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Startup Visa
Published on 02 December 2019
Estonia
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
Estonia struggles with lack of talent as stated in Estonian cybersecurity strategy. On 18 January 2017 the Estonian Startup Visa was launched and it was seen as a new and promising opportunity for Estonian startups and the whole Estonian startup ecosystem for bringing in talent from all over the world and start developing an even more international and diverse community. Before the Startup Visa programme was established, the legislation for foreigners set various requirements that startups generally were not able to fulfil. For example, in order to have a residence permit, a normal company should have at least 65000 EUR in capital, in order to invest this in business activity in Estonia. Due to the nature of startups, it is not easy to fulfil such requirements in the first few years of business, it is more or less impossible.
Startup Estonia is working on creating a full-service for the countries they have seen the most interest from and also expanding to new target markets which can benefit the most from the Estonian business environment.
As Estonia is one of the most digitally advanced societies in the world, strengthening the cybersecurity startup ecosystem has been a governmental focus area since 2017. The Startup Estonia team has a member whose role is to find the factors in the startup ecosystem which help to create new cyber security startups and support the growth of existing startups.
Startup Estonia is working on creating a full-service for the countries they have seen the most interest from and also expanding to new target markets which can benefit the most from the Estonian business environment.
As Estonia is one of the most digitally advanced societies in the world, strengthening the cybersecurity startup ecosystem has been a governmental focus area since 2017. The Startup Estonia team has a member whose role is to find the factors in the startup ecosystem which help to create new cyber security startups and support the growth of existing startups.
Expert opinion
This is a good practice of talent attraction. Startup Visa has been a relatively successful measure to attract third country nationals to set up their company in Estonia. Regular migration restrictions have been lessened for those who seek to establish a startup business in the country. However, the business ideas validity is strictly assessed by a special committee before granting the visa.
The Startup Visa has already attracted more than a hundred founders to set up their startups in the country. According to the latest figures (March 5, 2020) the Startup Visa has helped close to 500 startup founders and 1350 employees to relocate to Estonia to either work on their companies or to work for an Estonian startup. It has been calculated that in 2019 the economic impact of the Startup Visa was 17.5 million euros in turnover.
Although many European countries seek to attract innovative entrepreneurs and startups from non-EU countries, Estonia’ s Startup Visa has stood out as an attractive option. According to the European Migration Network synthesis report “Migratory Pathways for Start-Ups and Innovative Entrepreneurs in the European Union“ (December 2019), in 2018, the highest number of applications for start-up schemes was recorded in Estonia (783), followed by Spain (305); Lithuania (178); the Netherlands (127); Finland (108); Italy (92); Ireland (42) and Cyprus (7).
Therefore other policy makers could learn from this good practice of talent attraction.
The Startup Visa has already attracted more than a hundred founders to set up their startups in the country. According to the latest figures (March 5, 2020) the Startup Visa has helped close to 500 startup founders and 1350 employees to relocate to Estonia to either work on their companies or to work for an Estonian startup. It has been calculated that in 2019 the economic impact of the Startup Visa was 17.5 million euros in turnover.
Although many European countries seek to attract innovative entrepreneurs and startups from non-EU countries, Estonia’ s Startup Visa has stood out as an attractive option. According to the European Migration Network synthesis report “Migratory Pathways for Start-Ups and Innovative Entrepreneurs in the European Union“ (December 2019), in 2018, the highest number of applications for start-up schemes was recorded in Estonia (783), followed by Spain (305); Lithuania (178); the Netherlands (127); Finland (108); Italy (92); Ireland (42) and Cyprus (7).
Therefore other policy makers could learn from this good practice of talent attraction.
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
Support has been crucial from the Ministry of Interior, as well as the Police and Border Guard Board, who directly works with Startup Estonia on this programme. There is currently one project manager who works on the project full-time. All the applications are assessed by a seven-member committee.
Evidence of success
Startup Estonia has received over 1100 applications from companies across sector for the Startup Status and 931 people altogether have relocated to Estonia already or granted the right to do so. There are currently around 650 startups in Estonia and 155 of them have come to Estonia trough Startup Visa programme. 42 startups are active in Cyber security field and 31% of these startups have come to Estonia through Startup Visa programme.
Potential for learning or transfer
Startup Visa should be a programme that is relatively easy to transfer to other regions. Every region/state have their own legislation and processes, meaning it will be hard to predict what exactly needs to be done to transfer it, but in Estonia it just meant a small modification to the National Foreigners Act.
Startup Visa can be a very useful tool for regions that struggle with the same issue as Estonia – lack of talent. This programme gives easier access to third country employees who might not always be so easy to find and recruit, as well as for foreign business to benefit from the local business environment (tax system, community, etc.).
Startup Visa can be a very useful tool for regions that struggle with the same issue as Estonia – lack of talent. This programme gives easier access to third country employees who might not always be so easy to find and recruit, as well as for foreign business to benefit from the local business environment (tax system, community, etc.).
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
KredEx
Estonia
Eesti
Contact
Policy Analyst