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The post Weekly funding round-up! All of the European startup funding rounds we tracked this week (Jul 07 – Jul 11) appeared first on EU-Startups.

Venture.Community, the South Yorkshire-based co-operative of entrepreneurs and Founders, has officially launched its first co-fund, part of a wider €115 million investment mission aimed at fostering ethical startup growth.

Announced during the opening of its new Investor Hub at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, the co-fund will back Pre-Seed and Seed-stage companies within its accelerator programme.

“We can expect our international partners to commit between $10 million to 30 million into South Yorkshire startups within the next three-to-five years,” Venture.Community Founder, Peter Hopton, said during the launch.

Founded in 2024, Venture.Community set out with a five-year pledge to unlock €115 million in VC funding. The co-fund’s structure is deliberately decentralised and community-driven, offering Founders more than just capital – it includes guidance, mentorship and a connection to wider commercial networks.

The co-operative, founded on principles of fairness and open collaboration, aims to enable startups and investors to negotiate on equal terms, sidestepping the traditional dominance of venture capital houses over term sheets.

This model, according to Venture.Community, enhances market access and ensures better alignment between founders and financiers.

The co-operative’s accelerator programme has already seen early success, with six startups currently participating: AddParts, Future Greens, Gold Standard Phantoms, Tickets for Good and TUBR. These companies span industries including manufacturing, HealthTech and social impact.

Hopton noted the strong early performance: “Venture.Community’s first cohort since FCA registration has begun and there are six excellent companies that are already making great progress with strategy and commercial traction.”

He added that the regional impact goes beyond the cohort: “For 2024, over £12 million in investment can be traced back to our demo days and open entrepreneurial education events. There’s also strong interest elsewhere in both new co-funds and new ‘Venture.Communities’ in other regions.”

Venture.Community says they are responding to an identified need in South Yorkshire: a region with a deep talent pool in engineering and technology but historically lacking in early-stage capital and startup education.

The Investor Hub, now open at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, will host events year-round and connect Founders with mentors-in-residence. It aims to bridge this gap by offering direct access to funding and experienced guidance.

Hopton explained the broader ecosystem benefits: “This is also critical in South Yorkshire, where we have great engineers and technology but insufficient access to entrepreneurial education and early-stage investment. Our membership includes experienced entrepreneurs that co-operate to help Founders build promising companies as well as enable access to networks for finance and customers..”

The Investor Hub launch on 08 July 2025 brought together Founders, investors and public officials. Speakers included representatives from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), Mercia Asset Management, Medici Ventures and the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA), reflecting the growing momentum for the region’s startup ecosystem.

The post Founders first: Venture.Community’s new co-fund reshapes early-stage investment access appeared first on EU-Startups.

Oslo-based B2B payments platform Two today announced a €13 million strategic funding round to fuel Two’s expansion into the US and select Western European markets.

The round was led by Idékapital and Shine Capital, with participation from new investor Investinor and existing backers Antler, Sequoia Capital, Alliance Ventures, Arkwright, and Local Globe. This brings Two’s total funding to over €40 million to date.

Andreas Mjelde, CEO & Co-founder of Two, said: “We are the ‘Two’ in B2B, and we’re on a mission to make selling on net terms as easy as accepting card payments. We’ve proven that merchants want flexible payment solutions built for how businesses actually buy, not just consumer tools rebranded for B2B. We will leverage the capital injection to scale with large and global enterprise businesses, and we’re excited to add strong institutional investors with a long-term investment horizon like Investinor and Idékapital to the team.”

Founded in 2021, Two was created with a bold mission of making B2B transactions as seamless as consumer checkouts. Its platform offers instant upfront payments to sellers, flexible net terms for buyers, and AI-powered fraud prevention.

With a diverse team spread across 15 countries and offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Glasgow, London, as well as collaborations with leading financial institutions such as Allianz, Santander and ABN AMRO, Two aims to become a trusted payment enabler for B2B companies throughout Europe.

Kristian Øvsthus, Managing Partner at Idékapital – who will serve as a board observer, added: “We invested in Two because of the exceptional ambition and talent of the founding team. With deep international experience and a​ diverse, world-class team, they are uniquely positioned to scale globally. B2B payments is a massive and still largely untapped market. Two stands out through their combination of a powerful and modular software, deep understanding of the network effects in their industry and their dedication to solving a big problem. We believe they have what it takes to build a global category leader.”

