June 22, 2022 -- The Baltic state of Estonia, which claims to be the world’s first truly digital nation, has now set its sights on creating a robust biotechnology startup ecosystem. The biotech industry is expected to grow tenfold this decade and offers significant opportunities for Estonian companies.
Estonia has created 10 unicorns, companies that were valued at a billion dollars before entering the stock market, with the goal of 25 unicorns by 2025, according to Andres Sutt, Estonia's minister of entrepreneurship and information technology.
Sutt, who also serves as acting minister of foreign affairs, spoke with ScienceBoard.net at the 2022 Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) International Convention in San Diego about the country's ambitious plans to grow its biotech industry.
Currently, Sutt said Estonia is home to more than 120 biotech companies, with many of them "clustered" around Estonian universities. Sutt sees the potential for partnerships between the nation's homegrown companies and the large international biotech leaders.
"Estonia is not the land of Pfizers, because we don't have many big companies. But we are certainly a land of biotechs," Sutt said. "There are lots of smaller, innovative companies and if they come and team up with the big names, this is where I think innovation and science works."
Coinciding with the BIO 2022 convention, Sutt spent time with potential investors in San Francisco, one of the world's largest biotech hubs, to "forge relationships with American counterparts."
Watch the video below to learn more.