Estonia Overview - Andrus Viirg - Stanford - Jan 25 2010

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ESTONIA overviewwww.europeanentrepreneursatstanford.com

Andrus Viirg

Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley

andrus.viirg@eas.ee

www.investinestonia.com

www.lifeinestonia.ee

Topics

• Estonia in a nutshell

• business & entrepreneurship

• R&D and innovation

• Estonia & US business connections

• Enterprise Estonia

• ...the big bang theory

ESTONIA

Estonia

Republic of Estonia (1918-1940) regained independence in 1991

Member of EU, NATO (2004)

Population: 1.36 millionTerritory: 17 464 sq mile

Currency board system(since 1992)15.64EEK=1EUR

GDP per capita: 11 830 EUR (2008)

Natural resources:timber, oil-shale

Exports 76% of GDPtransit trade comprising over 80% of the general transport of goods.

economic developments in Estonia

-13,6

-9

4,5 4,5

10,5

5,2

7,8 7,7 87,1

8,1

10,511,4

7,1

-3,6

-14-14,2

-1,6 -0,1

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

real GDP growth (%)

Monetary reform in EStonia

Russian & Asian financial crises

ICT boom & bust

EU membership

Global financial crises

Break-up of the USSR

Estonia: integrating

into Northern Europe

Sweden / Finland main

foreign investment (FDI)

& trade partners

cross border linkages

• banking

• telecommunications

• timber industry

• electronics

• engineering

e-Estonia

e & m services

e-banking (98% non-cash

transactions)

m-parking, m-payments

e-government

electronic ID card

e-taxboard, e-schools,

e-health, e-police, e-elections

…

home of Skype

NATO Cyber Defence Centre

oil-shale Estonia

- electricity (3000 MW)

- crude oil + diesel fuel

- fine chemicals & cosmetics

– Tallinn University of Technology

www.ttu.ee

- 9,500 students

- Technology Park: www.tehnopol.ee

– Tartu University (est. 1632)

www.ut.ee

- 17,745 students

- Tartu Biotechnology Park: www.biopark.ee

- Tartu Science Park

R&D and Universities

innovation

Centres of Excellence: cooperation between

enterprises and R&D institutions (ca 130 mln USD)

– 3 CEs in IT and electronics• Software Technologies and Applications (mainly e-health)

• Electronics & ICT (smart space tecnologies)

• Innovative Engineering & Production Systems (e-factory, e-production)

– 2 CEs in food related research• Food & Fermentation Technology

• Healthy Dairy Products

– 2 CEs in biomedicine• Reproductive Medicine & Biology (diagnostics of infertility)

• Cancer Research (new diagnostic platforms)

– 1 CE in nanotechnology

• (nano-structural gas sensors & functional nano-materials)

Venture Capital

– Ambient Sound Investments: www.asi.ee

– MTVP: www.martinsontrigon.com

– Cresco www.cresco.ee/

– BaltCap www.baltcap.com

Estonian companies in US

US companies in Estonia

• www.fotki.com

• www.fusionone.com

• www.egeeninc.com

• www.oak-biotech.com

• www.artecgroup.com

• www.spmtips.com

• www.modesat.com

• www.raintreeinc.com

• www.mobilenowsolutions.com

• www.ldi.ee

ENTERPRISE ESTONIA

State foundation for Investment, Trade, Technology and

Tourism promotion + the Space Office of Estonia implementing agency of the EU structural funds in Estonia

budget of ca 1.3 billion USD (2007-2013)

about 300 employees

providing financing/grant products, advice, partnership

opportunities and training for entrepreneurs, R&D institutions and

the public and non-profit sectors

Investment & Trade Promotion

– We help international companies to get estonianised

– We help estonian companies to get internationalised

– Foreign offices in Stockholm, Helsinki, London, Hamburg, Moscow,

St. Petersburg , Kiev, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Tokyo

Where the Sun came to rest...

8000 BC: the glaciers are retreating, followed by the reindeer hunters (ancestors of present day Estonians)1000 BC: a direct meteorite hit on Estonia (Bronze Age), the island of Saaremaa (isle of land)

Greek mythology

- Ultima Thule

- Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun

www.investinestonia.com

www.visitestonia.com

www.eas.ee

www.lifeinestonia.ee