Estonia is one of the most interesting startup ecosystems in the world and in recent times it has created numerous top startups. Estonian startups are beginning to raise more funding than ever, with a 35% increase in money raised from VCs in 2022, compared to 2021. The total funding reached 1.33 Billion Euros. There is also more than 100 organizations in Estonia that provide support to startups in various forms, such as funding and guidance. This is all in a country with a population smaller than that of Bucharest in Romania.
The Estonian government is consistently creating new projects and ideas to help drive the startup ecosystem in the country. One such example of this is the e-Residency programme in the country that has been running since 2014. This program makes it easier for entrepreneurs to start in Estonia by offering tax incentives, and other benefits to people outside of the country. Since the program began, Estonia has established 16,000 e-Resident businesses and 84,000 e-Residents have signed up.
This investment into the startup ecosystem has led to a growth rate of around 30% per year for the ecosystem in general. It should also be noted that the country has more unicorns per capita than any other in the world. The number of native VC firms currently stands at eight with more than 300 angel investors also being active.
1. BITLEVEX
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 1-10
Founders: Mikhail Skoblov
BITLEVEX is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company is a cryptocurrency startup that allows users to create an account and buy and sell a variety of different cryptocurrencies. They are consistently partnering with a range of reputable companies to improve their offerings, such as Visa, Mastercard, Trustly and more.
Since being founded BITLEVEX has secured a large amount of startup funding. The majority of its funding came from a funding round in August 2022. In this round, the business raised a total of $50 Million from GEM Digital.
2. Montonio
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 51-100
Founders: Henrik Rank, Karel Nappus, Karl Kalluste, Kristofer Turmen, Markus Lember, Rasmus Oisma
Montonio is a startup in Estonia that was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Tallinn. The company provides a FinTech solution for e-commerce businesses, this comes in the form of a full payment platform where checkout financing, instalment plans and bank link payments can be included for the customers of the e-commerce sites. It also includes a range of third-party integrations for a smooth experience.
Montonio is a very well-funded startup, with the company raising a total of $15.6 Million from sixteen investors. The company's latest funding round took the form of a Series A Round in April 2022 where it raised 11 Million Euros.
3. Miros
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 11-50
Founders: Diana Saarva, Heikki Haldre, Paul Pallin
Miros is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2018 and is currently headquartered in the city of Tallinn. The company has created a visual language engine for e-commerce sites. Through their advanced technology, end-users will be able to search for items, even if they don't know their name by visually describing the items they want. This improves the bottom line for e-commerce stores as they're able to pick up customers they would have lost previously.
Since being founded, Miros has gone through a pair of startup funding rounds. The most recent of these took place as a Seed Round in December 2022 where it raised 2.1 Million Euros. In total, the company has raised $2.2 Million from three investors.
4. Sunly
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 101-250
Founders: Priit Lepasepp
Sunly is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently headquartered in Tallinn. The company developers new renewable energy projects to help facilitate the global drive to reduce emissions. The business operates in the Balkans and the surrounding markets to improve infrastructure for renewables in Eastern Europe.
Sunly has secured a large amount of startup funding since being founded, with the most recent funding round taking place in October 2022. Overall, the startup has raised a total of 200 Million Euros from four investors to support its future projects.
5. Xolo
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 51-100
Founders: Avo Alender, Erik Mell, Erko Hansar, Urmo Parg
Xolo is an Estonian FinTech startup that was founded in 2015 and is currently based in Tallinn. The company aims to help freelancers spend more time actually working by creating a platform to merge all of the administrative work involved in running their business. This includes things such as company formation, banking, accounting, and more. With so much under one roof, it drastically helps freelancers to focus on the important things.
Investors have been convinced by Xolo's offering, with the business raising a total of $12.8 Million from thirteen investors. The most recent of these funding rounds took place in February 2021 when seven investors backed Xolo with more than 3 Million Euros.
6. Biteful
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 11-50
Founders: Dominik Sklyarov, Erik Kaljumae, Mikhel Haava, Ricko Tamm
Biteful is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2022 and is currently based in Tallinn. The company has created a platform to help the food and beverage industry. The platform modernizes the ordering process for hospitality businesses, managers can set their team members to handle ordering whilst they focus on finding new suppliers for their food and drink.
