The annual Startup Day and Startup BBQ event for the startup community will take place this week
This Friday, 10 September, TechHub Riga and Startin.LV, the organisations representing Latvia’s startup community, in cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), the Ministry of Economics and Riga City Council, will organise the annual Startup Day and Startup BBQ event, which traditionally brings together startup representatives, industry experts and other enthusiasts. Throughout the day, everyone interested will have the opportunity to learn more about Latvia’s dynamic startup ecosystem free of charge, as well as follow its latest developments, look back at what has been achieved so far and outline future trends.
The Startup Day programme will begin at 9:30 a.m. at TechHub Riga, with two stages hosting various thematic sessions, panel discussions and individual presentations. These will be offered by local organisations and associations including Buildit, Riga TechGirls, RTU Design Factory, Truesix and others, providing an opportunity to discuss such topical issues as the future of Latvia’s startup sector in the post-pandemic world, a science-inspired business environment, the sustainability of manufacturing processes, the contribution of startups to healthcare, and the role of women as company founders and investors in the development of the sector. Startup Day will also include a meeting of members of the Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV, during which the next steps in strengthening the local ecosystem will be discussed.
One of the central sessions at Startup Day, announced in the opening part of the programme, will be the “LV Startup Ecosystem Beyond 2021: Gloom, Glory or Grind” panel discussion, featuring representatives from the Ministry of Economics, LIAA, Riga City Council, Startin.LV, the educational technology startup Edurio and the Baltic venture capital fund Change Ventures. During the panel discussion, the industry experts present will share their views on the new reality brought about by Covid-19, the current needs of local startups, measures to strengthen the ecosystem, as well as the business development and support opportunities becoming available in Latvia during the new EU funds planning period.
At the end of the day, from 6:00 p.m., visitors will be invited to gather for the traditional Startup BBQ event, which this year will take place for the first time in the courtyard of Printify in the Spīķeri Quarter, welcoming the autumn season with an atmosphere worthy of a barbecue party. The informal event programme will feature addresses by ecosystem representatives, burgers from HttPool, plant-based BBQ dishes from RTU and energetic music performed by DJ Ķilkuts. The evening will also include the legendary TechChill beer pong, Edurio and Printify karaoke, a Deep Tech Quiz organised by Commercialization Reactor, 3x3 street basketball competitions together with Elite Air, and other team-building activities with pleasant surprises, continuing until the end of the evening. In addition, an LIAA stand will be located at the event venue, where interested visitors will be able to receive advice and learn more about the support LIAA provides to startups.
“We are truly proud of the achievements of Latvia’s startup community to date and hope to achieve even greater results in cooperation with Riga as our strategic partner,” comments Inese Andersone, Chair of the City Development Committee and Member of the Riga City Council.
The number of places at the event is limited, and you can register by completing the registration form in advance here: https://ej.uz/DayBBQ2021. Entry to the Startup Day and Startup BBQ venues will be permitted only with a valid Covid-19 digital certificate confirming vaccination or recovery from Covid-19 and an ID card.
The event is supported by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), Riga City Council, the Ministry of Economics and the “Start-Easy” Interreg Europe project implemented by the Ministry of Economics.
