Skype is a telecommunications application that specializes in providing video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices, the Xbox One console and smartwatches over the Internet. The company was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström from Sweden and Janus Friis from Denmark. However, the Skype software was created by Estonians Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, Jaan Tallinn, and Toivo Annus. It is often considered to be the pioneer of the Estonian Startup Ecosystem. Many former "Skypers" have created new successful startups.
Weps is cool. But you know what's cooler? Startup Estonia is.
Fortumo is an Estonian carrier billing company which develops a platform for app stores and digital service providers for user acquisition, monetization and retention. Fortumo's products allow digital merchants to manage the lifecycle of mobile users on more than 280 mobile operator networks through bundling, carrier billing and messaging solutions. The company started in 2007 as a spin-off of the mobile services company Mobi Solutions.
In 2020 Fortumo was Acquired by Boku (AIM: BOKU) for 40M € and will continue to operate under its existing brand within the group.
Shipitwise test. 1. 2. 3. 4
Cleveron is the innovation leader in creating robotics-based parcel terminals and developing last mile click and collect pickup solutions for retail and logistics sectors. In 2006, the market leading online furniture store ON24 created their own logistical department, which grew into a logistics company SmartPOST. More importantly, it started to develop unique click and collect solutions, creating hardware and software for automated parcel terminals. In 2007, the name Cleveron was registered. In 2009, Cleveron's SmartPOST parcel terminal network-based delivery service was declared the Logistics Deed of the Year in Estonia. In 2010, the network and the brand name SmartPost were sold to Finnish national post operator Itella Corporation. Cleveron's founders Arno Kütt, Peep Kuld and Indrek Oolup decided to focus solely on creating the innovative click and collect solutions which would change the logistical sector and make everyday lives simpler for everyone. Their product range goes from automated smart lockers to world’s first fully functional parcel robot and world’s biggest robotics-based parcel terminal.
Teleport (website) is an online database of location information with focus on life quality data, which enables users to find suitable cities for living and working according to their personal preferences. Founded by Sten Tamkivi, Silver Keskküla and Balaji Srinivasan, Teleport builds software to move you to the best place to live and work. Explore the best cities based on your personal preferences lend users a hand with preparing and executing the move.
Many Teleport employees were previously building Skype, which was quite effective in making the world smaller in a metaphorical sense. We now aim to make physically rearranging the human population just as easy. Free movement of talent will make every government in the world compete for every citizen.
In 2017 Teleport was acquired by MOVE Guides and was renamed Topia. Read more about the acquisition here. Investments raised: 1,9M €.
Smart-ID is an electronic identification solution which can be used for logging into e-services, for online banking and for signing documents. SK ID Solutions introduced the Smart-ID solution in November of 2016. The Smart-ID app works with iOS and Android operating systems and can be used without a SIM-card. Smart-ID meets EU-s eIDAS regulation demands and European Central Bank's requirements for a reliable authentication tool. In March 2020 Smart-ID had 670 thousand users in three countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), of which 500 thousand were Estonian users.
Smart-ID is an electronic identification solution which can be used for logging into e-services, for online banking and for signing documents. SK ID Solutions introduced the Smart-ID solution in November of 2016. The Smart-ID app works with iOS and Android operating systems and can be used without a SIM-card. Smart-ID meets EU-s eIDAS regulation demands and European Central Bank's requirements for a reliable authentication tool. In March 2020 Smart-ID had 670 thousand users in three countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), of which 500 thousand were Estonian users.
Creative Mobile is an independent game developer and publisher founded by 3 colleagues interested in making games for the Android market. The company quickly evolved into a leading game studio, consistently topping the Android and IOS game charts. Creative Mobile has never raised any funds and is still owned by the original founders.
In 2012 Creative Mobile was named 'Startup of the Year' in Estonia and a PocketGamer Top 50 Developer in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2014 Creative Mobile celebrated 200 million game installs on the Android platform.
They are best known for the Drag Racing series, which defined a new genre of mobile games and became one of the most downloaded franchises of all time with more than 350 million lifetime installs.
Bondora (formerly isePankur) is an international peer-to-peer lending company. Users can lend money from other users (investors), who will earn interests from the money lended. Bondora does not issue loans, but offers administration service, performs background checks on users and facilitates the exchance of money. In 2011, isePankur won the "best e-business" title as an Estonian representative in the World Summit Awards. The name Bondora was adapted because of rapid international growth. Investments raised: 4,5M €.
