Estonia was the first country to offer e-Residency – a government-issued digital identity that allows entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world to start and manage a paperless EU-based company fully online. To date the e-Residency of Estonia has attracted over 96000 entrepreneurs, freelancers and startup founders from 179 countries including 4100 UK nationals. With 99% of public services online, the country’s startup ecosystem does not disappoint either, having bred the founders of Skype, Bolt, Wise and others, meaning the tiny country has the most unicorn businesses per capita of any other country in Europe. With goods, services, data and people not moving as easily anymore between UK and European Union, many have found a solution in e-Residency as a fully online alternative way to establish an EU base.
Speaker:
Ülane Vilumets leads the team that is responsible for ecosystem development and partnerships at e-Residency. Before joining the team Ülane was an entrepreneur and a startup founder herself, having built a travel app and site with half a million monthly visitors. With her experiences ranging from offline as well as online business, she understands the challenges of SMEs engaging in cross-border trade very well.