Record-Breaking Year for Estonian Startup Investments
By Kadri Barclay, Head of Marketing at LIFT99
We are thrilled to announce that 2018 is going to be a record year for Estonian startups! 6 months in, we're just €30 M short of swooshing by last year's results.
Here's a handy chart we put together based on #EstonianMafia's crowdsourced data. It shows the last 9 years of investments into Estonian Startups, to date (June 14, 2018):
You might be wondering who are the big players in this field?
With the current standing, Transferwise is in the lead with €335,600,000 raised over the years. They are followed by Taxify with €151,970,000 and a fresh position in the Unicorn club because of Taxify's latest investment round in May 2018.
The third place, however, is where things get interesting. In June 2018, Pipedrive left behind Skeleton Technologies and Starship Technologies, with their investment round of €50M. That adds up to €77,131,000 on Pipedrive's account.
What's still to come in 2018
Allan Martinson, Estonian startup entrepreneur & investor predicts that by the end of the year Estonia will be "in Top 3 of the world’s leading tech countries alongside the United States and Israel, based on the venture funding per capita".
We know that many startups are still preparing their rounds. Martinson estimates that 2018 will close with €350 M raised by Estonian startups. That means €270 or $314 per each of Estonia’s 1.3 million inhabitants. "In 2017, average venture funding in Europe was $30 per capita, or 10 times less. The UK had $120, Sweden $136, United States $250, and Israel – the world leader - $368 per capita," he adds.
This is a whole new chapter for Estonian startup scene, and Estonia in general.
Top 7 Watchlist for 2018:
Now, there is no question whether or not Estonian startups will break the record in 2018. It is a good time, however, to ask WHO will seal the deal. Here is our own watchlist of startups to keep an eye on in 2018:
What's your guess - who's next?