Estonia's Gateway to the US

Originally published on The VL Studios blog on June 12, 2019. Lightly edited.

The VL Studios is a New York-based design and marketing studio focused on building brands online. Our work covers branding, design, brand acceleration and marketing, with a particular focus on Estonian companies and personal brands entering the US market.

As a young company with a fresh perspective, we're dedicated to forming new partnerships and solving the challenges businesses and entrepreneurs face when they expand to the United States. Our design and marketing specialists offer consulting and online marketing for projects that promote Estonian innovation and creative culture across the US.

Our team includes Valev Laube, an Estonian-born creative director with experience in multimedia production, design and marketing for New York theater productions, advertising campaigns, companies and personal brands. He was creative director of the Estonian Cultural Days in New York from 2016 to 2018 and signature visual designer of the EstDocs Documentary Film Festival 2018 in Toronto.

The team also includes Kristi Roosmaa, an Estonian-born actress, singer, producer and lawyer, with a law degree from the University of Tartu and a performing arts diploma from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and co-organized the Arvo Pärt concert series in the United States.

Our mission is to help businesses and individuals succeed by introducing their ideas to the right people, and to build connections among Estonians and friends of Estonia in the United States.

Update, 2026: seven years later, this is still the work. See the US-Readiness Index for where Estonian companies stand in America today.