GrabCAD, Inc. is a free cloud-based collaboration environment that helps engineering teams manage, view and share CAD files. GrabCAD was founded in Estonia in 2009 by current CEO, Hardi Meybaum, and Indrek Narusk as a marketplace to connect engineers with CAD-related jobs. GrabCAD evolved into a community for engineers to share CAD models and moved its HQ to Cambridge, MA in 2011.
On September 16, 2014 GrabCAD was acquired by Stratasys, which is a manufacturer of 3D printers and 3D production systems for office-based rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing solutions. Exit valuation: 77M €.
Guardtime is a software security company that developed a digital signature system based on blockchain technology. Guardtime was founded in Tallinn, Estonia in 2007 by a team of cryptographers and computer scientists. The initial goal was to build a system that would allow information to be validated without centralized trust authorities.
Guardtime replaces trust with digital truth - proof of the correctness of data, networks, system and processes based on formal mathematics, without the reliance on keys, secrets or centralized trust authorities. Their technology enables applications to be built with truth inherent in their design, delivering value wherever there is digital.
In 2015 the company partnered with Ericsson on a cloud computing project.
Investments raised: 7,7M €.
Founded in 2015, Pocosys provides modern banking technologies to fintech companies. It has previously licensed its financial software to companies in Japan, Ghana and the UK.
In 2019, Pocosys was named among the top 3 IT software companies in Estonia by the leading Estonian business newspaper Äripäev.
Pocosys was acquired by Opera in 2020.
Ecofleet is the leading GPS based fleet and team management solutions provider in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. In 2018, Ecofleet was acquired by Fleet Complete. Before the acquisition, 50% of Ecofleet was owned by Ambiet Sound Investments, a company owned by former Skype co-founders. Ecofleet's board of management continued running the company in Baltics and Scandinavia after the acquisition. Exit valuation 13 M EUR. Investments raised: 4-5M €.
Planet OS delivers streamlined access to high-quality weather, climate, and environmental data from the world’s leading providers.
Founded by Rainer Sternfeld, Kalle Kägi, André Karpištšenko and Raido Pikkar, Planet OS's platform allows users to manage and visualise multi-format, large-scale data from numerous sources, enabling operators to see patterns and act on analyses that they may have previously overlooked.
In 2016 and 2017 the company worked with information from more than 150 wind farms, providing data infrastructure, visualisation, monitoring and analytics solutions. In 2017 Planet OS was Acquired by Intertrust. Investments raised: 6,6M €.
ZeroTurnaround was a Java development tools software company founded by Jevgeni Kabanov and Toomas Römer in 2007. As of 2014, and according to Kabanov, the product is in use at 3,500 organizations in 80 countries.
On March 19, 2013 ZeroTurnaround announced the acquisition of Javeleon, a software company spun out of the Maersk McKinney Moeller Institute at the University of Southern Denmark. Javeleon makes productivity tools for Java developers.
ZeroTurnaround was acquired by Rogue Wave Software in 2017. In January 2019, Rogue Wave Software and the legacy ZeroTurnaround software products were acquired by Minneapolis-based application software developer Perforce.
Exit valuation 29 M EUR. Investments raised: 18,9M €.
VitalFields was a digital agriculture company that offered an easy-to-use farm management system for farmers to plan, manage and analyze their field activities, including simplified tracking and reporting of all crop inputs to help ensure compliance with European Union environmental standards. The company was founded in 2011 Tallinn, Estonia by Martin Rand and Vahur Meus.
In 2016, VitalFields was Acquired by The Climate Corporation (subsidiary of Monsanto). Exit valuation: 10-15 M EUR. Investments raised: 1,8M €.
Playtech plc is a gambling software development company founded in 1999 by the Israeli entrepreneur Teddy Sagi in Tartu, Estonia. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed-odds arcade games online. Playtech launched its first casino product in 2001, and since then it has grown to become the world’s leading and largest international designer, developer and licensor of web and mobile application software to the digital gaming industry, whose customers are most of the blue chip companies in this industry (William Hill, Ladbrokes, Bet365 in the UK, Snai and Sisal in Italy, etc.), as well as governments and regulated agencies. In March 2006, Playtech was floated successfully on the AIM market at a valuation of approximately US$ 950 million (approximately £550 million).
Rate.ee is an Estonian social network in which users can manage their profiles, upload photos and also view, rate and comment on pictures of other users. Users can also exchange messages and participate in chatrooms and a forum. The founder of the site is Andrei Korobeinik, who launched Rate on 1st of May 2002. In March 2006, Estonian telecommunications company EMT bought a majority stake of Rate.ee, leaving 49% for Korobeinik's company Rate Solutions Ltd. That exit is valuated at 5 M EUR.