Less than three months after its official launch in the US, the market already represents more than 20% of total revenue for the company.

The funding will also support further development of Two’s fully productised B2B payments infrastructure, which includes its proprietary risk engines, Frida and Delphi, an end-to-end business onboarding solution and embedded deferred payment capabilities tailored specifically for business transactions, already deployed by over 200 of merchants across the Nordics and Europe.

Mo Koyfman, Founder & General Partner at Shine Capital, noted: “The B2B payments market is approaching $100 trillion in volume, and is largely still processed with checks by Accounts Payable departments. Over the coming years, as we’ve increasingly seen with consumer payments, this market will also digitise. Two, and its experienced, ambitious team, is helping lead this transition with instant underwriting, seamless terms, and a global footprint, serving some of the largest companies in the world.”

The latest round comes amid accelerating momentum for the company, with both revenue and payment volume projected to grow more than 150% year-over-year in 2025. \

Two has also entered into partnerships with Visa, ABN AMRO, Qliro, Avarda, and Wikinggruppen over the past six months.

The company says they are riding the broader wave of digitisation in B2B payments, as businesses seek modern, scalable infrastructure to replace fragmented and manual processes, much like the shift that occurred in consumer FinTech over the past decade.

Egil Garberg, Investment Director at Investinor, said: “Two is proving that B2B payments don’t need to lag behind consumer solutions. They’re tackling an underserved market with a world-class team and scalable technology. Together with Sequoia, Shine Capital, Idékapital, and Antler, we’re proud to back Two as they build the next global standout fintech success from Norway.”

According to Allianz Trade, 95% of B2B buyers now prefer to pay per invoice, yet fewer than 10% of sellers are equipped to offer it online. With the B2B e-commerce market expected to double to €41 trillion by 2030 – making it six times the size of the B2C market – the need for embedded, scalable, and credit-insured payment infrastructure has never been more urgent.

Two believes that their underwriting technology and growing global presence position it to lead this transformation and meet the evolving expectations of modern business buyers.

Mathias Owing Maanum, Partner at Antler, added “B2B payments remain one of the largest untapped opportunities in FinTech – trillions in volume still move through manual processes, with poor UX and limited access to credit. Two’s platform is at the forefront, making it as simple to offer instant net terms as it is to accept a card from consumers.

“What sets Two apart is their real-time underwriting engine, unique banking partnerships, and proven ability to scale rapidly – already serving more than 200 merchants across Europe. We believe they’re building the foundational infrastructure for the next era of global B2B commerce, and we’re proud to continue supporting this exceptional team as they realise their bold vision.”

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This week we tracked more than 85 tech funding deals worth over €824 million, and over 15 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe. In addition to this week's top financials, we've also indexed the most important/industry-related news items you need to know about.

This week we also released our H1 report for 2025, which includes essential data and critical insights from investors, startups, and ecosystem leaders on the last six months and what’s in store for the rest of the year.

If email is more your thing, you can always subscribe to our newsletter and receive a more robust version of this round-up delivered to your inbox.

Either way, let's get you up to speed.

? Notable and big funding rounds

?? Insurtech unicorn wefox raises €151M after major restructuring, eyes profitability and market growth in these countries

?? re:cap expands to UK with €125M credit facility

?? NUCLIDIUM raises €84M Series B to advance copper-based cancer therapies

?? SiPearl secured €32M in a third tranche and closes €130M Series A

??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers

?? NIIT acquires MST Group for €22.37 million to expand managed learning services in Europe

?? P2P retail sales platform Bought acquires Netflea to unlock dormant supply from 200,000 users

??  Didomi and Sourcepoint join forces to redefine privacy in the age of AI

? Interesting moves from investors

?? Flyer One Ventures launches €50M Fund V to back CEE and Ukrainian startups

? New €700,000 initiative expands climate-neutral tech on dairy farms

?? Nzyme closes €160M Fund to transform traditional Spanish businesses

? €5M for growth: SECO Fund targets underserved post-revenue businesses

?️ In other (important) news

?? The European tech ecosystem: H1 2025 Report

? FERNRIDE becomes first in Europe to earn TÜV SÜD certification for autonomous terminal trucking

✖️Monzo hit with £21M fine after onboarding customers with Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street addresses

?? Monzo alumni's Gradient Labs raises $13M to reinvent agentic AI for regulated industries

