus on R&D, Deeptech, smart economy solutions
  • Meet local and foreign VCs thanks to close ties and a strong reputation among globally famous funds
  • E-resident companies are eligible for European Union and Estonian grants
  • Intellectual Property protections are in line with EU laws, with counselling, tools, and support from the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency
Founders of Glassity awarded top 20 team in Ajujaht accelerator programme

Join a vibrant community

  • Be two degrees of separation from Estonian and e-resident founders on the Startup Estonia Database to get advice and learn from their mistakes!
  • Estonia is present at cosmopolitan business events locally (Latitude59, sTARTUp Day), and elsewhere (Bits&Pretzels, South Summit)
  • The e-Residency Community is easily accessible online on social media and webinars, or offline at events and coworking spaces
Group shot outside in the garden of participants at the e-Residency study trip for startup entrepreneurs in 2024

Streamline administration with expert help

You don’t need to do everything alone. Working with a verified service provider will save you time and money.
What do you need help with?
iconFind an expert service provider

Build your startup in Estonia

Relocate with the Startup visa

Estonia's Startup Visa helps non-EU founders grow their startup in Estonia, and eases the process for hiring non-EU talent. If your product packs innovation and has the potential to scale, apply now.

Hire staff and rent an office

Be closer to all the action in Estonia’s vibrant startup ecosystem or benefit from the most competitive tax system. Open an office, find partners or hire staff here and experience the benefits.

Hear from e-resident founders

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Ready to start?

Read How-to Guides

Read more on the blog

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