Over 300 Indian startups set up base in Estonia under e-Residency scheme 

Estonia e-residency programme seems to be attracting a lot of people, including budding entrepreneurs from India.

In just four years since its inception, around 2,300 people have enrolled in the e-residency programme and set up about 307 companies in Estonia, according to Riho Kruuv, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia.

More than one thousand Indians applied for e-residency mostly were from startups and other tech-related sectors last year alone.

In terms of the number of e-residents, India is at a ninth position behind China. Though, India is ahead of China in the number of companies set up in Estonia.

Finland is numero uno on the list of countries from where people have applied for e-Residency, followed by nations like Russia, Ukraine, Germany, the US, and the UK.

E-residency is basically a government-issued digital ID that offers freedom to any world citizen to start and run a global EU company fully online anywhere. Using the digital ID, e-residents can open a bank account, sign documents digitally, and set up a business in Estonia.

What appeals to most of the entrepreneurs is the point that e-Residents can establish an Estonian company that they can from anywhere to serve clients based in some other country. E-residents would be able to use his digital signature to sign contracts with customers throughout the European Union. All of it would be done online, remotely, and completely hassle-free.

Besides, Estonia has a unique income tax system where corporate income tax is charged on profit distribution only. It is capped at 20 per cent.

After its inception in 2014, the programme has grown into a 50k residents club which includes big names such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, Pope Francis, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

For Reliance Jio, Ambani had set up a research centre in Estonia last year. The Telangana state government and Estonia had also signed an MoU for cooperation on IT, cybersecurity and blockchain Technology.

Estonia is reported to be the first to embrace e-residency programme.

In the last ten years, Estonia has become one of the success stories of Europe. About 99 per cent of Estonian public services is available on the Internet round the clock. Since 2000, all government services in the Baltic state are offered online and all documents are electronically accessible.

The development info sourced from PTI report via Business Standard.