Discover the marvelous city of Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the northest country among the Baltics. Ex-member of the Soviet Union (USSR), Estonia has been very active in the digitisation of its government and has now become a global model in e-governance.
After the dislocation of the USSR, the country needed to construct from scratches. Due to the lack of resources, it needed a economical and efficient system. The government has since decided to invest in digital technologies. As a result, Estonia is one of the world’s most connected country in the world – ranked 13th – and benefits from a huge technical talent.
Surrounded by Finland, Russia, Lettonia and the Baltic sea, Estonia benefits from a strategic location. With its small population of 1,3 million inhabitants, Estonia has achieved a 4.9% GDP growth in 2017.
Estonia presents itself as the home of e-governance. No wonder, 99% of administrative services are available online 24/7. Indeed, Estonians can access to more than 2000 services online with a unique identification number. They can even sign documents and open a bank account online. X-Road, the backbone of e-Estonia, is developed by local companies, which have now expertise in this industry.
An international tech scene
Tallinn benefits from an international tech scene and is home of thousands of technical talents, including the first employee of Skype, Taavet Hinrikus, who found its own startup Transferwise. Just like the “Paypal effect” in the Silicon Valley, these talents who participated to the development of Skype, then returned to their home country to contribute to the local startup scene.
Estonia has the highest startups rate per capita in Europe, with 31 startups per 100,000 inhabitants, whereas the average number of startups is 5 per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe. The Estonian startup ecosystem is called the #EstonianMafia and is booming, especially with the help of local players such as Garage48, an early stage startup bootcamp and organiser of hackathon events. They also power their own co-working space, LIFT99 in Tallinn.
Why choose Tallinn ?
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E-Governance Actors
People to know
Mari Hanika
Mari Hanikat is CEO at Garage48 Foundation and co-founder of Bikram Yoga Tallinn. Garage48 is an early stage startup bootcamp and hackathon style event series to build new web and mobile services/prototypes in just 48 hours. Garage48 started in Estonia and now does events in Eastern & Central Europe, Central Asia and Africa.
Karina Univer
Karina is head of partner relations at LIFT99 and co-organizer at Startup Grind. LIFT99 is a Estonian co-working space helping startup entrepreneurs from all over the world to elevate their businesses.
Nadim Taoubi
Originally from France, Nadim Taoubi is an Estonian e-resident. Based in Estonia since 2009, he has worked for the government and launched his own startup. As a result, he acquired a strong knowledge about the Estonian business and governance environment. Now, he is the COO of Natufia Labs, provider of indoor gardens.
Taavet Hinrikus
Taavet Hinrikus is the CEO and founder of Transferwise, a leading company in international money transfer. Born in Estonia, he worked for Skype as the first-ever employee from 2003 to 2008. Transferwise is the most well-funded company among the #EstonianMafia, and has 1200 employees in 9 offices around the world.
Kalle Palling
Kalle Palling is a Member of Parliament of Estonia and co-founder at Cachet, an insurance marketplace in Estonia. He has been responsible for many legislative initiatives to enable technology and e-governance in Estonia. He covers topics such as technology, AI, e-governance, digitalization, etc.
Thomas Padovani
Thomas Padovani is one the most successful entrepreneur in Estonia. He arrived in Estonia in 2007 at the age of 23, and decided to start its own business, Webinfluence. He has developed a deep knowledge on the business environment in Estonia and has more than 15 years of experience in online media monetization.
