1. Sinu logo
ESTONIA overview
www.europeanentrepreneursatstanford.com
Andrus Viirg
Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley
andrus.viirg@eas.ee
www.investinestonia.com
www.lifeinestonia.ee

2. Topics
• Estonia in a nutshell
• business & entrepreneurship
• R&D and innovation
• Estonia & US business connections
• Enterprise Estonia
• ...the big bang theory

3. ESTONIA

4. Estonia
Republic of Estonia
(1918-1940) regained
independence in 1991
Member of EU, NATO
(2004)
Population: 1.36 million
Territory: 17 464 sq mile
GDP per capita: 11 830 EUR
(2008) Currency board system
(since 1992)
Natural resources: 15.64EEK=1EUR
timber, oil-shale
Exports 76% of GDP
transit trade comprising over
80% of the general transport
of goods.

5. economic developments in Estonia
15 Global
Break-up of real GDP growth (%) financial
the USSR 11,4
10,5 10,5 crises
10
7,8 7,7 8 7,1 8,1 7,1
4,5 4,5 5,2
5
-1,6 -0,1
0
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
-5 EU -3,6
membership
Russian &
-10 Monetary ICT
-9 Asian
reform in boom & bust
financial
EStonia crises
-15 -13,6 -14,2 -14

6. Estonia: integrating
into Northern Europe
 Sweden / Finland main
foreign investment (FDI)
& trade partners
 cross border linkages
• banking
• telecommunications
• timber industry
• electronics
• engineering

7. e & m services
e-banking (98% non-cash
e-Estonia transactions)
 home of Skype m-parking, m-payments
 NATO Cyber Defence Centre e-government
electronic ID card
e-taxboard, e-schools,
e-health, e-police, e-elections
…
- electricity (3000 MW)
- crude oil + diesel fuel
oil-shale Estonia - fine chemicals & cosmetics

8. R&D and Universities
– Tallinn University of Technology
www.ttu.ee
- 9,500 students
- Technology Park: www.tehnopol.ee
– Tartu University (est. 1632)
www.ut.ee
- 17,745 students
- Tartu Biotechnology Park: www.biopark.ee
- Tartu Science Park

9. innovation
Centres of Excellence: cooperation between
enterprises and R&D institutions (ca 130 mln USD)
– 3 CEs in IT and electronics
• Software Technologies and Applications (mainly e-health)
• Electronics & ICT (smart space tecnologies)
• Innovative Engineering & Production Systems (e-factory, e-production)
– 2 CEs in food related research
• Food & Fermentation Technology
• Healthy Dairy Products
– 2 CEs in biomedicine
• Reproductive Medicine & Biology (diagnostics of infertility)
• Cancer Research (new diagnostic platforms)
– 1 CE in nanotechnology
• (nano-structural gas sensors & functional nano-materials)

10. Venture Capital
– Ambient Sound Investments: www.asi.ee
– MTVP: www.martinsontrigon.com
– Cresco www.cresco.ee/
– BaltCap www.baltcap.com

11. Estonian companies in US
US companies in Estonia
• www.fotki.com
• www.fusionone.com
• www.egeeninc.com
• www.oak-biotech.com
• www.artecgroup.com
• www.spmtips.com
• www.modesat.com
• www.raintreeinc.com
• www.mobilenowsolutions.com
• www.ldi.ee

12. ENTERPRISE ESTONIA
State foundation for Investment, Trade, Technology and
Tourism promotion + the Space Office of Estonia
 implementing agency of the EU structural funds in Estonia
 budget of ca 1.3 billion USD (2007-2013)
 about 300 employees
 providing financing/grant products, advice, partnership
opportunities and training for entrepreneurs, R&D institutions and
the public and non-profit sectors
Investment & Trade Promotion
– We help international companies to get estonianised
– We help estonian companies to get internationalised
– Foreign offices in Stockholm, Helsinki, London, Hamburg, Moscow,
St. Petersburg , Kiev, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Tokyo

13. Where the Sun came to rest...
8000 BC: the glaciers are retreating, followed by the reindeer hunters
(ancestors of present day Estonians)
1000 BC: a direct meteorite hit on Estonia (Bronze Age), the island of
Saaremaa (isle of land)
Greek mythology
- Ultima Thule
- Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun

14. www.investinestonia.com
www.visitestonia.com
www.eas.ee
www.lifeinestonia.ee