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

Build your product

Scale up your venture

Funding opportunities

Hire employees

Join a vibrant community

Estonia loves ambition

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

Easy to start

e-⁠Residency makes it easy to start and run a company online, including with multiple co-founders

Test ideas at low cost

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

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

Book a call

In numbers: our startup ecosystem

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

#1 world leader in unicorns per capita
1,500 startups, the most per capita in Europe, 38% driven by e-residents
140+ angel investors and mentors, 60+ accelerator and entrepreneurship programmes
Venture Capital of €3,08bn under management, active portfolio of 750 companies (according to ESTVCA)

E-residents driving 38% Estonian startups

Image with statistics: Estonia is the world leader in startups per capita, has 1500 startups, the most per capita in Europe, and is ranked number 6 in Europe for its startup ecosystem

Some people hire others to do their admin, but Estonia is able to offer this seamlessly, so I can log in and do my things anywhere in the world.

Frank Sondors

Salesforge

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

Read what makes Estonia great for startups

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

Become an e-⁠resident

Apply Now

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

Explore funding opportunities

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.

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.

Estonian Startup Visa vs e-Residency

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.

About business presence in Estonia

Hear from e-resident founders

Please to watch this video.

Ready to start?

Apply now

Read How-to Guides

A Guide to Start a Startup

How to Raise Capital

A Guide for Hiring Staff

Every second Estonian startup involves e-⁠residents

Learn how e-residents are involved in 48% of Estonia’s recent startups and are also fundraising millions.

Women in Entrepreneurship: It’s time to close the gap

Women in entrepreneurship remain underrepresented globally. Discover why the gap exists, why it matters, and how e-Residency aims to help.

A practical guide to migrating your startup to AWS

When handled thoughtfully, AWS becomes a foundation that supports sustainable growth

Why wait for EU Inc. when Estonia’s already got e-⁠Residency?

While EU-INC is in the works, discover how Estonia’s e-Residency already lets founders start and scale an EU company fully online.

Which of these countries is the best to start a company?

Starting a company in the UK vs USA (Delaware) vs Ireland vs Portugal vs Singapore vs Estonia: comparing cost, speed and digital company formation for foreigners

How Andres Kõpper treats NOËP like a startup

In the Winning Friends podcast, NOËP founder Andres Kõpper shares how he treats his music career like a startup – from branding to TikTok.