What CardPlus does

CardPlus VM OÜ is a private Estonian company founded in 2016 as a joint venture between AS Vaba Maa (Estonia's only ISO 14298:2013-certified security printing house, operating since 1920) and CardPlus OY (a Finnish plastic card personalization center established in 2009). Headquartered at Peterburi tee 81, Tallinn, the company manufactures and personalizes plastic and polycarbonate cards, as well as cardboard cards, using re-transfer printing technology and security features such as holograms, watermarks, UV printing, and RFID/NFC chips. Its core product line is government-issued identity credentials for Estonia, including European health insurance cards, driver's licenses, digital tachograph cards, and a range of transport operator certificates (locomotive driver, jet ski, small boat, ADR training), supplemented by commercial B2B offerings in employee badges, loyalty cards, and gift cards, plus a consumer COVID certificate card product.

The company's revenue model is primarily hardware sales of physical cards to government and enterprise customers via direct enterprise sales engagement, with a small consumer e-commerce channel (COVID cards priced at €3.90 each through its website, shipped via DPD parcel machines). Customer segments are led by government entities as the primary vertical, followed by B2B businesses for loyalty and gift cards, and a thin individual-consumer tail. Distribution is direct sales to government and Baltic-region enterprises, with a single-country/domestic e-commerce storefront for consumer products. CardPlus holds ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certifications as of 2023, and inherits ISO 14298:2013 secure-printing certification from its parent AS Vaba Maa. It is a small, privately held operating company with no public funding rounds, no disclosed headcount, and no disclosed revenue, operating across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with Estonia as its anchor market.

Name

CardPlus

Legal name

CardPlus VM OÜ

Website

https://cardplus.ee

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CardPlus VM OÜ is an Estonian joint-venture card manufacturer that produces and personalizes government identity credentials (health insurance cards, driver's licenses, tachograph and transport operator cards) and commercial plastic cards for the Baltic states, leveraging ISO-certified secure printing expertise from parent AS Vaba Maa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Secure Card Manufacturing

NAICS

Stationery Product Manufacturing (32223), Printing and Related Support Activities (3231), Converted Paper Product Manufacturing (3222)

SIC

Converted Paper & Paperboard Prods (No Contaners/Boxes) (2670), Papers & Allied Products (2600), Coating, Engraving & Allied Services (3470)

akta.pro primary industry

Printing & Business Forms (continuous forms, checks, tickets) (IMAMAHAH)

Keywords

• Plastic card manufacturing
• Identity document production
• Card personalization services
• Secure printing solutions
• Government credential cards

Headquarters

HQ city

Tallinn

HQ country

Estonia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Plastic Card Manufacturing and Personalization: Production and personalization of plastic (including polycarbonate) and cardboard cards. This includes ID cards, customer loyalty cards, employee badges, gift cards, and government-issued credentials.
2. COVID Certificate Cards: One-time sale of COVID vaccination/recovery certificate cards in credit card format. Price is €3.90 per card plus delivery fee.
3. Identity Verification Solutions: Provides various identity verification solutions and identity documents including cards with contact or remote-readable RFID chips for login and access control purposes.
4. Government Document Production: Produces European health insurance cards, driver's licenses, digital tachograph cards, and various transport operator certificates (locomotive driver license, jet ski license, international small boat license, competency certificate, ADR training certificate) for Estonia.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CardPlus VM OÜ manufactures and personalizes plastic (including polycarbonate) and cardboard cards, producing identity documents (European health insurance cards, driver's licenses, digital tachograph cards, transport operator certificates), customer loyalty cards, gift cards, employee badges, and COVID certificate cards. The company serves Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, leveraging re-transfer printing technology and a range of security features (holograms, watermarks, UV printing, RFID/NFC chips) for government and commercial buyers.

