Latvia plans to develop two national policies in support of the start-up ecosystem, a national startup support policy and a fintech strategy.

The main focus of these developments is specifically the fintech sector, as the EU’s fastest-growing start-up is a fintech from Latvia, and the country is home to major European fintech companies.

Development

Tarass Leo?ko, Senior Investment Project Head at the LIAA Investment Promotion Division said ‘Latvia is ready to excel as the innovation hub where to test and scale up the latest fintech solutions.’

A workgroup for this specific sector has been formed and aims to identify and reduce any barriers to the industry’s start-up growth.

The members of this group range from the Ministry of France, industry representatives, banks to the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA).

‘All local stakeholders are on a mission of improving the legal framework and developing the necessary infrastructure to accelerate the ongoing development’ said Leo?ko.

This focus is also shared with the Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia who has created services like The Innovation Hub, The Regulatory Sandbox, and the Innovation Centre for support.

‘The development of financial solutions improves our client experience and facilitates the entrance of new products into the market.’ said Marine Krasovska, Director of the Financial and Capital Market Commission Innovation Department.

Fintech Supports

The Innovation Hub is an open-door consultant body for developing or formed fintechs, and offers free consultation on regulation, licensing, AML framework and IT security management.

The Regulatory Sandbox is a fast-track tool for fintech prototypes to test their business models, financial services and grants flexibility to go through the licensing process, allowing easier access to the market.

The Innovation Centre is a support that has been used by 18 companies in 2021 and the majority of interest stems from crowdfunding and regtech startups.

‘We are ready to perfect support mechanisms and promote the development of the innovation ecosystem at a state level while reducing obstacles faced by the innovation environment’ added Krasovska.

The Future

The announcement of these policy developments was made at the startup event, TechChill, and the new policy is expected to finalised by October 2021.

The event itself was celebrating 10 years of supporting the local start-up ecosystem and has played a role in amplifying local start-up success worldwide.

‘By having a national fintech policy we are recognizing that and sending a signal to fintech startups that they are welcomed here.’ ended Ernests Št?ls, co-founder of TechChill