Estonia's LeapIN rebrands as Xolo, raises $6.8 million for its 'virtual company service'

Tallin, Estonia-based Xolo (formerly known as LeapIN) has secured $6.8 million for its 'virtual company service' that allows pro freelancers from across the globe to launch and manage part of their business.

Originally founded in 2015 in the wake of Estonia's launch of the much-publicised e-Residency program, Xolo's Series A round of funding came from Karma Ventures, Vendep Capital and Leap Ventures.

Essentially, Xolo aims to make it easier for people to establish and run micro-businesses, offering an online platform that helps them with online company formation, access to banking, invoicing and accounting services, and to reduce the complexity and cost of engaging with national governments and administration service providers.

In a lot of ways, it is similar to the premise behind Stripe's Atlas, with a couple of twists.

Allan Martinson, Xolo's CEO, said: "We are focusing on 40 million professionals globally who have chosen to run their business independently. Estimated one million new freelancers start their professional journeys each year. Our ultimate goal is an absolutely seamless service that brings time spent on administrating a freelance business to zero."

The company says it is able to cut the time needed to launch a freelance business from weeks to minutes. As LeapIN, the startup says it already managed to attract thousands of customers using its subscription-based software, most of them software developers, management consultants and designers in places like Germany, Spain, France, the UK, Ukraine and Turkey.

Sakari Pihlava, a partner at Vendep Capital, said: "Xolo is building something revolutionary – an interface between the micro-businesses and the governments that eliminate the complexity of reporting and compliance."

Pihlava will be joining Xolo's board, alongside Karma’s Margus Uudam.