e-Residency

e-Residency is a unique product that enables founders to set-up and run their businesses 100% online and remotely. Estonia was the first country in the world to enable it in 2014. To-date, the programme has attracted 108,000 entrepreneurs, startup founders and freelancers from over 180 countries, many of the operating in e-commerce.

In 2022, we broke the world record in fastest establishment of a company in 15 minutes and 33 seconds.

e-Residency offers remote access to EU market for founders who are based in other parts of the world. For non-EU founders, an e-Residency founded Estonian company also gives access to platforms i.e. Amazon or payment methods i.e. Paypal to residents of countries which sometimes lack this access.

Due to lower level of bureaucracy and a unique tax system offered by Estonia, founders can invest more time in growing their e-commerce businesses. More recently EU’s OSS scheme enables VAT payments to other EU Member States with significantly lesser bureaucracy.

Estonia was one of the first countries in Europe which adopted the One Stop Shop scheme, allowing e-Commerce businesses to pay VAT to all EU Member States through Estonia's fully digitalised e-Tax office.

e-Residency programme has over the past year been trying to offer better access to our business community to Estonia's startup ecosystem, enabling business owners to access Estonia's acceleration programmes and onbarding startup ecosystem organisations to e-Residency marketplace.

Similarly work continues to enable cardless e-Residency and distant verification for e-Resident ID card holders.

We have a wide community of founders from all geographies and all walks of life. I am adding a few use cases from e-Commerce field:

Krystel Abi Assi: Online selling guru Krystel Assi: e-Residency changed my life — sTARTUp Day - Most Startup-Minded Business Festival

Cosmetics business grown through e-Commerce: https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/blog/posts/from-the-deep-blue-sea-to-e-residency/

e-Residency guidance and webinar to help set-up e-Commerce businesses: https://learn.e-resident.gov.ee/hc/en-us/articles/360002548698-E-commerce-general-overview

https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/