Estonian Refugee Council

What Estonian Refugee Council does

Estonian Refugee Council (legal name: MTÜ Eesti Pagulasabi) is the largest humanitarian organization in the Baltic States, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Tartu, Estonia. The organization delivers emergency humanitarian aid, multi-purpose cash assistance, livelihoods grants, protection services, mental health support, and integration programming for refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and crisis-affected populations across ten countries: Estonia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Turkey, and Kenya. Operations are organized around three pillars — humanitarian aid, economic well-being, and social well-being — with country offices in Tartu, Tallinn, Kyiv, and Yerevan, and a new Syria representation opened in 2025. Programmatic reach has scaled materially since 2022, with 444,000+ people supported in Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion and 55,000+ people reached in 2025 alone.

The organization has built a proprietary digital ecosystem for humanitarian programme management. Its core platform, Dig(n)ital Suite, is an end-to-end case management system built on Drupal 10, PHP, and the Symfony framework with SQL data storage, hosted on private infrastructure in Estonia. Dig(n)ital Suite covers the full programme lifecycle — registration, verification, deduplication, vulnerability assessment, approval, payment preparation, monitoring, and reporting — and includes offline PWA capability for low-connectivity field environments, configurable assessment matrices, and an event-condition-action automation engine. Complementary platforms include the Livelihoods Platform (lh.pagulasabi.ee), the Cash Assistance Platform for Ukraine (cash.pagulasabi.ee), a Complaints and Feedback Mechanism (CFM), and an HR portal. DigiCap, a mobile digital advisory mechanism, provides external advisory services on digital governance, interoperability, responsible data use, and digital inclusion to UN agencies, humanitarian clusters, and NGO consortia.

ERC's business model is institutional humanitarian funding, not commercial revenue. In 2024, total revenue was €19.69M, of which 98% came from institutional funders (led by the European Commission and the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), 1% from individual donations (€230,000+), and 1% from Estonian public procurement and services (€98,000). Donations are accepted via website, bank transfer to SEB/Swedbank/LHV/Coop, and a phone line (9003803) at a flat €15 increment. ERC is one of a small number of organizations holding the European Commission's DG ECHO Humanitarian Partner Programme certification at the highest tier — and the only one in the Baltic States and Poland. In 2026 it joined the UN Standby Partnership Network. Programs include Emergency Livelihoods (Ukraine, up to 42,000 UAH per household), RISE, Empowering Women (with Garage48 and Swedbank), UPBEAT (AI-assisted employability with Startup Refugees and Haaga-Helia), Boost, and Armenia self-help group grants.

Name

Estonian Refugee Council

Legal name

MTÜ Eesti Pagulasabi

Website

https://pagulasabi.ee

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Estonian Refugee Council (Eesti Pagulasabi) is the largest humanitarian organization in the Baltic States, providing emergency aid, cash assistance, livelihoods support, and integration services for refugees and crisis-affected populations across ten countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Aid and Refugee Assistance Services

NAICS

Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment) (BPADAHAI), Cash Assistance & Social Safety Net Delivery for Displaced Populations (BPADAHAH), Refugee, Migration & Displacement Support (BPAGABAH), Refugee Reception & Registration (BPADAHAA)

Keywords

• Humanitarian aid services
• Refugee assistance programs
• Cash and livelihoods support
• Humanitarian case management software
• Digital humanitarian advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Tartu

HQ country

Estonia

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional funding: 98% of 2024 revenue came from institutional funders including EU, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other government/humanitarian donors. Long-term institutional support enables rapid and effective crisis response.
2. Individual donations: Donations from individuals constituted 1% of revenue in 2024, totaling over 230,000 euros. Accepts one-time and recurring donations via website, phone (9003803), and bank transfer.
3. Public procurement and services: 1% of revenue came from public procurement and services supporting refugees in Estonia, totaling 98,000 euros in 2024.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Estonian Refugee Council provides humanitarian aid, cash assistance, livelihoods grants, mental health and protection services, and integration support for refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and crisis-affected populations across 10 countries. It also builds and operates proprietary humanitarian-sector digital tools (Dig(n)ital Suite case management platform and DigiCap mobile advisory mechanism) used internally and offered to humanitarian coordination structures.

Product overview

Estonian Refugee Council operates a multi-platform digital ecosystem supporting humanitarian assistance programmes. The core platform is Dig(n)ital Suite, an end-to-end case management system for registration, assessment, payment and monitoring. Supporting platforms include DigiCap (digital advisory mechanism), the Livelihoods Platform, Cash Assistance Platform, Complaints and Feedback Mechanism (CFM), and HR Portal. ERC also runs multiple humanitarian programmes including emergency livelihoods support, self-employment grants, women's entrepreneurship (Empowering Women), AI-powered employability training (UPBEAT), and startup support (Boost). These platforms and programmes work together to deliver comprehensive humanitarian assistance from emergency response through economic recovery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dig(n)ital Suite Comprehensive end-to-end digital case management platform for the full lifecycle of humanitarian assistance programmes, including registration, verification, deduplication, assessment, approval, payment preparation, monitoring, and reporting. It is used internally by ERC and built to support humanitarian-sector programme delivery.
• DigiCap Mobile digital advisory mechanism that provides independent advisory support on digital governance, interoperability, responsible data use, digital inclusion, procurement, and practical digital system design for the humanitarian sector, including UN agencies, humanitarian clusters, and NGO consortia.
• Emergency Livelihoods Programme (Ukraine) Emergency livelihoods programme in Ukraine providing grants of 29,000–42,000 UAH per household to vulnerable conflict-affected households (single-parent families, elderly-only households, households with members with specific health needs) to start or resume income-generating activities and reach the subsistence minimum.
• RISE (Resilient Initiatives for Self-Employment) Self-employment support programme for residents of Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine, helping participants start or restart income-generating activities.
• Empowering Women

