What to expect from the Riga Venture Summit 2018

The Riga Venture Summit (RVS) is an international startup ecosystem policy roundtable discussion aiming to provide a deep dive into the realm of startup ventures. This year the topic of discussion will be focused on best practice of corporate-startup cooperation.  

On one hand, you have innovation-driven startups and success stories that change life as you know it with new technologies. On the other, you have well-established corporations that dictate the status quo in their industries. It is about time that these two camps were married. The organizers of the summit – Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV – have announced the details of the upcoming Riga Venture Summit 2018, an annually held event that this year will take place on February 7, 2018. The main topic of the Summit this year will be a thorough look into the opportunities of startup and corporate collaboration.

Attendance is free of charge, but by invitation only. Contact info@startin.lv to discuss attending the event.

This year the RVS agenda offers several case studies that will be considered and showcased as different approaches of cooperation between startups and corporations. The interactive discussion panel will tackle best and worst practices, and will also leave ample time for networking and idea exchanges.

Opening speeches:

The event will be opened by Arvils Aseradens, the Minister for Economics and Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia. The Ministry of Economics strongly believes that startups make a positive impact on the economy as a whole. The Minister will be accompanied by the Chairwoman of the Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV  Egita Polanska, who also represents one of the most successful Startup Accelerators in the CEE region for B2B startups – Startup Wise Guys.

Baltic ecosystem overview:

Riga Venture Summit is an international event that aims to boost communication and cooperation between Baltic countries – representatives of all three countries are invited to pitch their startup ecosystem. The pitch will follow up on the topics of Riga Venture Summit 2017 where there topic of  attraction of talent and investments in our region was discussed.

Case Studies:

We have selected three case studies showcasing the different approaches of  cooperation between Startups and Corporates. They will be presented in the format of a fireside chat.

1. Corporates and Platform: The Floor FinTech Hub, Israel.

The Floor FinTech Hub of Israel has changed the rules of the game for many startups and corporates and developed a successful middle man approach to bring these two parties together. Gil Devora, the founder and director of The Floor will be interviewed by Estonian media guru Tarmo Virki, who has co-founded CoFounder magazine and is arguable one of the most well-informed individuals on these topics in the industry.

2. Corporatec and VC: Lietuvos Energija and Contrarian Ventures, Lithuania.

A very fresh cooperation case from our closest neighbours will be presented – Lietuvos Energija and Contrarian Ventures. Just recently CVentures has won a tender to become the managers of a venture capital fund established by the state-owned energy company Lietuvos Energija, who has invested 5 million EUR. Both parties will share their experience at RVS, speakers will include Rokas Peciulaitis of Contrarian Ventures and Andrius Juozapaitis of Lietuvos Energija.

3. Corporate and Accelerator: Telia and Jump, Denmark.

Another great example will be the Scandinavian telecommunication company Telia and their innovation programme JUMP aimed at collaboration and joint development with startups.  JUMP aims to strengthen Telia´s drive to digitize everyone in Denmark by providing special conditions for startups to benefit from the participation. This case study will be represented by Lone Jensen, Telia and Cosmin Pirvu from startup IntelFlows.

Discussion panel:

To continue the discussion about Startups and Corporates, new opinions will be brought to the table to examine situations from a variety of angles. The discussion panel will be moderated by Daniels Pavluts and speakers we will include Craig Cannon, who is the Director of Marketing at one of the most famous accelerators – YCombinator , Andrea Rosen, Chief Innovation Officer at global matchmaking platform for B2B startups and corporates CUBE gmbh, Sectorial expert in Financial services and Insurance Juan Alonso-Villalobos who represents Startup Wise Guys‘ new FinTech accelerator program in cooperation with Swedbank, two local startups AnatomyNext Sandis Kondrats, Nordigen Rolands Mesters.

The icing on the cake will be delivered by the godfather of the Latvian startup ecosystem – Andris Berzins, who will wrap up the main action points and lessons that the Baltics can learn to encourage our startups and corporates build stronger and more efficient cooperation.

The event is made in cooperation with our supporters Sorainen, Invest in Bavaria, Embassy of Israel, Embassy of the United States of America, CEBIT and great friends  TechChill.

“Sorainen is strongly committed to do its share in order to support the development of the local start-up ecosystems in the Baltics and Belarus. We see this as a logical extension of our wider strategy that is to increase prosperity in the countries we operate in by helping clients succeed in business. The concept of the Riga Venture Summit matches well with our strategy, therefore we are happy to provide our support.” – Janis Bite, Senior Associate Sorainen.

“As the Business Promotion Agency of the State of Bavaria, we need to have a close look at the business development of other countries. In the Baltics we see the rise of innovative high-tech companies that shape the future in our digitalized world. With the strong economy, Bavaria provides a unique ecosystem of international market leaders and future driven startups. We help you to tab into the huge opportunities in one of Europe’s leading regions.” – Dr. Wolfgang Hübschle, Executive Director Invest in Bavaria.

More information:

Website:www.rvsummit.co

Twitter: twitter.com/rigavsummit

Facebook: facebook.com/Startin.LV

Website: www.startin.lv

Email: info@startin.lv