So far, Biteful has gone through a single round of funding, which was a Pre-Seed Round where the company raised 50,000 Euros from an unknown number of investors. It is very likely the company will receive more funding as it continues to grow.
7. Klaus
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 51-100
Founders: Kair Kaspar, Martin Kolva
Klaus is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2017 and is currently based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company provides a management app for the quality of customer service. This app makes it easier to review the quality of work done by customer service agents and improves the knowledge pool available to these agents. By syncing with the help desk of the user, the platform can operate in real-time.
Klaus has secured a large amount of startup funding since being founded, with the most recent round taking place in October 2022 when it raised 12 Million Euros in a Series A Round. In total, the business has raised a figure of $19.3 Million from a group of six investors.
8. PIGGYCARD
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 101-250
Founders: Giovanni Spinapolice
PIGGYCARD is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company operates in the financial services market and provides credit and debit card services through the use of digital technologies. This helps their customers to save money effectively and plan for the future.
Since being founded, the company has not publicly sought any startup funding. Despite this, they have managed to grow to a large headcount. As the business seeks to expand, it will become more likely to raise funding.
9. NFTPort
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 11-50
Founders: Johannes Tammekänd, Kaspar Peterson, Rain Johanson, Sten Tamkivi, Taivo Pungas
NFTPort is a startup in Estonia that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company has created a complete solution for APIs and NFT-friendly infrastructure for developers. This helps teams to spend more time focusing on getting their project out there, by decreasing the amount of time developing their infrastructure.
The business has gone through a single round of startup funding since being founded, with the most recent taking place in June 2022. During this funding round, the company managed to raise a figure of $26 Million from ten investors.
10. Binalyze
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 51-100
Founders: Emre Tinaztepe
Binalyze is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2018 and is currently based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company works in the cybersecurity market and provides tools for digital forensics for enterprises. These tools help businesses to understand the full extent of cyber breaches when they happen and also help these companies to prevent these breaches from happening.
Since being founded, the company has gone through a number of funding rounds. The last of these was a Seed Funding round that took place in February 2022, when the company raised $10.4 Million. In total, the startup has raised $11.8 Million from a pair of investors.
11. OBORTECH
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 11-50
Founders: Tamir Baasanjav
OBORTECH is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently headquartered in Tallinn. The business has created a collaborative ecosystem for Web3 that is powered by blockchain and IoT technology. The aim is to use this system to improve the global supply chain for things like food, where there are massive wastes that cost a lot of money. The elimination of this waste will lead to large cost savings and better sustainability.
OBORTECH has secured a decent amount of startup funding since being founded just over two years ago. In total, the business has raised $2.9 Million in funding from an unknown number of investors.
12. VanOnGo
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 51-100
Founders: Kateryna Rystova, Mikhail Sokirnik, Viacheslav Levchenko
VanOnGo is a startup in Estonia that was founded in 2019 and is currently headquartered in Tallinn. The company has created a platform to improve efficiency in last-mile logistics. Their platform connects brands that want to make deliveries with available delivery partners in good time. This leads to customers getting their orders quicker than would usually be possible. The company has also been contributing by delivering life-saving supplies to war-torn areas.
The business has secured funding to further improve its operations. This funding has reached a total of $460,000 at the time of writing and was achieved with the help of three investors.
13. Yummy
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 101-250
Founders: Martin Salo, Karl Paadam
Yummy is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently based in Tallinn. The company creates personalised meal plans for customers and helps them to manage their diet with healthy options. This makes it easier for people to cook at a time when more and more people seem to not have the time.
The business has gone through a number of funding rounds since being founded, with the most recent taking place in October 2022. This funding round helped the company to raise a total of 1.9 Million Euros. In total, the company has managed to raise a figure of 3.4 Million Euros.
14. Fagura
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Chisinau, Moldova
Size: 1-10
Founders: Tudor Darie
Fagura is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia. The company has created a P2P lending marketplace. This platform allows people who need funding to connect with investors that will charge lower interest rates than are usually seen on the market. This also helps those lending to save more money.
