Investor.ee was launched about a month ago by Kaarmann and Otsason, information technology students at Tartu University. Aside from attending classes, the twenty-somethings are small investors with a keen interest in helping other people learn a bit more about the market scene in the Baltic region.
"We felt like Estonia needed such a thing," said Otsason, 22. "There wasn't a site like this before, where you could read all the news and ask questions."
The Web site compiles financial news from local papers, wire services and the Baltic bourses. The news is updated every five minutes, Otsason said. The site is very easy to navigate, and the search feature allows the cyber-cruiser to specify in what language the news should appear, from what sources and how the articles should be grouped.
The site is in Estonian and English, a feature Otsason says is one reason for its instant popularity.
"We estimate about 3,000 people are online," he said. "We get about 2,000 page requests per day and over 10 percent are clicking on the English pages."
Otsason figures that if the site is attractive to foreigners interested in the Estonian market, investments may follow.
"It's great if foreign investors can get information so they can become interested in the sector," he said.
Madis Raudis, marketing manager at the Estonian Investment Agency, applauded the site for its clarity and its visibility, however, he pointed out that Investor.ee covers only a portion of the markets and advertises only a fraction of investment possibilities in Estonia.
"My first idea was that it's not a 100 percent clear profile of the news that our investors, for example, would like to look at," he said. "We are not dealing with financial market investments and the stock exchange. We deal with strategic investments, potential partners and size of markets. This site is a slightly different angle than what our investors are interested in and involved in."
But, he added: "It is always good when sites like these emerge because there is still a lack of information about Estonia and awareness about Estonia for investors. With each new site like this, there are more people looking into the markets of Estonia and learning more about opportunities here."
Investor.ee also wins approval with market experts. "The site looks pretty good," said Paavo Pold, senior analyst at Suprema Securities. "All the public information is available and it is presented in a neat matter."
In addition to news, the site carries pages displaying charts, currency exchange rates and graphs showing the rise and fall of stocks.
In the future, the pair would like to see the site as more interactive, not just an information center. Currently, an online chat room called "Forum" is the closest the site gets to being directly involved with its users.
"We are negotiating [online trading] with some members of the Tallinn Stock Exchange now," Otsason said.
By the end of this month investment firm Lohmus, Haavel and Viisemann will launch an online trading floor for foreign traders. That site will also be in English and aims to help foreigners get involved in the local market.
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