? Recommended reads and listens

?? Europe fights back in global tech conferences battle

?? Why small city Riihimäki is Finland’s emerging gateway for defencetech innovation

?? Headway Inc raises Series A to scale personalised lifelong learning worldwide

? “We’re not looking to poach researchers from other labs”, says Anthropic's European boss

?? Norway: Sustainable, data-driven, and digitally ambitious

? European tech startups to watch

?? GetPica closes funding round led by PranaVentures, reaching €5M in total capital raised

?? AI wearables startup Movetru closes €1.4M to tackle sports injuries at the root

?? ODOS closes €680,000 to drive sustainability in the agri-food sector

?? BrachyDOSE raises €554,000 to advance radiation injury prevention in cancer care

Nzyme, a Spanish private equity fund backed by Kibo Ventures, has announced its final closing at €160 million to invest in Spanish companies operating in highly fragmented B2B sectors, with a focus on traditional businesses that have strong transformation potential through the adoption of technology and sector consolidation.

The fund has attracted support from a diverse base of investors, including the commitment of CDTI through its SICC Innvierte, as well as Spanish business families, successful entrepreneurs who identify with the fund’s strategy, banks, and international family offices with interests in Spain.

Vicente Vázquez, Managing Director at Nzyme, said: “The successful closing of this fund, in a challenging environment, confirms investors’ confidence in the Nzyme team, our strategy, and the potential of Spanish SMEs to transform and grow. We are convinced that by combining business consolidation with technological innovation, we can create strong leaders in traditional and fragmented sectors.

“We remain committed to generating sustainable value and contributing to the country’s economic development through strategic investments and a close, hands-on approach with the companies.”

Nzyme is the latest venture capital fund launched by Kibo Ventures, with the mission to catalyse the transformation of the companies and industries in which it invests. Kibo Ventures is a VC firm was founded in 2012 to empower innovative European tech entrepreneurs to tackle significant challenges and achieve growth by building global companies.

Nzyme prioritises investment in service and software companies within fragmented industries, characterised by their potential to generate value through sustainability and technology.

Additionally, Nzyme’s management team is made up of professionals with experience in private equity, technology, and business transformation, including Fernando Díaz Solís, Vicente Vázquez Bouza, José Manuel Gasalla, Juan López Santamaría, and Pablo Campos, supported by the Kibo Ventures network.

Furthermore, the fund has Oliver Wyman as a strategic advisor, which allows Nzyme to access advanced sector analyses, channel proprietary opportunities, and facilitate the internationalisation of the companies in its portfolio.

The fund has already made its first investments, including a notable entry into healthcare distribution, integrated into Kuma Group, as well as several investments in professional services companies. These transactions are part of Nzyme’s strategic project to build industry leaders through consolidation and technological innovation in fragmented sectors.

In addition, the fund has advanced plans to integrate other companies that will further strengthen the growth of its portfolio.

In April 2025, Nzyme completed the divestment of Kuma’s dental division, less than two years after its acquisition, reaffirming its ability to create value through active transformation and growth strategies.

The fund explains that they invest with “a prudent and hands-on approach, focusing on well-managed companies with solid structures, supporting them in their expansion processes“. The fund prioritizes close collaboration with Founders and management teams to facilitate institutionalisation, generational shift, and internationalisation.

The objective is to support companies that have proven their worth in their local markets, many of them located outside major urban centers, in scaling up, professionalising, and effectively adopting technology. In this process, the fund provides key support in one of the most complex challenges of business growth: transitioning from structures of 20–40 employees to organisations of over 150 people, with scalable processes, integrated technology, and international ambition.

Nzyme targets companies with EBITDA starting at approximately €1 million or around 20 employees as a starting point to build sector platforms. The fund anticipates a portfolio of 8 to 10 platforms, making individual investments of between €15 and €20 million through the acquisition and integration of multiple companies.

The strategy combines inorganic growth with the adoption of advanced technologies – such as AI, big data, machine learning, IoT, edge computing, and cloud – to drive operational efficiency, scalability, and competitive differentiation.

With an active approach, the fund applies the classic private equity levers – management succession, institutionalisation, and international expansion – integrating technology as a driver of sustainable growth and value creation.

