Skype put the Estonian startup scene on the map when it become a globally used tool, eventually acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for 8.5 billion USD.
Today, the country has become a hub for tech growth and innovation, with a tight-knit community working together to support each other. On Twitter, startup innovators and entrepreneurs call themselves the Estonian Mafia, but their reach extends far beyond the Baltics.
Check out these 25 impressive startups that could become the next Skype.
ZeroTurnaround
In 2006, Jevgeni Kabanov created a product to reduce the redeployment bottleneck that comes with writing Java code and testing it on remote servers. With JRebel, ZeroTurnaround’s primary Javascript tool, coders can write and view code changes without redeploying it to the server.
Today, ZeroTurnaround has offices in Boston and Prague, with two branches in Tallinn and Tartu. Their global team of 150 serve more than 65,000 active users in 80 countries.
Creative Mobile
Creative Mobile is an independent game developer based in Tallinn. Founded in 2010 and best know for the Drag Racing series (one of the most downloaded franchises, with 250 million lifetime installs), the company continues to create popular, engaging mobile games because it hires the best people.
Taxify
With 75 employees and 1.5 million USD in funding, Taxify is one of the fastest-growing transport technology companies in the Baltics. The app allows customers to call for a reliable taxi within minutes. Established in 2013, the app is now available in Mexico and 10 countries in Europe with plans to expand into more.
Fortumo
Founded in 2007, Fortumo has been profitable since 2009 because of its founders’ dedication to constantly staying ahead of the market. They are a global provider of direct carrier billing that covers payments in 96 markets and 350 mobile operator networks. Their primary focus is emerging markets, and they were the first carrier billing providers in China, India and Kenya.
AdCash
AdCash is a real-time advertising trading platform that tries to maximize exposure while ensuring its clients get qualified consumers in front of their brands. They pride themselves on their clean and simple interface, which makes ad management easy. Based in Tallinn, they boast a team of 200 individuals of 18 nationalities.
Ridango
Incorporated in 2009, Ridango is a spin-off of the Estonian Certification Centre and creates turnkey ticketing systems that provide real-time information for public transit authorities. Hop on a train in Estonia, and you’re likely to see their ticketing systems. Their systems can also be found in Sweden and Greenland, with investments in Mexico.
Bondora
Bandora is a peer-to-peer lending platform that boasts at least a 10 percent return on investments. They have more than 19,000 users who have invested 74 Million EUR since the company was founded in 2008. They work with low-experience investors who are risk-averse but still want to grow their money.
AirPatrol
Founded in 2012, AirPatrol offers smarthome automation for heating and air conditioning systems. Users can remotely control the temperature from their homes, increase efficiency for lower utility bills, and check the weather to adjust their heating and cooling needs.
Digital Sputnik
Digital Sputnik develops LED systems that reduce the cost and infrastructure of television and cinematic lighting systems. As content creation continues to evolve in the digital world, the company is responding to demand by simplifying the lighting process, thereby lowering the barriers to entry to create high-quality video entertainment.
Lingvist
Lingvist offers language learning software with an adaptive algorithm for faster learning. It also prioritises the statistical importance of words, so users aren’t bogged down with phrases that are rarely used. The company was founded by Mait Müntel, who worked at the Hadron collider at CERN but struggled to learn French. The company received seed funding 2013 and now boasts a learning community of 300,000 people around the world.
Pocopay
Pocopay advertises itself as a bank account for young people. Users can download the app to enjoy mobile, user-friendly banking that’s fairly priced. The company was founded in 2014 and has branches in Estonia, Ireland, Holland, Spain and Finland.
TaxiStartup
TaxiStartup is a dispatch platform for taxis and limos across the world. More than 200 fleets are connected to the app, helping smaller taxi companies increase their exposure and therefore revenue. It also allows these companies to accept credit card payments through the app. Founded in 2012, the company has offices in Tallinn, New York City, Lima and Minsk.
Teamweek
Teamweek is a visual calendar and project planner that makes managing timelines more fun. The founders believe life is a priority over work, and their tool can free your time so you can focus on doing the things you love. The team calls themselves a bunch of highly-skilled slackers, and that team boasts two support dogs — Hugo and Friday — who manage the office.
Toggl
Based in Tallinn, Toggl is time tracking software for employers and contractors. Managers can make sure their employees are staying on track and managing their time wisely, while contractors can manage client relationships and billing. The app boasts more than 1.75 million Togglers.
Plumbr
The goal of Plumbr is to make Java applications faster and more reliable. The tool offers performance monitoring and problem cause detection. It can even find the exact problem in a line of code, making those issues easier for developers to fix. Plumbr was founded in 2011 off of research by founder Ph.D. Vladimir Šor at the University of Tartu.
Shipitwise
Shipitwise is a platform that allows organisations to outsource their logistics department and automate shipping. They currently ship to many Baltic cities and are expanding into the rest of Europe, including Amsterdam, Paris and Hamburg. They want to encourage makers to create amazing things and help them get their creations into the hands of customers.
Fleep
Fleep was founded by Skype alumni in 2013 as a messenger app for teams and projects. They wanted to marry the process of email and real-time messaging. The app is currently available in the App Store and Google Play. They are based in Tallinn and Tartu.
Clickatick
While this startup is based in Pärnu, its fanbase is quickly growing around the world. Clickatick offers easy booking for tours and attractions for travellers. Though the service is currently in beta, users can find sightseeing tours, food experiences, air activities and cruises for the best prices in one place.
GoWorkaBit
This website allows employers to post short-term jobs when they’re understaffed or just need an extra set of hands for an event. There are more than 83,000 job seekers on GoWorkaBit and more than 2,000 employers registered. The site also allows managers to rate employees to weed out poor performers. Goworkabit was founded in 2013 by HR professionals struggling to find action-teams for short-term work.
Teleport
Teleport helps job-seekers find the best cities for them to live in. They can search based on criteria that matters to them — like living costs, quality of life and cultural activities — or they can focus on career fields or nearby universities. The company currently has quality-of-life data for 264 cities and continues to grow. The software was created by Skype alumni who have lived across the world, from Tartu to Beijing to the Galápagos Islands.
Sportlyzer
Based on the belief that coaches should be coaching instead of trying to manage the schedules of their teams, Sportlyzer offers easy team management. Coaches can quickly mark attendance on their phones, know who’s coming to practice by sending notifications and invites, and share schedules with their teams so they can arrive on time. More than 14,000 coaches use this tool for their 140,000 athletes.
Deekit
Deekit was also built by Skype alumni with the idea of making remote work easier. The Tallinn-based team launched their virtual whiteboard in 2015 to help companies, contractors, and teachers share notes and ideas visually across the web. They want to make remote workflows easier across cultural and language differences.
AddGoals
With AddGoals, users can create public or private goals that they want to achieve either in the short term or long term. They can create step-by-step plans to achieve them and track their progress, while getting help from the community. AddGoals users cheer each other on to complete their tasks while offering advice and assistance when possible, creating a helpful and positive environment for everyone.
Esensorics
Esensorics provides immediate feedback, data collection and reporting for your product testing needs. Companies are able to quickly create surveys and push them out to customers to learn how they feel about products and the company. Their goal is to help the food and beverage industry test new products and develop ones that will perform well.
Fundwise
Fundwise is a crowdsourcing platform to raise money for your business, project or nonprofit. It’s a way for entrepreneurs to get investments over the course of 30-45 days so they can focus on building their organisations instead of just raising money for it. The Fundwise team is based in Tallinn and is a proud team of six.
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