Running Estonian company without e-residency

Can you run your Estonian company without e-residency or other digital id? Of course you can! There are some things that would be more challenging but having e-residency is in no way compulsory.

1. The biggest limitation is not being able to sign digitally - this means certain corporate actions that need to be registered in the company portal (such as board member changes, capital change, contact detail change) have to be done via a notarized power of attorney for someone else. It is possible to give a more general power of attorney that allows for a multitude of corporate actions;

2. It is possible to appoint a procurist (with a digital id) - a procurist is an individual granted special authority to represent a company in all economic transactions. This is a special authorization, separate from the management board, that can be given to a natural person and must be registered in the commercial register.

3. Company annual reports can be sent without digital signature.

4. Fintech options do not require a digital signature access so company banking can also be handled without an e-residency card.

So while challenging, not having an e-residency card does not mean the end for running a business in Estonia.