TechChill Launches the 10th Season of Baltic Start-Up Events

In less than four months time the annual Baltic start-up and technology event TechChill will take place in Latvian capital Riga for the 10^th time celebrating a decade of growth and bringing together over 2000 attendees, including fastest-growing start-ups, international speakers, most innovative corporations, investors, media representatives and talented tech enthusiasts from all over the world.

Adjusted to the current day event set up in the post-pandemic world, this time the series of leading technology events in the Baltic region will be held virtually focusing on such topics as sustainability innovations, knowledge for growth, digital transformation, diversity, as well as the role of the Baltics in the future of tech.

The main focus for TechChill 2021 season is “Point of No Return” with a reworked framework for ‘the new normal’. Thus, instead of the usual two days, the main event will be moved to May with its agenda being spread into two weeks of dedicated online content accessible from anywhere in the world. Along with some of the most empowering industry speakers sharing their stories, this time on a virtual stage, there will also be many tailored side events taking place from matchmaking between start-ups and investors, job fair, accelerator demo days, 50 founders battle pitches, masterclasses, seminars, roundtable discussions and hackathons to other networking activities. The two weeks of content will begin with a launch event in Vilnius and end with a grand finale in Riga, building bridges across borders on a brand new level.

“TechChill has dedicated its 10^th anniversary year to new and greater heights. One of the main goals for this year is to expand starting with our neighboring country Lithuania in order to bring higher global visibility and help shaping Baltic state identity as an attractive region with skillful talent, great infrastructure, support from the government and other factors that will bring more investments to the region. By attracting the right partners, the growth can be faster than ever, and last year has shown that even despite immense challenges everyone faced and with the everyday lifestyle changing forever, the investments have still grown rapidly. Now it’s time we learn, move forward and explore the unforeseen opportunities that will shape technology this year and beyond,” TechChill Chair of the Board, Marija Rucevska comments.

“According to the Not Optional campaign, run by Index Ventures, Latvia is currently the most start-up friendly country in the world. Our Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania had previously topped the rankings, ahead of 22 other countries including the UK, France and Germany, and the recent changes to the stock option policy in Latvia mean that we have moved up the list and can now compete with large corporates for talent and thus scale more globally. Not to mention that the Baltics have great founders with more hustle than many of their Western European peers,” Andris Berzins, managing partner at Change Ventures adds.

The very first TechChill 2021 season digital launch event took place on January 20^th with TechChill members of the board announcing the new conference format and introducing agenda topics and first speakers, followed by a panel discussion “Tech trends in 2021 and the role of the Baltics” where CEO & Founder at sustainability platform Plan A, Lubomila Jordanova, Vytautas Kubilius, Baltic Country Manager at Google, and Managing Partner at early-stage investment company Lemonade Stand, Siim Teller, shared their insights and exchanged knowledge on technology trends and innovations shaping today’s world.