23.01.2018

The Successful First Year of Estonian Startup Visa

In January we are celebrating the one year anniversary of Estonian Startup Visa. Initiated by the local startup community and the Estonian Ministry of Interior together with Startup Estonia, Estonian Startup Visa allows non-EU nationals to come and work for Estonian startups, relocate their existing startups or found new ones in Estonia. After running for a year, the programme has received 325 applications from 47 countries, says in Startup Estonia’s blog post.

To qualify for the Startup Visa, startups must first fill out an application detailing their business and team, which are then evaluated by a Startup Committee, consisting of members of the Estonian startup community. ‘’Startup Visa is a perfect example of the public and private sector working together. These kinds of fast and effective solutions are opening Estonian startup community up to global audiences. Estonia has a unique opportunity to be the gateway to the European and world markets for many startups.’’ says Ragnar Sass, co-founder of Pipedrive and a member of the Startup Committee.

Both for startup founders and for employees to come and work for an Estonian startup

Throughout the first year, Startup Committee has given a positive evaluation on 140 applications, negative on 170 and is processing 15. Most applications for the Startup Visa are made by startup teams from India, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan and Turkey. Whereas the average acceptance rate is around 45%, applicants from some countries like Belarus, Ukraine and Russia are performing considerably better than that. One application is submitted by the whole startup team. Within the first year, the Startup Committee has in total seen 325 applications with around 1200 people in the startup teams, which makes the average team size 4 people. 

Both for startup founders and for employees to come and work for an Estonian startup

Throughout the first year, Startup Committee has given a positive evaluation on 140 applications, negative on 170 and is processing 15. Most applications for the Startup Visa are made by startup teams from India, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan and Turkey. Whereas the average acceptance rate is around 45%, applicants from some countries like Belarus, Ukraine and Russia are performing considerably better than that. One application is submitted by the whole startup team. Within the first year, the Startup Committee has in total seen 325 applications with around 1200 people in the startup teams, which makes the average team size 4 people. 

Find more statistics and interesting facts from the full article from Startup Estonia’s blog. 

Statistical information for this post has been gathered by Startup Estonia in co-operation with the Estonian Ministry of Interior and Startup Includer. Charts by Rivo Riistop. 

(Source: startupestonia.com; Author: Sander Sillavee)

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