Estonia celebrates a major milestone as the global e-Resident community surpasses 100,000 members after less than a decade.

Since its rollout in 2014, e-Residency has supported the creation of 23,200+ new Estonian companies. Altogether, 30% of Estonian startups have e-residents among the founders, and 20% of Estonian companies registered annually in the last three years are created by e-residents.

Euronews writes how Estonia, already having the most unicorns per capita in Europe, is building a unicorn stable through its e-Residency programme to have 25 unicorns by 2025. It means just an additional 15 unicorns.

Hailed as the world’s first government startup, e-Residency has created a global community that’s reshaping our understanding of how nation states can, and should, improve their user experience. The possibilities, say two former managing directors, are endless.

Kaspar Korjus, e-Residency’s ex-CEO and co-founder of Pactum, finds that Estonia is a great place for businesses to start conquering the world: “You are faster, because the initial seed round investments come very easily and efficiently in Estonia.“

It all started from recognition that in the digital 21st century the physical borders of countries no longer matter – citizens can choose their place of residence digitally and Estonia, with its e-Residency programme, has been a pathfinder in building a digital society.

Estonian Government invests €600,000 in funding for four early-stage business ideas to find a new success story such as e-Residency, a “government startup” launched 5 years ago that has brought 31 MEUR in direct income so far.

Tanibox OÜ develops their high-tech agricultural business from Indonesia as an EU company with team members and partners in both Europe and Asia – all thanks to Estonia’s unique digital identity system e-Residency.

When Estonia launched its e-Residency scheme five years ago, it was a leap into the dark. But nowadays the programme is boosting economic growth, tax revenues, and the country’s profile through an emerging generation of global, highly-mobile entrepreneurs.

Brexit is likely to make things difficult for citizens and businesses in the UK. Losing access to the EU could make trade and relationships especially hard. One way around this is by using Estonia’s e-Residency scheme.

According to Deloitte, from every euro put into the e-residency programme Estonia will get 101 in return.

Estonia became the first country to offer e-Residency 3 years ago & now has nearly 30,000 people from 139 countries signed up. Happy birthday, e-Residency!