Introducing Invest in Estonia: Helping potential and existing investors unlock opportunities

Estonia regularly hits the headlines as a country which offers excellent advice and opportunities for businesses. You may have read about solutions like e-Residency or the exemplary support for start-up growth and investment.

Invest in Estonia provide guidance, resources, tools and consultancy to help new and exciting businesses navigate key areas of business support such as finance requirements, research and the labour market.

In our latest blog, we explore the many reasons why you should access Invest in Estonia and exactly how they enable investment in Estonia:

Why was Invest in Estonia founded?

Behind Invest in Estonia is the Estonia Investment Agency (EIA). This support agency was founded to help develop foreign investors, enabling them to grow their businesses, improve their competitiveness and operate in ways which are sustainable for the Estonian economy.

EIA is behind a number of initiatives you may have come across, such as Work in Estonia, The International House of Estonia, e-Estonia Briefing Centre and of course e-Residency, the widely known government-issued digital ID service available to anyone in the world, supported by ourselves at Silva Hunt.

The EIA say “We are a reliable, long-term and preferred partner for foreign investors in the Baltic Sea region. Our agency has been awarded the Top Investment Agency title by Site Selection Magazine for three consecutive years (2018 – 2020), in 2020 it received United Nations Investment Promotion Award for Excellence in the Response to COVID-19 crisis and in 2021 its digitalisation programme was included in UNESCO’s global list of top 100 most promising AI projects”.

Who should access Invest in Estonia?

The breadth of industries supported by Invest in Estonia is significant. Organisations working across a huge spectrum of industries can make use of the resources and investment opportunities;

• I.T. research and development software
• Fintech
• Cyber Security
• Risk Capital
• Food & Drink
• Electronics/IOT/Mechatronics
• Business Services
• Industrial Digitalisation
• Blockchain
• Logistics
• Bioeconomy/timber
• Smart Cities
• Industrial R&D
• E-Health
• Marine Industries
• Energy
• Mechanical Engineering
• Chemicals
• E-commerce
• Digital Logistics

Whichever industry your business is in, the Invest in Estonia website has useful information including statistics, news, case studies and web links to help you navigate the possibilities for investment. Just recently they published a useful tool “Comparest”, which enables you to compare Estonia´investment attractiveness to other countries.

Where do I get started?

With the platform highly user-friendly, simply complete the online form and as part of their free service, a personal EIA consultant will get right back to you with more information. Click here to get started.

The organisation can even help facilitate Virtual Investment visits. Watch a video about it here.

Why invest in Estonia?

We’ve explored the support available to potential investors, but why invest in Estonia in the first place?

Estonia is a pioneering country, leading the way for innovation, digital technologies and start-up business support. Entrepreneurs re-locate to Estonia from all over the world, with leading experts choosing to operate out of the country in preference to districts like Silicon Valley in California.

This is largely enabled by Estonia’s excellent support services and initiatives like e-Residency, which has opened up enormous possibilities and opportunities even to businesses which are physically located elsewhere.

The organisation breaks down the complexities of investment and business through services like the Investment Sauna which aims to “uncover the naked truth about startups, technology, investing, and doing business — both in Estonia and around the world”. This is just as fun and interesting as it sounds!

Excellent importation and exportation, a simplistic tax system, innovative e-solutions and a wealth of data make Estonian businesses highly attractive to investors. 

The Estonian Export Directory says “The rapid economic growth of Estonia, in recent decades, has often exceeded the European Union average. Estonia’s economic growth is mainly influenced by foreign trade, making it highly vulnerable to global economic changes. In 2019, the value of Estonia’s GDP, at current prices, was 28 billion Euros, which is 4.3% higher than the previous year”.

Invest In Estonia exists to help investors maximise opportunities with ease, and their consultancy services provide a bridge between potential investors and the businesses themselves.

Where can I find out the latest news and events?

Invest in Estonia also offers the latest news on business and investment opportunities as well as a host of events.

Events like Unicorn59 provide a means for businesses to pitch for investment. Estonia is home to 10 unicorns valued at $1B+ already and its ambition is to have 25 by 2025. This means an increasing number of pitching events and even more support for unicorns seeking investment.

Unicorn59 is a collaborative event, involving other organisations such as Lift99, Startup Estonia and Latitude59; a start-up conference which will also provide opportunities for pitching, investment, and business support. The conference runs each May, with the next one on 25-26 May 2023! Get your tickets for the forthcoming event here.

How do I get started and what’s the cost?

When you are in the phase of doing market research seeking out to Invest in Estonia resources can be very useful. It is completely free, and you can even get a consultation with them to discuss and get an overview of the investment possibilities in Estonia.

Once you have decided to set up a company in Estonia for your investments Silva Hunt can help you register the company, provide legal address & contact person service, accounting and tax advising. All costs regarding our services can be seen here.