Estonian Startups Continue Breaking Records
Estonian Startups Continue Breaking Records
Estonian startups increased their turnover by 57% in the first quarter of 2022, reaching €417 million compared to the same period a year earlier. At the same time, startups raised more than €900 million in investments during the quarter.
In total, Estonian startups secured a record-breaking €906.6 million in funding across 22 investment rounds during the first three months of the year. The average deal size reached €41.2 million, more than four times higher than the average investment round in the first quarter of 2021. Sixteen startups raised investments exceeding €1 million.
According to Eve Peeterson, Head of Startup Estonia, the performance of Estonian startups exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.
“Nearly one billion euros in investments is a figure that even the biggest optimists would not have predicted a year ago. Record investment levels translate into business growth, new jobs, and increased tax revenue for the state. Most importantly, they are a strong signal of quality, demonstrating investors’ confidence in Estonian startups and their future,” said Peeterson.
For comparison, during the first quarter of 2021, Estonian startups raised €194 million through 19 investment rounds, with an average deal size of €10.2 million. Of those deals, 11 exceeded €1 million.
Estonia also gained two new unicorns during the first quarter of 2022. Identity verification company Veriff surpassed a valuation of $1 billion in January, while customer service platform Glia joined the unicorn club in March.
As a result, Estonia reached a total of ten startups founded by Estonians with valuations exceeding $1 billion.
“Only Israel currently has more unicorns per capita than Estonia. Within Europe, Estonia clearly ranks first,” Peeterson noted.
According to the Estonian Startup Database, managed by Startup Estonia, there newly established startups founded during the first quarter had already been added to the database.
Of all startups recorded in the database, 471 companies, or 35%, had been operating for five years or longer.
Kaidi Ruusalepp, President of the Estonian Founders Society and Founder and CEO of , said Estonia can confidently be described as both a unicorn nation and a startup nation.
“Over the years, Estonian startups have created something entirely new for the country: the knowledge and capability required to build and manage global technology companies. You could call this a new national asset or even Estonia’s eleventh unicorn. To continue growing, however, Estonia must also become the world’s best startup ecosystem. Much progress has already been made, but as the saying goes, the devil is in the details,” said Ruusalepp.
Startup sector turnover reached €417 million in the first quarter, representing 57% growth compared to the €265.8 million recorded during the same period in 2021.
The highest-revenue startups during the quarter were:
- /” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Swappie
- – €20.4 million
- Veriff – €13.1 million
- 3Commas – €8.5 million
- .com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Comodule – €7.8 million
- Adcash – €7.8 million
Startup turnover figures are based on VAT declarations submitted to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board and published on a quarterly basis. Therefore, these figures are not directly comparable with data reported in annual financial statements.
Startup Estonia connects and supports Estonia’s startup community. The organization collects data in cooperation with startup founders and publishes statistics based on information from startups, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, and Statistics Estonia. Startup Estonia is a national initiative aimed at developing Estonia’s startup ecosystem, fostering the creation of new startups, and supporting their growth into international success stories. The programme is implemented by the joint organization of KredEx and Enterprise Estonia (EAS), while the science accelerator activities are delivered by SmartCap.
The Startup Estonia programme (project EU50651) is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
