On Tuesday, November 29 Enterprise Estonia, e-Residency and Tallinn Music Week festival hosted the official opening party, Enter e-Estonia of the international technology conference Slush in Helsinki, Finland. Taking place in the three-chambered heart of the Helsinki nightlife – Kuudes Linja, Kaiku and Stidilä complex –, the party featured thrilling live acts and DJs from both sides of the Gulf of Finland, the most innovative Estonian tech companies, and the best of Estonian cuisine. The party drew around 1,500 visitors.

President Kersti Kaljulaid, Steve Jurjetson and e-residency’s birthday cake. Photo by Aron Urb

The President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid addressed party guests at the opening ceremony in the main hall of Kaiku club, calling business people around the world to take an advantage of her country’s e-residency programme that entitles everyone, everywhere to securely identify them online, open and run a location-independent business and take advantage of a marketplace of services specifically for e-residents.

“Even though there are only a little over a million of us, thanks to Estonia’s capabilities, we can make ten million payments, perform ten million requests and sign ten million contracts in just ten minutes. Even ten times larger states cannot beat us,” Kaljulaid said.

“But the good news is that it is possible to join our exclusive club of digitally empowered citizens. Each of us has been given up to 100 years to live on this planet – why not use that time more efficiently?” she asked, inviting everyone to become an e-resident of her country.

The party drew nearly 1,500 visitors. The international coterie, represented mainly by Slush conference delegates – investors, speakers, journalists, startup and music entrepreneurs –included several Estonian citizens of the world, among others venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, supermodel Carmen Kass and conductor Kristjan Järvi.

The US venture capitalist of Estonian decent and the first non-European citizen to become Estonian e-resident, Steve Jurvetson said he was a proud son of Estonian parents. “e-Residency makes it easy for anyone in the world to invest in the innovative startup ecosystem in Estonia.”

According to e-Residency Programme Manager Kaspar Korjus, the opening party was no less than awesome. “This party is already a legend at Slush. It feels good for a country to offer something beneficial to the citizens of other regions. This event was something bigger than just another party. It was a loud and clear statement, made at one of the mightiest tech events in the world to keep your eye on Estonia!“

Mart Avi performing at Kuudes Linja stage. Photo by Aron Urb

The night’s music programme featured exciting live acts from both sides of the Gulf of Finland – godfathers of Estonian indie, Röövel Ööbik,  post-pop producer Mart Avi and electropop act NOËP from Estonia; the reverend of Finnish underground, Timo Kaukolampi, rapper Noah Kin and one-man indie-cabaret Melting Hearts from Finland. The rhythm of the night will also be provided by the central characters in Helsinki’s club scene – Lil’ Tony, Joose Berglund, Sirkku Haikonen, Feniks Willamo, complemented by Estonia’s finest DJs Raul Saaremets, Sander Mölder, Liisi Voolaid, Alari Orav and Jan Tomson.

The Enter e-Estonia party was organized by Enterprise Estonia, e-Residency and Tallinn Music Week, in partnership with Digital Sputnik, Funderbeam, Lingvist, Mooncascade, Music Estonia, Pipedrive, SprayPrinter, Tartu City, Tartu Science Park, Teleport and Latitude59. Graphic design and visuals were provided by Estonian Design Team, interior design by B210, production by production by Kingent Management and RGB Baltic. Estonian food presentation by Põhjaka Manor and PRFoods, drinks by Kokomo Coffee, Moe Fine Spirit Distillery and Vindirekt.

Slush is a technology conference for startups and tech talent to meet with top-tier international investors, executives and media. The event, described by many as “Burning Man meets TED” took place on November 30 – December 1, 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. Close to 2,000 startups, 800 venture capitalists, and 700 journalists from over 100 countries participated in the event. More info