Going Global through
Silicon Valley
Andrus Viirg
Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley
andrus.viirg@eas.ee
www.estonia.eu
www.investinestonia.com
ENTERPRISE ESTONIA
State foundation for Business Support & Development:
 implementing agency of the EU structural funds in Estonia
 ca 270+ employees
 financing agency (grants) for enterprises, R&D and non-profit institutions
 budget 784 mln EUR during 2007-2013
 budget 750 mln EUR for 2014-2020
Investment, Trade, Tourism & Innovation Promotion
– assisting international companies to estonianize
– assisting Estonian companies to internationalize
– Foreign Representative Offices (FDI, Export):
China (Shanghai); Denmark (Copenhagen); Finland (Helsinki);
France (Paris); Germany (Hamburg, Munich); India (New Delhi);
Japan (Tokyo); Norway (Oslo); Russia (St. Petersburg);
Sweden (Stockholm); UK (London);
USA (Silicon Valley)
California – the 8th economy in the World (GDP
ca 2,3trillionUSD, 38mln people)
- 13% of US GDP
Silicon Valley 3% of USA GDP; 18% of California
GDP, ca 5 mln people:
• 37% of residents foreign born
• ca 400,000+ high tech jobs (20+% of all the
world´s tech companies based here)
• most millionaires and billionaires in US per
capita
• Average annual earnings 116 000 USD
• San Francisco - major driver of the regions
economic prosperity
• innovation: 14.2% of all USA reg.patents
• Universities, R&D institutions
– Stanford, UC Berkeley, San Jose State…
– SRI International,…
• 15+% of the World´s venture capital, 48+%
of USA
Venture Capital deals
(USD billion)
120
other US
Silicon Valley
100
2014
Silicon Valley: 48% of all US deals in USD (23,4 bln USD of 48,3 bln USD)
32% of deals in numbers (1409 deals of 4356 of all USA)
80
68
60
40
20
0
24.9
26
32
19
16.4
14.2 12.7 14.2 15
12 6.8 6.3 7.8 8 9.6 11
18
16.7 16.1 17.4
11.2 14
23.4
11 7.8 9 11.7 11.2 12.6
200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014
PWC: MoneyTree Report 2014
NVCA
US Venture Capital
VC investments by State
(2013)
30K
Review
Every
Plan
750 First
Meetings
150 Follow-on
Meetings
Due diligence process
DFJ Annual Deal Funnel
12 - 24
Investments
Per Year
Building a global tech
company
US market – ‘the gold standard’ for success in the
technology industry
–
–
–
–
Largest revenue opportunity
Best location for raising growth capital
Largest number of potential acquirers
Strongest appetite for tech stocks
– Best place to realize your liquid wealth
Enterprise Estonia
Silicon Valley
CONNECTING PEOPLE
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Helping to create valuable connections between
Estonian and US companies and institutions,
Organizing meetings, seminars and networking
with key players.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
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Supporting the development of your business
model to fit into the US market and helping to
establish in US (virtual office or incorporating)
Office space for meetings and events.
RAISING CAPITAL
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Helping to find funding and scaling opportunities in
US for Estonian companies.
Promoting Estonia as a place to do business (FDI)
for US companies
Companies with`Eesti` roots in USA
East Coast (Boston & NYC area)
Silicon Valley / California
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www.clickandgrow.com
www.cognuse.com
www.deltabid.com
www.digitalsputnik.com
www.egeeninc.com
www.fortumo.com
www.fotki.com
www.guardtime.com
www.import2.com
www.iot.ee
www.mangobio.com
www.myhistro.com
www.pipedrive.com
www.planetOS.com
www.scoro.com
www.spmtips.com
www.teleport.org
www.testlio.com
www.wellbiome.com
www.3DprinterOS
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www.gosnazz.com
www.easybitz.com
www.erply.com
www.merocrat.com
www.mobile-now.us
www.tenantking.com
www.transferwise.com
www.zeroturnaround.com
www.zerply.com
Central US (Utah)
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www.enefit.com
Acquisitions:
FusionOne (acquired by Synchronoss in 2010, Silicon Valley)
Modesat (acquired by Xilinx in 2012, Silicon Valley)
GrabCAD (acquired by Stratasys in 2014, Boston)
USA in Estonia
Entering US market
• Understand the target customer’s challenges, need and pain
points
– Talk to customers and prospects first before finalizing your
product/service
• Develop a clear value proposition
– KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid
• Marketing
– Build credibility with marketing materials that are professionally
written and adapted for the new market
• References
– A company in US vs (unknown) company from Europe (Estonia)
• Team
– presence of the core team crucial
– marketing team could be local
Andrus Viirg
Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley
andrus.viirg@eas.ee
www.investinestonia.com