The first half of the year has been extremely successful for the Estonian startup sector. For the first time, the total amount of investments in Estonian startups has exceeded €1 billion and the turnover of all projects increased by 68% to €958 million. Startup Estonia prepared a report on how the first half of 2022 looked for Estonian startup scene. AIN.Capital publishes a brief overview of the Estonian startup scene report with the key facts. 

Investments and Exits

  • The total amount of investments in Estonian startups reached the €1 billion in the first half of 2022, more than quadrupling the sum of investments made in the same time period last year. 
  • In total, there were 44 new investment deals averaging almost €23 million each, 28 of those were worth at least €1 million. 
  • The biggest investment in the first half of 2022 was raised by:
    • Bolt, €628 million in a round that doubled startup’s valuation to €7.4 billion;
  • During the first half of 2022, there were already three acquisition deals in the ecosystem.
    • FinTech startup EveryPay, a platform for receiving payments, was acquired by LHV Group. 
    • Stebby (formerly SportID), the largest wellness service marketplace in the Baltics, announced an exit from Funderbeam platform via management buyout and investment by Livonia Partners. 
    • Supervaisor, building technology to make streets safer with AI and computer vision, was acquired by Motive Technologies.

Startups’ turnover

  • Estonian startups generated a record-breaking €958 million in turnover in the first half of 2022, a 68% increase compared to the same period in 2021, when it amounted at €571 million.
  • Startups with the largest generated turnovers were Bolt with €467 million that is 49% of the whole sector, Veriff with €32 million, Swappie with €25.7 million, Comodule with €18.6 million, and Starship Technologies with €16.4 million.
Estonian startup scene report-1

Employment and Taxes

  • The first half of 2022 is showing a significant rise in people working in the Estonian startup sector. The employee count of Estonian startups has risen 36% in a year, from 7113 to 9692 people employed at the end of the second quarter of 2022.
  • The current top employer is Wise, Bolt, Swappie, Veriff, and Starship Technologies. According to the research, top 5 employers take up 41% of the whole employee count of the Estonian startup sector.
Estonian startup scene report-2
Images: Startup Estonia
  • During the first half of the year, Estonian startups have paid €83.4 million worth of employment taxes, which is 46% more than the employment tax contribution of €57 million at the end of the second quarter of 2021.
  • The largest contributors for the first half of 2022 were FinTech, Transportation & Logistics, Business software, services & HR, CyberTech, and CleanTech  startups.
Estonian startup scene report-3
  • The most employment taxes amongst individual startups were paid by Bolt with €13.8 million, Wise with €11 million, Veriff with €3.7 million, Starship Technologies with €2.1 million, and Monese with €1.8 million.

Salaries in startup sector

  • The Startup Estonia’s analysis shows that average monthly gross salary in Estonian startups over the first half of 2022 was €2,840, which is approximately two times higher than the Estonian average.
  • At the same time, the average salary rate in startups has risen 6% compared to the same time last year — it amounted at €2,685 in first half of 2021.
  • The largest average gross salaries by month were paid in Communication (€3,318), Business software, services & HR (€3,304), Transportation & Logistics (€3,273), CyberTech (€3,180), and FinTech (€2,972).