The business has gone through a number of funding rounds since being founded, with the most recent taking place in December 2022. In total, the startup has managed to raise $1.5 Million from three investors.
15. Choise.com
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Harju, Estonia
Size: 101-250
Founders: Austin Kimm, Vladimir Gorbunov
Choise is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2022 and is currently based in Harju, Estonia. The company operates a cryptocurrency platform that allows its users to buy and also earn cryptocurrencies. This helps people to boost their income in the short and long-term with the minimum associated risk due to enhanced security measures. Users can earn as much as 26% APY.
The business has been successful in securing outside funding and has incorporated crowdfunding into its strategy. In total, the startup has raised a total of $2.8 Million to further its operations. Choise has also completed an acquisition in the short time since being founded.
16. Vatabout
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 11-50
Founders: Renata Eidukaityete
Vatabout is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2022 and is currently based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company aims to help other businesses with everything related to VAT. Their platform allows businesses to manage the VAT they are charging and reclaiming, all across Europe which helps to streamline the process of managing returns.
Due to the infancy of the business, it has not sought any startup funding publicly at this time. Despite this, the business has experienced rapid growth in headcount and it's very likely that Vatabout will raise funding.
17. Zam
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 101-250
Founders: Ayman Sayed
Zam is an Estonian cryptocurrency startup that was founded in 2018 and is currently based in Tallinn. The startup is building a platform that connects the real world with a hybrid ecosystem for CeFi and Defi. This encourages capital to flow into the blockchain ecosystem and will improve the market as a whole.
Despite the size and rapid growth of the company, it has not publicly sought any startup funding. With the strength of its offering, the business would be likely to receive support if it actively solicited for it.
18. Tuum
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 51-100
Founders: Jan Lakspere, Ove Kreison, Rivo Uibo, Vilve Vene
Tuum is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in Tallinn. The business operates in the FinTech market and has created a platform where businesses can create new banking businesses or upgrade an existing one. The company has grown rapidly and has recently opened its first UK office in London.
The business has received a large amount of funding since being founded, with the total being raised reaching 20 Million Euros at the time of writing. This funding was achieved with the support of seven investors.
19. Single.Earth
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 11-50
Founders: Andrus Aslaid, Merit Valdsalu
Single.Earth is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in Tallinn. The company aims to help tackle the climate crisis by monetizing conservation. Landowners on the platform are able to generate tokens by making green decisions and they are then able to sell these tokens for a profit so there is less financial need to damage the land.
Investors have backed the important mission of the startup, with Single.Earth raising a total of $7.9 Million being raised from a group of three investors. It's very likely that the business will receive further funding as it continues to grow.
20. Solve.Care
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 101-250
Founders: Pradeep Goel
Solve.Care is a healthcare startup in Estonia that was founded in 2017 and is currently based in Tallinn. The company builds blockchain healthcare platforms to help healthcare providers to improve their efficiency and deliver better care outcomes for their patients. It helps to co-ordinate care, benefits and payments between all parties involved in healthcare transactions from start to finish.
The business has secured a large amount of startup funding since being founded with $30.2 Million being raised. This funding was secured with the assistance of an unknown number of investors. The company has also acquired another startup to improve its operations.
21. Striga
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Size: 1-10
Founders: Bernardo Magnani Blanco, Prashanth Balasubramanian
Striga is an Estonian startup that was founded in 2018 and is currently based in Tallinn. The business has created a platform for cryptocurrency businesses that need to have a traditional banking infrastructure. They make the whole process much more cost-effective and reduce the amount of time it takes to eventually create a banking system and issue debit cards.
The business has gone through a single round of startup funding since being founded, with the Seed Round taking place in May 2021, where it raised $3 Million from three investors. This funding has been used to help improve the offering and grow its operations.
FAQs
How Many Startups Are There in Estonia?
It is currently estimated that Estonia has more than 1400 startups in its ecosystem.
What is the Average Investment in Estonia Startups?
Finding the exact averages for investment in Estonian startups is difficult, however, the country's startups raised 1.33 Billion Euros in 2022, which represents a 35% increase on the previous year.
What Startup Industries Are The Strongest in Estonia?
The most successful startup industries in Estonia are FinTech, particularly crypto, software and HR.
