Ellex in Estonia led the preparation of the updated versions of Startup Estonia model legal documents for startups and investors

Startup Estonia and Estonia’s leading law firms have prepared updated versions of model documents for start-ups and its investors.

The model document package comprises a total of 22 key agreements and other legal documents that start-ups and investors need most in the beginning. The sample documents are free for downloading to everyone.

The package includes agreements between the founders of the company, investment related agreements as well as employment and option agreements, and model intellectual property transfer agreement and a confidentiality agreement.

Ellex counsel in Estonia Antti Perli who led the working group preparing the documents, commented on the updates as follows: “All important documents now include comments that should make it easier for the company to make choices and understand more complex terms. A cap table has been added, which allows the company to test how the shareholdings of founders, employees and investors change in the course of investments. A new document is the Estonian version of SAFE, a simple and company-friendly agreement for raising investments that has become popular in the United States. The investment agreements are now structured in such a way that they can be used not only in the seed phase but also later in the A-series phase. Previously, there was only an English version of the articles of association of the private limited company, now we have also added an Estonian version, which can be submitted to the Commercial Register.”

The documents have been drafted by law firms Ellex Raidla, Cobalt, Eversheds Sutherland, TGS Baltic, Hedman Partners, Sorainen, Fort Legal, Triniti and Njord.

The package of documents is available to download free of charge on Startup Estonia’s website.

Watch also the introductory video clip.