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Estonia is now on the verge of breaking into the top 10 most prolific startup ecosystems, as it has climbed to 11th place globally in the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025. Even more impressive is the capital city Tallinn’s breakthrough into the global top 50 for the first time, jumping six spots to reach 49th place.
Record growth results
According to the ranking, Estonia experienced an impressive 34% annual ecosystem growth rate, surpassing Australia. It now edges closer to the global top 10, with less than a 1% score gap separating it from the Netherlands in 10th place.
“Estonia’s rise as a global startup hub is no coincidence — it is the result of relentless innovation, digital-first governance, and a bold entrepreneurial spirit,” said Erkki Keldo, Minister of Economy and Industry. The country has maintained its position as the 5th-ranked startup ecosystem in the European Union for the second consecutive year.
Estonia’s ranking positions
A similar, but just as impressive, leap belongs to Tallinn. The city has shown consistent upward momentum, climbing from 66th place in 2020 to its current 49th position. Within the European Union, Tallinn now ranks 9th, closing in on Copenhagen with less than a 1% gap between the two cities.
The city’s startup ecosystem is highly concentrated, with Tallinn’s total score nearly 21 times higher than Estonia’s second-largest startup hub, Tartu. This has created a powerful cluster effect, particularly in the transportation sector, where Tallinn ranks 12th globally and 2nd in the EU. No wonder Estonian-made autonomous vehicles are cruising Japan and the US while Bolt races to be Europe’s most valuable startup.
Overall, the local startup ecosystem generated $266.9M in funding in 2024. The tech industry is also heavily supported, note the authors. The Estonian government has played a crucial role through innovative initiatives like e-Residency, Nomad Visas, and comprehensive digitisation efforts. The Work in Estonia programme has been particularly effective in addressing talent challenges, helping to double the country’s international talent pool over the past five years. As for the newly-emerged sectors like DefenceTech, the government committed a unique €100M Defence Fund to boost R&D-heavy production.
Yet this is only the beginning. The government’s ambitious goal, outlined in the Startup Estonia White Paper 2021–2027, aims to grow the startup and technology sector to 15% of national GDP by 2025.