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Snyk, the London and Tel Aviv-founded cybersecurity firm, is understood to have undergone a fresh wave of job cuts, with sources saying over 100 workers have been axed. Snyk, which is now headquartered in Boston, helps companies ensure the software they write is up to scratch, safe, and not vulnerable to cyber attacks.

It was founded in 2015 by Guy Podjarny, a former Israeli cyber expert who became its first CEO, and Assaf Hefetz and Danny Grander. It was valued at $8.5bn in 2021 at the height of the VC bubble.

Snyk's latest round of job cuts is understood to have taken place in the past few weeks, and according to sources, between 110 and 130 roles have been axed. This figure has not been confirmed by Snyk. Jobs impacted include software engineers and product managers, sources say.

Several Snyk employees have taken to LinkedIn posting about their recent departures from Snyk, which has around 1,300 staff, with offices also in other European cities such as Bucharest as well as Singapore and Tokyo. Snyk, which is backed by Tiger Global and the Qatar Investment Authority, underwent two rounds of job cuts in 2022.

In 2022, Snyk raised $196.5 million in Series G funding led by Qatar Investment Authority, valuing it at $7.4bn, 12 per cent down from its 2021 funding round. Last month, Snyk acquired AI research firm Invariant Labs.

Snyk was not available for comment.

Oslo-based Two, a B2B payments platform, has closed a €13 million strategic funding round, bringing Two’s total funding to over €40 million to date. The fresh investment will fuel Two’s expansion into the US and select Western European markets. 

Founded in 2021, Two set out with an ambitious goal: to make B2B transactions as seamless as consumer checkouts. Its platform provides instant upfront payments to sellers, flexible net terms for buyers, and AI-driven fraud prevention. With rapid adoption across both large enterprises and SMEs, Two’s infrastructure has already become the go-to standard for B2B commerce in Northern Europe.

This momentum continues to build, with the company projecting more than 150 per cent year-over-year growth in revenue and payment volume for 2025. Over the past six months, Two has also secured major partnerships with Visa, ABN AMRO, Qliro, Avarda, and Wikinggruppen.

The company is well-positioned within the broader digitisation trend in B2B payments, as businesses increasingly turn to scalable, modern solutions to replace outdated, manual processes, mirroring the transformation seen in consumer fintech over the last decade.

Andreas Mjelde, CEO & co-founder of Two, said:

We are the ‘Two’ in B2B, and we’re on a mission to make selling on net terms as easy as accepting card payments. We’ve proven that merchants want flexible payment solutions built for how businesses actually buy, not just consumer tools rebranded for B2B. We will leverage the capital injection to scale with large and global enterprise businesses, and we’re excited to add strong institutional investors with a long-term investment horizon like Investinor and Idékapital to the team.

The round was led by Idékapital and Shine Capital, with participation from new investor Investinor and existing backers Sequoia Capital, Antler, Alliance Ventures, Arkwright, and Local Globe.

Kristian Øvsthus, Managing Partner at Idékapital and incoming board observer, shared that their decision to invest in Two was driven by the founding team's outstanding ambition and talent, adding:

With deep international experience and a diverse, world-class team, they are uniquely positioned to scale globally. B2B payments is a massive and still largely untapped market. Two stands out through their combination of a powerful and modular software, deep understanding of the network effects in their industry and their dedication to solving a big problem. We believe they have what it takes to build a global category leader.

According to Egil Garberg, Investment Director at Investinor, Two is demonstrating that B2B payments can be just as advanced and seamless as consumer payment solutions:

They’re tackling an underserved market with a world-class team and scalable technology. Together with Sequoia, Shine Capital, Idékapital, and Antler, we’re proud to back Two as they build the next global standout fintech success from Norway.

Mathias Owing Maanum, Partner at Antler, highlighted B2B payments as one of fintech’s biggest untapped opportunities, pointing out that trillions in transactions still depend on outdated, manual systems with poor user experience and restricted credit access. He shared: 

Two’s platform is at the forefront, making it as simple to offer instant net terms as it is to accept a card from consumers. What sets Two apart is their real-time underwriting engine, unique banking partnerships, and proven ability to scale rapidly - already serving more than 200 merchants across Europe. We believe they’re building the foundational infrastructure for the next era of global B2B commerce, and we’re proud to continue supporting this exceptional team as they realise their bold vision.