Product overview

CardPlus VM OÜ is a physical card manufacturing and personalization company producing plastic (including polycarbonate) and cardboard cards. Its core product line consists of identity documents (Isikutunnistused) — including European health insurance cards, driving licenses, tachograph cards, and professional operator licenses — supplemented by gift cards (Kinkekaardid), employee badges (Töötõendid), customer loyalty cards (Kliendikaardid), COVID cards (COVID kaart), card holders (Kaardihoidjad), and lanyards (Kaelapaelad). The portfolio spans security documents with advanced features (holograms, RFID/NFC chips, UV printing, watermarks) to mass-market loyalty and gift cards. CardPlus operates as a joint venture between Estonian security printer AS Vaba Maa and Finnish card personalization center CardPlus OY, serving Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AS Vaba MaacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016AS Vaba Maa is CardPlus VM's Estonian joint venture partner and parent company. It is the only certified security printing company in Estonia with ISO14298:2013 certification for security products. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest and most experienced printing companies in Estonia and the Baltics. Vaba Maa provides the security printing expertise and certification that enables CardPlus to produce government-issued credentials.
• CardPlus OYcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016CardPlus OY is CardPlus VM's Finnish joint venture partner and parent company. Established in 2009, it serves as the plastic card personalization center in Finland. The partnership enables CardPlus VM to leverage Finnish card personalization expertise and technology while serving the Estonian and Baltic markets.
• Printon ASminorOthersPrinton AS is a subsidiary of AS Vaba Maa, mentioned as part of the Vaba Maa group of companies.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Veridos: Veridos is a government ID solutions provider jointly owned by Bundesdruckerei and Giesecke+Devrient, producing passports, ID cards, and driver's licenses. Directly comparable to CardPlus's Estonian government credential work (health insurance cards, driver's licenses, tachograph cards) and the polycarbonate-based security document capability CardPlus advertises.
• HID Global: HID Global is one of the largest global manufacturers of secure identity cards, access control credentials, and card personalization technology. Directly comparable because it serves the same end-uses — corporate ID badges, government credentials, and loyalty/access cards — with overlapping chip, RFID/NFC, and re-transfer print capabilities.
• CardLogix: CardLogix is a manufacturer of plastic smart cards, ID cards, and card personalization solutions for government and commercial use. Comparable as a similarly-positioned card manufacturer offering custom plastic cards with chips, magnetic stripes, and security features for loyalty, ID, and credentialing programs.
• Identiv: Identiv produces smart cards, RFID, and secure identity solutions for physical and logical access. Comparable to CardPlus's smart-card and RFID/NFC-enabled ID badges and credential cards, especially in the access-control and government-ID end markets.
• ABnote (American Banknote Corporation): ABnote is a secure card and credential manufacturer producing financial, identification, and loyalty cards. Comparable as a custom plastic card producer with personalization, security features, and government/commercial card programs overlapping CardPlus's product mix.

Others

• Zebra Technologies: Zebra Technologies manufactures card printers (including re-transfer models) used to personalize plastic cards. Comparable as an adjacent ecosystem player supplying the same re-transfer printing equipment CardPlus uses to produce employee badges, ID cards, and loyalty cards.

Broad incumbents

• Thales (Gemalto): Thales, through its former Gemalto digital identity and security business, supplies government IDs, e-passports, driver's licenses, and secure credentials globally. Comparable as a large incumbent operating across the same government identity document category that anchors CardPlus's Baltic revenue base.
• Giesecke+Devrient: Giesecke+Devrient is a global security technology group producing banknotes, ID documents, smart cards, and secure payment solutions. Comparable as a broad incumbent in security printing and card manufacturing — the same domain CardPlus's parent AS Vaba Maa operates in, but at vastly larger scale.
• IDEMIA: IDEMIA is a global leader in identity and security solutions, producing biometric passports, ID cards, driver's licenses, and payment cards. Broadly comparable as a much larger incumbent in the same secure-document and credential manufacturing space, often serving as prime contractor for national ID programs that smaller players like CardPlus supply at the regional level.
• Bundesdruckerei: Bundesdruckerei is the German federal security printer producing passports, ID cards, and e-government solutions. Comparable as a state-aligned security printing incumbent in the same secure-document category, particularly relevant given Bundesdruckerei's co-ownership of Veridos, a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardplus-vm

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CardPlus