This document provides information about Estonia in 3 paragraphs. It begins with a brief history of Estonia mentioning a meteorite hit in 1000 BC and their time as part of the Soviet Union from 1918-1940 and again from 1991. The second paragraph outlines key facts about modern Estonia as a member of the EU and NATO including their population, GDP, and status as a Nordic country with a flat tax rate. The third paragraph discusses Estonia's leadership in technology and e-government initiatives as well as their oil shale industry and plans to build an electric vehicle charging network.

1. Estonia
in
Silicon Valley
Andrus Viirg
Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley
andrus.viirg@eas.ee
www.estonia.eu
www.investinestonia.com
March 11, 2013 @ Stanford Engineering

2. Javier de la Torre, CartoDB
Every Meteorite That Has Hit Earth
Since 2300 BC

3. Meteorite hit
Kaali crater, Estonia
1000 BC: a direct meteorite hit on Estonia (Bronze Age), the island of
Saaremaa (isle of land), Kaali crater
Greek mythology
- Ultima Thule
- Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun

4. Republic of
Estonia
1918-1940
1991 .....
Member of
EU, NATO (2004),
OECD (2010)
E
Population:
1.36 million
Territory:
17 464 sq mile
in the EURO zone
from Jan.1, 2011
GDP:
28 billion USD
GDP per capita: 21
000 USD
(2012 estimates)

5. Estonia?
 a (low tax) Nordic country
• flat tax rate of 21%
• NO TAX on reinvested profits
• Sweden & Finland main business &
investment partners
Estonia's capital Tallinn - (david jones)
LES ECHOS/Worldcrunch
 e-Estonia: tech entrepreneurs paradise
• e- & m-banking; e-voting; e-tax board...
• birthplace of
• cyberdefence: NATO Cyber Defence Center
+
• home of EU IT Agency HQs

6. slide shared by Robin Wauters
during Seedcamp Week in
London (sept.2011), where out
of 20 companies 4 Estonian
startups presented and two 2
became finalists.
and this happened again in 2013
.
Companies to watch:
Estonia produces a disproportionate
number of startups per capita

7. Not only e-Estonia
Oil-Shale industry (mining, chemistry, oil extraction)
– 90% of Estonia´s power needs
– 4% of Estonia`s GDP
– By 2016 shale oil production should reach 22,000barrels per day
over half of which will be EURO 5 compliant ULSD diesel (would
cover fully the retail needs for diesel gasoline in Estonia)
(Estonia)
Jordan: developing a 460MW oil shale fueled power station (operational by 2017)
USA: acquired 100% of OSEC (Oil Shale Exploration Company) shares and became
the owner of the largest tracts of privately owned oil shale properties in Utah. Enefit
is planning to construct an oil shale oil plant with a capacity of 60,000 barrels of
shale oil per day at full production (first phase operational by 2020).
www.enefit.com

8. Electric Mobility Program for Estonia
 500 electric EVs for Government fleet +
incentives for consumers
 EV fast charger network
 Technology supplied and built by ABB
(Switzerland)
 The payment and billing platform
provided by NOW!Innovations (Estonia)
www.nowinnovations.com
www.parknow.us
Estonia: first country to operate a
nationwide Electric Vehicle (EV) fast chargers
network
Every main road in Estonia has a DC fast charger
at approximately every 50-60 km (165 chargers
set up by February 2013)

9. • set for launch early April 2013 (from ESA site in French Guiana)
• around 100 students and scientists (Tartu University; Tallinn Tech)
have contributed to creation of the roughly one-kilogram satellite
(nearly six years in the making).
• the satellite was used as the basis for 40 research projects and
three doctoral theses.
• main function in space to test
electric solar sail technology
developed by Finnish researcher
Pekka Janhunen

10. www.lep-esto2013.com
Global Estonian days ESTO 2013
San Francisco, June 28-july 1, 2013
June 28, 2013
• Skype phenomenon and Tallinn as one of the
startup capitals of the world
• Estonian Ballet Night in San Francisco

11. European Innovation Academy
Tallinn, Estonia July 8-26, 2013
www.ttu.ee/short-courses/programmes/european-innovation-academy-2013/summer-session-2013/
Latitude59
July 25-26
www.latitude59.ee