Latvia's Ambitious Startup Ecosystem Expansion

In 2019, the Ministry of Economics Republic of Latvia started the implementation of the Interreg Europe project "Smart tools for quick and easy business start-up in Europe (hereinafter - Start-Easy). Phase I of the Start-Easy project was concluded on July 31, 2022, and the implementation of Phase II until July 2023 was accordingly started.

In cooperation with non-governmental organizations representing start-ups, higher education institutions, employer representatives and other stakeholders, an evaluation of existing start-up support tools in the countries of the project participants was carried out. Regional meetings were organized to improve the operation of start-up support tools and create new solutions, as a result of which the Start-up Ecosystem Development Strategy for 2022-2025 was developed. The purpose of the strategy is to promote the development of a strong and unified startup ecosystem, to introduce activities and to attract talent in startups.

As part of the Start-Easy project, issues were identified, one of which is the availability of support tools for start-ups. As part of the Interreg Europe project Skills and Scale to Connect for Business Acceleration Services policy transfer (hereinafter – SKALE2CT), a solution will be sought to improve the capacity of public and business support organizations and improve the capabilities of the business environment, where the start-up ecosystem is especially in focus. Improvements are needed in the start-up business support law, it is especially important to understand the priorities and measures to be solved, as a result of which additional proposals for the further development of the start-up ecosystem and support measures are developed with the aim of contributing to the improvement of the start-up ecosystem and ensuring investment attraction in Latvian start-ups.

The project SKALE2CT partner organizations in Latvia are Ministry of Economics Republic of Latvia and Latvian Chamber of Commerce.