Estonia hopes to welcome Indian startups with E-Residency programme

By Mathew Di Salvo - March 14, 2018



Estonia is inviting Indian startups to work there – remotely – with its new E-residency programme. 

The E-residency will give startups a government-issued ID which will allow them to open a global EU company while working from Asia. 

Estonia launched its E-residency in 2014 and any country can get involved.

But Estonia is reaching out to India in particular as it sees potential there. They are aiming to get hold of Indian startups through a series of roadshows and other initiatives in the next 12 months, The Economic Times of India reported.

“I am very glad to be in India to strengthen bilateral cooperation and talk about the digital society of Estonia,” Estonia’s Entrepreneurship & IT Minister Urve Palo said. 

Kaspar Korjus, Managing Director of Republic of Estonia’s e-Residency programme, said: “The size of our countries might be very different, but Estonia and India actually have many things in common. Like Estonia, India has always been a very entrepreneurial country.

“Like Estonia, India has always been a very entrepreneurial country. India has the world’s largest freelance workforce with the highest percentage working in software development and technology, while Estonia is a global leader in ICT technologies, especially in e-Government.”

He added that the programme could help leverage these common points by offering Indian entrepreneurs access to the European market.

There are currently over 1,200 Indian citizens as e-residents and the country expects this to grow exponentially in the coming years.

As well as the E-residency programme, Estonia has been trying to draw entrepreneurs to its land in other ways, too. 

The Baltic country announced it would launch a visa for digital nomads – making it the first country in the world to have such a visa. 

It would allow digital nomads to work and travel in Estonia for up to 365 days and give them access to the Schengen Area, allowing them to travel in other EU Member States for up to 90 days.

By Mathew Di Salvo - March 14, 2018

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

MAIN CATEGORIES