Mo Koyfman, Founder & General Partner at Shine Capital, added: 

The B2B payments market is approaching $100 trillion in volume, and is largely still processed with checks by Accounts Payable departments. Over the coming years, as we've increasingly seen with consumer payments, this market will also digitise. Two, and its experienced, ambitious team, is helping lead this transition with instant underwriting, seamless terms, and a global footprint, serving some of the largest companies in the world

The funding will also fuel the continued development of Two’s fully productised B2B payments infrastructure. This includes proprietary risk engines, Frida and Delphi, a comprehensive business onboarding solution, and embedded deferred payment features designed specifically for B2B transactions, already adopted by more than 200 merchants across the Nordics and Europe.

Lead image: Two founding team | Photo: Uncredited

Berlin-based fintech re:cap has expanded into the UK with the launch of a new €125 million credit facility for onward lending provided by HSBC Innovation Banking and Avellinia Capital. 

re:cap operates the tech platform and infrastructure on top of the facility, giving tech companies access to real-time capital planning and flexible funding. 

Its Capital OS is designed to help high-growth companies scale without overreliance on equity or the inefficiencies of traditional lending. It combines flexible debt, real-time liquidity management, and capital planning in a single platform. This gives founders and CFOs full control over how capital is raised, deployed, and tracked.

“Over the past four years, our platform has helped hundreds of tech companies in Germany and the Netherlands scale efficiently – with zero defaults and full transparency,” said Paul Becker, CEO and co-founder of re:cap.

“Now we’re bringing that same infrastructure to the UK, supported by more capital than ever, provided by our strong existing and new partners.”

The idea for re:cap was born when co-founders Paul Becker and Jonas Tebbe were consulting a private equity firm on digital due diligence. While prototyping financial tools, they saw an opportunity to integrate capital access with real-time analysis. Out of that insight, re:cap was born. Prior to re:cap, the founders built LIQID, Europe’s leading digital wealth manager.

Since launching in Germany in 2021, re:cap has deployed more than €100 million in financing across Germany and the Netherlands. Testament to the quality of re:cap’s underwriting is the company’s track record with zero defaults which has impressed institutional investors.

Phill Lovett, Head of Structured Finance at HSBC Innovation Banking, said, "It has been a privilege to partner with re:cap since 2022, providing warehouse funding to enable the business to build a high performing loan book underpinned by re:cap’s market leading credit decision-making software.”

Julian Schickel, Founding Partner at Avellinia Capital, commented, 

“re:cap is solving a major headache for tech founders. Traditional banks rarely lend to startup and growth tech companies, and venture debt is usually only available for later-stage companies.

With re:cap, tech companies can easily and flexibly receive growth capital while benefiting from a powerful real-time analytics platform. 

We’re pleased to commence our collaboration with re:cap, leveraging an innovative financing structure, as we enter this next phase together.”

Lead image: re:cap. Photo: uncredited.

1.37 million people, 10 unicorns. That’s one unicorn per 137,000 citizens. The number sounds abstract until you put it in context: Germany would need around 600 unicorns to match this ratio. It has 46. Estonia doesn’t just produce disproportionately many billion-dollar companies; it has developed a system that creates reproducible success. 

Estonia’s startup landscape is shaped by years of consistent digital innovation. Founders can launch a company in under 20 minutes, with no paperwork or bureaucracy. More than 100,000 people from over 170 countries have joined as e-residents, contributing to a business environment that’s open by design. The ICT sector plays a central role in the economy, both in terms of value creation and employment. And investors are paying attention: Estonia attracts eight times more venture capital per capita than the EU average, because the conditions are built for companies to move fast and grow globally.

On top of that, the consolidated revenue of Estonian tech companies reached €5.5 billion, with over 50% of the startup sector staff employed by Estonian Founders Society members. This concentrated success creates flywheel effects: successful exits generate experienced entrepreneurs who mentor next generations while reinvesting in the ecosystem.

These are just examples of how a small country can punch above its weight through digitisation, simplicity, and global thinking. But behind the numbers lies a deliberate approach that any entrepreneur can learn from. It’s not luck, it’s structure. A system that turns early-stage ideas into scalable companies doesn’t happen by accident… It’s built! 

The five-step unicorn playbook

This is what I like to call the five-step unicorn playbook, inspired by the Estonian experience. 

1. Think global from day one

Estonian startups never see themselves as serving just 1.3 million people. From the very start, products are built with the global market in mind. This fundamental mindset drives every decision. The focus is on building for scale, not merely survival. Branding, architecture, and development are all shaped by one core question: Does this solve a global problem? Only solutions that work beyond local boundaries and find paying customers stand a chance.

