This article is written by Nardine B. M’barek, a Contributor Author at Startup Turkey.
While attending Startup Istanbul 2017, Kaspar Korjus gave us the honor of
presenting to us e-Estonia, an innovative idea thanks to which entrepreneurship
became much easier. With the digitized nation, everything is easier and cheaper. E-
Estonia is named the most advanced digital society in the world by Wired 1. In this
article, we are going to discover what exactly is e-Estonia, and e-Residency, as well
as how did it emerge.
It was because of the will of making the people comfortable and making their
lives easier, that e-Estonia was created. A whole nation that is run digitally, with
people joining in every day, and enjoying the different services that are provided by
the digitized society.
E-Estonia now counts 25.000 e-residents. With the rising number of people that are
constantly applying to join e-Estonia, Mr. Korjus estimates that in 10 years or less, the
number of EU companies ran through the online platform will rise significantly,
especially that it gives you the chance to establish an EU company within a single
day, run it online and do everything legal online as well. E-Estonia is definitely a
nation for everyone that wishes to build a successful life, without much physical
effort needed.
E-Residency started to empower entrepreneurs everywhere thanks to its services and
opportunities. It constructs a way to success for those brilliant minds who were
stopped by the blocking stones of physical barriers. Thus, thanks to it, anyone,
anywhere in the world, can now create and run a company without difficulties.
In order to join e-Estonia, three simple steps need to be followed; the first step is to
fill in a short application form on the website of the digitized society, with paying 100€
as an entry fee, and just wait for the approval. That being done, the second step is
very easy as well. Applicants only need to choose a virtual office provider and
register their company online, the state fee is just 190€, after that, they can open
accounts for business banking and payment processing. The third step is to simply
run the business remotely from wherever the e-resident is. They will have the chance
to choose from the list of trusted service providers offering tailored services for all
their business fees an assistant to run their virtual offices, also an accountant to keep
track of their earnings.
Mr. Korjus emphasized on the fact that the world is becoming a global place, meaning
that the existence of physical barriers is already enough and that there should not be
any digital barriers anywhere. That is the main goal of e-Estonia; making the world
boundaries. E-Estonia, of course, offers various solutions for its citizens. For instance,
if you are a digital nomad, and you want to run your company when you move to
another country, e-Residency is definitely the answer to that.
Mr. Korjus described what he called “Estonia’s gift to the world” as giving the
opportunity to everyone who wishes to start a new life, and build their proper
company, to be recognized globally, not minding the physical borders existing. He
also mentioned that thanks to e-Estonia, other nations are now adopting a technology,
and becoming fully digitalized: which is what e-Estonia exactly wants.
The fact that e-Estonia opened to the world, and started providing worldwide citizens
with its digitized services, is in itself, a revolutionary act in both the fields of
technology and entrepreneurship and to the world’s future overall.
1 Wired is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses
on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé
Nast, it is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has been in publication since
March/April 1993.
