Starting from 1 October 2025, founders of a private limited company will have two options for making the share capital contribution when establishing a new company in the e-Business Register :
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confirmation of the payment of share capital contribution (for share capital of up to €50,000),
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transfer of the share capital to a court deposit account.
Confirmation of the share capital contribution is available as the first option to all whose share capital is €50,000 or less.
Anyone who wishes to make the contribution via the e-Business Register can still choose to pay the share capital into a court deposit account. After the company has been entered in the register, the share capital paid into the deposit account can easily be transferred to the company’s bank account. An application for the transfer of the share capital can be submitted in the e-Business Register by a member of the management board of the company.
The option to make the share capital contribution into an e-start account will no longer be available.
Estonian e-Business Register began offering founders of private limited companies the option of opening an e-start account back in 2009. The first partner was Swedbank, and over time SEB, LHV and Coop Bank also started offering the service.
This was an innovative solution that simplified and accelerated the process of establishing new companies and served as a good example of smooth cooperation between the public and private sectors.
For many years, the e-start account was the first choice for new company founders to pay in their share capital, and it served its purpose well.
However, with the amendments to the Commercial Code that entered into force on 1 February 2023, a number of changes were introduced and with these the situation shifted.
The minimum nominal value of a share was reduced to €0.01, and it became possible to confirm the share capital contribution during the incorporation process (only for companies with share capital of up to €50,000).
Following these changes, the use of the e-start account began to decline, and maintaining and administering the service was no longer reasonable.
After analysing the situation, the Tartu County Court Registry Department, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, and the partner banks providing the service reached a joint understanding that the best solution was to discontinue the service via the e-Business Register.
We would like to thank everyone who has used the e-start account service over the years.
We would also like to thank our partners Swedbank, SEB, LHV and Coop Bank for the many years of enjoyable cooperation.