On Friday, Estonia had a reason to celebrate. No, it was not a national holiday, but the second anniversary of something innovative, ambitious and positively brilliant in the face of Brexit: Estonian e-Residency.
For the past couple of years, Estonia has been inviting entrepreneurs from all around the world to become digital residents, allowing them to easily set up and run Estonian businesses online. “With e-Residency, you can belong to our hassle-free economic space regardless of your physical location in the world,” said Taavi Rõivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia.
Over 15,000 people from 136 countries have applied for e-Residency since its introduction, with over 1,000 successful applicants taking advantage of the opportunity to start a business in this small but visionary Baltic state.
The e-Residency application process is refreshingly simple: you submit an application online, pay a modest fee, complete a background check and collect your digital identity card from your nearest Estonian embassy. Setting up an Estonian business is equally easy: once you’re an Estonian e-Resident, you can establish a business online in a day.
A week ago Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid encouraged attendees of Slush, Europe’s leading start-up event, to apply for Estonian e-Residency: “If you keep waiting for these opportunities to become available in your countries, you may be in for a long wait, and your competitors will immediately have the edge by a few years.”
1Office Estonia has been a key player in guiding entrepreneurs through the e-Residency application and business registration processes, and has consequently gained hundreds of new clients, strengthening its position as the biggest 1Office branch in Europe. 1Office Partner Ivar Veskioja delivered a speech at the e-Residency anniversary event in Tallinn. You can see the live broadcast of the event here:
