When Skype was sold to eBay in 2005 for a little over two billion euros, about over 100 million euros circulated in Estonia. The majority of those funds went into the new investment firm owned by former Skype engineers – Toivo Annus, Jaan Tallinn, Ahti Heinla and Priit Kasesalu, Ambient Sound Investments (ASI). With ASI, true Western venture capitalism got its sea legs in Estonia, whereas before only Allan Martinson had fit the definition of venture capitalist, the TestMarket.com writes.
In four years, ASI has provided more than 17.3 million euros of funding for more than 30 technology or Web companies. At the start of 2010, ASI still had over 50 million euros of liquid assets in its accounts, some of it in term deposits. Besides that, the four men have millions of euros in personal funds. This is too much money; it is not possible to invest all of it in Estonia, informs LETA.
About one-half of Estonia's current technology or Internet businesses – the ones expected to run like gazelles or start a revolution – got their seed capital from ASI, run by the Skype engineers.
The best-known of these ambitious players are Modesat and Guardtime.
Modesat is developing a communications technology that will make it possible to introduce ultra-high-speed broadband Internet aboard jets and high-speed trains. The company is working with the world's biggest telecom giants, such as Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens and others, and recently hired a former vice-president of Samsung as their director of technology.
The other company, Guardtime, has developed a time-stamping technology for secure digital data and is now trying to find an application for it. Asian investors led by billionaire Li Ka-shing and the Singaporean government recently invested close to 6.4 million euros into the company.
The name of Skype has been used to every possible effect to promote Estonia, and many know Estonia as the land of Skype. In the Wikipedia entry on Estonia, Skype is the only local IT company mentioned.
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