One year ago, Estonia’s e-Residency programme opened its pick-up point in South Africa which is currently based in Centurion, Pretoria.
To mark this momentous occasion, the SA Innovation Summit alongside the e-Residency hosted meet-ups to celebrate e-Residency’s 1-year annivesary of having presence in South Africa.
We hope that those who were part of these sessions were inspired to take on this opportunity and that you are well on your way to expanding your business to the EU.
If you missed the sessions, you can view the presentation here: Estonia’s e-Residency.
Steps to becoming an e-Resident business owner:
- Apply for e-Residency status (€120 fee) – about 95% get a positive decision and 1% are denied. e-Residency status does not oblige you for anything – i.e. you are not obliged to start a company.
- Find a virtual office service provider (offers contact person and address service, bookkeeping is optional) from e-Residency marketplace. Start to know your customer process. Later on you can change your service provider if you wish.
- Pick-up your e-Residency card from a chosen pick-up point (currently in Centurion, Pretoria). Cards are kept there for 6 months. You can request it to be extended.
- Register the company in 15 minutes online. It becomes operational in 1-2 working days. Company can have more than one field of activity. You can check prior if your desired company name is available. State fee for starting an Osaühing (OÜ – Estonian Private limited company) is €265, but many service providers include the cost in first year service package.
- OÜ officially requires €2500 shareholder capital, but it only has to be paid in by the time when you pay out dividends. Estonia is planning to drop the requirement completely.
- Establish an EU fintech or bank account for your company. Here are the options on e-Residency marketplace.
If you are not 100% sure yet whether e-Residency is for you, book a call with Mats Kuuskemaa from the e-Residency team. You can also sign up for the e-Residency newsletter here.
Key use cases for e-Residency:
- Expand to the EU market: serve European clients under EU law within EU single market. Accept instant Euro payments through European bank/fintech account.
- Startups and holding companies for startups.
- Highly mobile founders, e-Residency company can be managed from anywhere. Many e-Residents choose to become digital nomads.
- Founders or directors are in multiple countries: easier to manage the company and bureaucracy.
- E-Commerce and drop-shipping: many service providers can help you establish Amazon or Paypal accounts.
Other top sectors include companies which offer services for an international clientele i.e. IT, app development, web portals, consulting, management consulting, digital marketing, etc.
*Contact details: Mats Kuuskemaa, Head of Business Strategy, e-Residency – mats.kuuskemaa@eas.ee
