00:02Kickoff for the Latitude 59 tech and startup conference in Estonia's capital Tallinn.
00:08Even the country's president is in attendance, welcoming hundreds of young entrepreneurs and talents from around the world.
00:16And Estonia wants to attract many more, banking on their concept of e-residency.
00:22A digital passport that allows companies to be founded online in Estonia without the founders actually living there.
00:30The small country of 1.3 million hopes this will boost economic growth.
00:36We want to have more companies in Estonia and we also welcome Korean founders because they diversify our own ecosystem.
00:46So we find it very interesting to learn from our e-residents who are foreign founders because they bring a
00:56different set of experience and skill set.
00:59Like Michael Opondo from Kenya.
01:01He became an e-resident in January of 2024, received a startup visa two weeks later and relocated his IT
01:09company Kontorva to Estonia.
01:11The visa is granted to young tech companies with global potential.
01:17Michael had originally wanted to go to Canada, but that proved complicated.
01:22Having a presence in Estonia helps him find customers in Northern Europe.
01:26Most of his employees, meanwhile, mostly programmers, live and work in Kenya, lending IT support to Kontorva's clients.
01:36We keep most of our payroll on the Kenyan side because that keeps our cost very low.
01:42And that enables us to keep moving without the pressure of having to fundraise or have, you know, big money.
01:52Michael feels well supported by the Estonian authorities.
01:56The startup visa also extends to his Kenyan wife and son, who live here as well.
02:02And regular events for startups, e-residents and investors, such as the Latitude 59 conference, have proven invaluable for building
02:10his business.
02:11Nobody is going to realistically do business with you if they have not met you, they have not had a
02:16conversation with you, they don't know what you are all about.
02:20You have to build that relationship and that's what we do in these kind of events.
02:2640,000 e-residents have established companies in Estonia. They hail from all corners of the globe.
02:33Take Imanshu Kumar from Bangalore, India. Back home, he found the bureaucracy involved in running his crypto startup too complicated
02:40to navigate.
02:42From there on, it's like it's been very much easier. It just hardly takes like 10 minutes to file taxes.
02:48And also like if you have to get any other kind of certificate and go and support, it's very much
02:52easier here.
02:53Or consider Vicky Brock from the UK. She sought to gain better access to the EU market from Estonia.
03:00Initially, she worked remotely from Scotland. Now, however, she has no intention of ever leaving the country.
03:07Yeah, it's a really energizing business environment. It's really friendly. It's personal.
03:13It's a small country. You can look people in the eye and trust them, but it's also incredibly efficient.
03:20For Michael Opondo, Estonia has become a springboard. This summer, he plans to relocate his headquarters to Finland.
03:27He sees even greater potential there.
03:31Bigger market, more startups, more companies, bigger budgets as well. More people, demography. It's just a wider market.
03:41However, he has no intention of giving up his business operations in Estonia.
03:46In the long term, Michael plans to continue expanding, including to Western Europe and Asia.
03:52You can see in Gillianista.
03:52All rights remained.
03:53Here's the time.
03:54D Zoom组
03:55He issued an entry from Scamp Lee viaé›»arc
03:55You can see in there.
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