Over 70 million euros invested in Estonian start ups in 2014

TALLINN - A total of 70.4 million euros was invested in Estonian start-ups in 2014, which is 2.3 times more than in 2013, Aripaev Online reports.
A summary compiled at the initiative of Garage48, a Tallinn based tech hub, indicates that the volume of transactions has increased year on year, but the quantity of transactions has fallen - last year, 35 transactions took place, 6 less than in 2013.

Out of the 70 million euros invested in Estonian start-ups in 2014, just 7.1 million euros came from Estonian investors. The share of Estonian capital has decreased year on year. While in 2006, all investments came from Estonia — most of them from Ambient Sound Investments, a company run by former employees of Skype — by 2014, the proportion of Estonian money in the sum of investments was only 10 percent.

Last year’s biggest investment went into the AdCash advertising network, which received 20 million euros from the French risk capital company Naxicap Partners. It was the first big international investment in the company.
The next largest was an 18.4 million euro cash injection into foreign exchange transfers company TransferWise. The transaction brought the company a new investor - the world-famous tycoon Richard Branson. The investors circle included also existing investors Valar Ventures, IA Ventures, Index Ventures, TAG, and Kima Ventures.

Third place went to virtual changing room developer Fits.me, which received 7 million euros. Unlike previous transactions, local capital from the Development Fund’s investment company SmartCap was at play here, which had already invested in the startup before. Their contribution this time was 200,000 euros.