Bolt exemplifies this approach perfectly. The Estonian startup expanded from Tallinn to over 40 countries, reaching unicorn status in 2018. Strategy: headquarters in Estonia, operations worldwide. No gradual market-by-market growth, global scaling from inception.

And Bolt isn’t the only one. Companies like Veriff (ID verification), Wise (formerly TransferWise, global money transfers), and Skeleton Technologies (ultracapacitors) were also built for international markets from day one, often with remote-first teams and distributed customer bases from the start. Pipedrive is not an exception to this mindset.

2. Validate fast, adapt faster

Speed of iteration distinguishes Estonian startups. First versions are treated as hypotheses, not finished products. At Veriff, for example, the initial product focused solely on identity verification for crypto exchanges. When demand surged from fintechs and mobility platforms, the team pivoted quickly to build a more flexible API, a move that opened the door to global clients and helped the company secure a $100 million Series C round.

Rather than defending early assumptions, Estonian founders approach feedback as data. Ideas are tested, dropped, or adapted within weeks, not months. This mindset shift enables fast market fit and reduces the cost of failure.

3. Build smart, not complicated

Scalability doesn’t come from adding features or growing headcount; it comes from simplicity. The most successful startups build systems that can adapt as they grow, instead of locking themselves into over-engineered structures early on.

In the early phase, speed and flexibility matter most. As the company scales, priorities shift: processes, clarity, and governance become essential. Recognising these transitions and planning for them is often what separates companies that grow smoothly from those that stall.

Smart teams automate from day one, keep their tech stacks lean, and resist the temptation to build for complexity before it’s needed. They design both product and organisation with one question in mind: Is it enough for now, and can it scale to ten times the size?

Success comes from building flexible systems that grow with the company, not ones that break when challenges arise.

4. Culture is core

Successful startups don’t leave culture to chance. They define clear company values from day one, such as openness (move fast and be innovative), ownership (be efficient, yet fast and ambiguous), and customer focus (own the market and growth), that guide everyday behaviour. These values become living principles, not just slogans on a wall.

Culture is applied consistently through regular team meetings, transparent communication, and feedback loops that encourage learning and accountability. For example:

• Hiring processes prioritise candidates who embody these values, ensuring cultural fit beyond skills.
  
• Leadership decisions are evaluated against company values to maintain alignment.
  
• Open discussions help address conflicts early, building trust and cohesion.
  

Strong cultures create a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent, especially in markets where skilled employees are in high demand. Embedding culture into daily operations helps companies scale without losing their identity or agility.

Strategic agility

While maintaining a clear vision, Estonian unicorns avoid rigid long-term planning. Instead, they focus on measuring what truly drives progress and regularly review KPIs to ensure they are tracking outcomes, not just activity.

This strategic flexibility was exemplified by Skype’s journey. When Skype was acquired for $2.6 billion in 2005, it highlighted how adaptability, pivoting business models, responding to market signals, and embracing change can lead to breakthrough success. The acquisition acted as a catalyst for Estonia’s startup ecosystem, showing that companies able to adapt quickly thrived, while those adhering to fixed plans often struggled.

Ultimately, it’s about balance: enough structure to align teams, enough flexibility to seize unexpected opportunities.

Why does this formula work?

Estonia’s success reflects deliberate choices at the government and company levels. The digital-first society removes bureaucratic friction that slows entrepreneurs elsewhere. Programs like e-Residency and Startup Visa attract global talent, while €1 billion in available investment capital ensures promising companies access funding.

Infrastructure alone doesn’t create unicorns. The Estonian startup ecosystem’s 150 support organisations create tightly connected networks where knowledge, talent, and capital flow efficiently. This interconnected system, combined with a culture that celebrates ambitious thinking while maintaining operational discipline, creates conditions for unicorns to emerge.

Estonia’s playbook isn’t geographically limited. The five principles- global thinking, rapid validation, smart building, strong culture, and strategic agility- can be applied anywhere. What makes Estonia special is the systematic embedding of these principles throughout the entire ecosystem.

The lesson is clear: size doesn’t determine success, strategic thinking and smart execution do. Wherever you build, in Tallinn or Tokyo, big thinking and smart execution remain the most reliable path to global success.

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