Quantifiable outcome

• 470,000+ people reached with humanitarian assistance over years
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ActedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational NGO partner in Ukraine response consortium. ERC and Acted jointly implement humanitarian assistance programmes in Ukraine.
• Humanitarian coordination bodies, clusters, sectors and working groupscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigiCap provides advisory support to humanitarian coordination structures and UN cluster system for digital challenges.
• Garage48coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Empowering Women entrepreneurship programme. Co-organizes bootcamps and hackathons for women with refugee experience in Estonia.
• SwedbankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder and partner in Empowering Women programme. Provides funding and mentorship support for women entrepreneurs with refugee experience.
• Startup RefugeesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in UPBEAT employability programme using AI to improve competitiveness of refugees in labour market.
• Hague University of Applied Sciences (Haaga-Helia)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in UPBEAT programme providing expertise and research for refugee employability initiatives.
• EENAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Empowering Women entrepreneurship programme.
• OBJEKTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder and partner in Empowering Women programme.
• UNHCRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research on Ukrainian refugees socio-economic integration in Estonia. UNHCR co-published SEIS study.
• IOM (International Organization for Migration)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research partner with UNHCR on Ukrainian refugees socio-economic integration.
• Democracy Development FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner in 'Human Rights for and with Refugees' initiative supporting refugees from Nagorno Karabakh.
• Coalition to Stop Violence Against WomenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil society partner in 'Human Rights for and with Refugees' project for Nagorno Karabakh refugees.
• Commit GlobalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in 'Human Rights for and with Refugees' project supporting refugees from Nagorno Karabakh.
• Ukrainian National Psychological AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in mental health hotline providing psychological support to Ukrainians in Ukraine and 21 European countries.
• BO ShchedrykmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Ukrainian partner organization for winterization and heating support programmes.
• NusanedmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in Lebanon for food assistance and humanitarian response.
• Tallinn Youth CentersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in World Refugee Day youth event, providing activities and entertainment.
• IZUMI Youth ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organizing youth activities for World Refugee Day event.
• Integration FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner presenting Settle in Estonia programme at World Refugee Day youth event.
• UN agencies and international NGOs leading digital initiativescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigiCap provides advisory support to UN agencies and international NGOs for collective digital challenges.
• NGO consortia and platforms for collective responsemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigiCap supports NGO consortia and response platforms in addressing shared digital challenges.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Acted: Acted is a French humanitarian NGO implementing multi-sector emergency and recovery programmes; ERC is already an Acted consortium partner in Ukraine. Direct peer given identical target populations, sector mix, and EU/INGO funding model.
• Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps focuses on humanitarian response, cash and livelihoods programming, and economic recovery in conflict zones. Its cash-and-livelihoods emphasis mirrors ERC's core programmatic mix, making it a strong operational peer.
• International Rescue Committee: IRC delivers emergency aid, cash assistance, livelihoods, and integration services for refugees and conflict-affected populations globally. Directly comparable to ERC on programming mix and target populations, though IRC operates at much larger scale.
• Relief International: Relief International is a US-headquartered humanitarian NGO providing emergency response, livelihoods, and cash programming in conflict-affected countries. Similar in scale, programming mix, and donor base to ERC.
• People in Need: People in Need is a Czech humanitarian and development NGO with Central/Eastern European operational roots, operating in Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere with cash, livelihoods, and integration programmes. Highly comparable to ERC given similar regional origin and programme portfolio.
• Solidarités International: Solidarités International is a French humanitarian NGO specializing in water, sanitation, livelihoods, and food security in conflict zones. Comparable to ERC on geographic focus (Middle East, Eastern Europe) and emergency/livelihoods programme mix.
• Danish Refugee Council: Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is one of Europe's largest humanitarian NGOs focused on refugee and displacement response, with global operations and digital case management tools. Highly comparable to ERC as both are national-origin humanitarian organizations with field operations across conflict zones and integration programmes.
• Norwegian Refugee Council: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) operates humanitarian programmes for refugees and IDPs across 40+ countries, with similar livelihoods, cash, and integration focus. NRC is a close functional peer - both run emergency response, economic recovery, and integration programmes with institutional donor funding.

Broad incumbents

• UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency): UNHCR is the UN's global refugee agency with a multi-billion dollar budget and operations in 130+ countries. ERC is a UNHCR operational partner (joint SEIS research) - comparable as the dominant sector incumbent, though at very different scale and mandate.
• International Organization for Migration (IOM): IOM is the leading intergovernmental organization on migration, with humanitarian and integration programming across 100+ countries. ERC partners with IOM on Ukrainian refugee research - directly comparable in mandate around migration, displacement, and integration services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pagulasabi
• Facebookfacebook.com/pagulasabi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/estonian-refugee-council
• Instagraminstagram.com/pagulasabi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Estonian Refugee Council