philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Estonia is building a unicorn stable through its e-residency programme to boost diversity

... Becoming an e-resident also allows you to set-up a business remotely and you can do it fast. A new record was set on Monday at London Tech Week by an Austrian entrepreneur, who set up his company in 15 mins 33 seconds on Estonia’s e-residency platform, ...

Though it may sound too good to be true, the e-residency programme is no golden visa. It does not grant residency in the country but does provide companies with access to European markets digitally. ...

For more than two decades, Estonia has been on a path of digitising all of its services and you can go online to name your child, file your taxes and even vote.

Once the e-residency process is complete, you are presented with an ID card, which allows you to fill out your tax information and do everything in one place online. It does not allow you to travel but grants you the same rights as any other digital business in Estonia. ...

What's in it for Estonia?

Since the programme’s launch eight years ago, there are now over 21,000 new Estonian companies with more than €10 billion in cumulative turnover to date. 

But the government also argues it promotes a more democratic society.

"We believe it really makes running a business very democratic, because in many countries people think that you have to be rich to start the company. We think that if you want to become rich, start a company," Haav said.

On the other hand, the programme can help build the country’s ageing population as some e-residents may want to become permanent residents. ...

See the full story here: https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/06/17/estonia-is-building-a-unicorn-stable-through-its-e-residency-programme-to-boost-diversity