Skeleton Technologies is Europe’s leading ultracapacitor manufacturer. It was founded in 2009 by Oliver Ahlberg and Taavi Madiberk and the development of space capacitors started in 2011. Today, SkelCap ultracapacitors, based on patented “curved graphene” represent the biggest technological advancement in the industry in the last 20 years. Ultracapacitors excel where other energy storage technologies fail and can help companies that otherwise might not be able to hybridize or electrify their businesses.
Investments raised: 40M €
Realeyes is a leader in computer vision and emotion AI that empowers companies to create remarkable customer experiences. Over 150 leading marketers and publishers like Mars Inc., AT&T, Warner Media and Teads rely on Realeyes to measure human response at the speed and scale of AI. The company was founded by Elnar Hajiyev, Jan Harley, Martin Salo and Mihkel Jäätma.
Investments raised: 29,2M €.
Skeleton Technologies is Europe’s leading ultracapacitor manufacturer. It was founded in 2009 by Oliver Ahlberg and Taavi Madiberk and the development of space capacitors started in 2011. Today, SkelCap ultracapacitors, based on patented “curved graphene” represent the biggest technological advancement in the industry in the last 20 years. Ultracapacitors excel where other energy storage technologies fail and can help companies that otherwise might not be able to hybridize or electrify their businesses.
Investments raised: 40M €
Skeleton Technologies is Europe’s leading ultracapacitor manufacturer. It was founded in 2009 by Oliver Ahlberg and Taavi Madiberk and the development of space capacitors started in 2011. Today, SkelCap ultracapacitors, based on patented “curved graphene” represent the biggest technological advancement in the industry in the last 20 years. Ultracapacitors excel where other energy storage technologies fail and can help companies that otherwise might not be able to hybridize or electrify their businesses.
Investments raised: 40M €
Pipedrive is a cloud-based sales software company. It is the maker of the web application and mobile app Pipedrive, a sales customer relationship management (CRM) tool for salespeople in scaling companies. Pipedrive aims to improve the productivity of businesses through the use of their software.
Pipedrive was founded on June 21, 2010 by Timo Rein, Urmas Purde, Ragnar Sass, Martin Tajur and Martin Henkit and it has become one of the five Estonian unicorns. In 2016, Timo Rein and Dominic Butera became the company’s co-chief executive officers (CEO). In 2011, Pipedrive joined AngelPad. It was the only European startup of the 15 teams the accelerator hosted. In June 2018, the company launched Pipedrive for Financial Services, intended to optimize financial sales activities.
In 2020 Pipedrive took majority investment from Vista Equity Partners and reached
unicorn status.
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a London-based online money transfer service founded in January 2010 by Estonians. Wise was founded by Taavet Hinrikus, Skype's first employee, and financial consultant Kristo Käärmann and it has become one of the seven Estonian unicorns and in 2021 the first Estonian decacorn (Wise went public by a direct listing on London Stock Exchange on 7 July 2021). As Estonians working between their native country and the UK, they had personal experience of the "pain of international money transfer" due to bank charges on the amounts they needed to convert from euros to pounds and vice versa. Wise has been profitable since 2017 and today, Wise serves more than 11 million people and businesses. With the Wise account, customers hold balances in over 50 currencies, and use Wise debit card to shop and spend while abroad.
Investments raised: 339,4M €.
Click & Grow builds smart gardens that bridge the gap between modern life and nature. Click & Grow was founded in 2009 by Mattias Lepp and the first Smartpot was launched in 2012. After continuous product development during the following years, The Smart Garden 9 entered the market in 2017.
Investments raised: 13M €
Click & Grow builds smart gardens that bridge the gap between modern life and nature. Click & Grow was founded in 2009 by Mattias Lepp and the first Smartpot was launched in 2012. After continuous product development during the following years, The Smart Garden 9 entered the market in 2017.
Investments raised: 13M €
Click & Grow builds smart gardens that bridge the gap between modern life and nature. Click & Grow was founded in 2009 by Mattias Lepp and the first Smartpot was launched in 2012. After continuous product development during the following years, The Smart Garden 9 entered the market in 2017.
Investments raised: 13M €
The wheel started rolling in 2007 when Adcash was founded by a team of French entrepreneurs in a small suburban kitchen in Estonia. Today Adcash is one of the biggest players in the online advertising industry. The core of their business relies on creating bleeding-edge technologies to produce the highest performing ad formats, the best self-service platform in the industry and the most profitable solutions for publishers. Adcash has 200 M unique users per day and they serve 195 countries. Adcash headquarters is in Estonia (Tallinn), while they also have teams working in Spain (Barcelona) and Bulgaria (Sofia). Investments raised: 20M €