15 minutes and 33 seconds.
That is how long it takes to start a business in Estonia from scratch. Estonia currently holds the world record for incorporating a company the fastest. The general ease of the procedure, time and cost of incorporating a business in Estonia is unparalleled as 98% of all companies in Estonia can be established online from anywhere in the world. In Europe, Estonia also ranks as
#1 in unicorns per capita,
#1 in VC investments per capita,
#1 in companies registered per capita and
#1 in OECD tax competitiveness.
Incorporating a company in Estonia is an excellent way to access the European market or operate globally with less friction. Here are the steps you need to take to incorporate your Estonian company online.
PART 1: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START YOUR BUSINESS
STEP 1: Identification
What kind of Identification Document do you have? The first step is to check what kind of digital identity you have that will allow you to incorporate a company online. Who can incorporate an Estonian company online? 1. 'I have an have an Estonian ID card.' If you have an Estonian ID card then you can easily use the online Company Portal at www.rik.ee to incorporate an Estonian company online. 2. 'I have an Estonian e-residency card.' You can also incorporate an Estonian company online through the online Company Portal if you have an Estonian e-residency card. To learn more about how to be an Estonian e-resident, check out this article here 3. 'I hold an ID card from Finland, Latvia or Belgium.' Estonia is great at encouraging entrepreneurship regionally. Therefore, if you have a Finnish, Latvian or Belgian ID-card or Smart-ID you can incorporate an Estonian company and compile online Company Portal applications yourself. However, kindly note that these applications can only be signed using Estonian, Latvian ID-cards or Estonian, Lithuanian Mobile-ID. Unfortunately it is not currently possible to sign these applications using the Finnish ID card, as these are not considered to have the same security level as Estonian ID-cards. 4. 'I don’t have any of the two ID cards.' If you do not have any of the digital identities listed above, you are not left out. You can still register an Estonian company online through a third-party service provider. The service provider can start a shell company online and then transfer this to you. This is a quick and easy process. An appropriate third party provider can be found on the e-resident marketplaces here. OR Alternatively, if you do not want to exercise any of the above options of digital incorporation, you could physically visit a notary public in Estonia to help you prepare and submit your application to incorporate an Estonian company in the analogue way. If you do not want to physically travel to Estonia to visit a notary, you can appoint someone to do this process for you. In the analogue alternative there are additional costs involved such as a legal fee for the drafting of the power of attorney, courier fees, translation fees, notary fees, etc.
STEP 2: Legal Form of the Business
STEP 3: Choose the Business name
STEP 4: Get an address for your business
STEP 5: Shareholders and Management Board
STEP 6: Share Capital Contribution
A visual and explainer video can be seen below:
Visual:
Explainer Video:
References
[1] https://investinestonia.com/an-estonian-startup-created-from-scratch-in-world-record-breaking-15-minutes-at-london-tech-week/ [2] https://investinestonia.com/business-in-estonia/establishing-company/
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