About GEN Latvia

The Global Entrepreneurship Network began its partnership with Latvia in 2008, when Swedbank Latvia became the national host of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). The campaign took shape around a distinctive concept: the Entrepreneur Experience Days (Pieredzes dienas), a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing initiative inviting Latvian companies to open their doors — literally and virtually — to fellow entrepreneurs seeking practical insight, new contacts, and inspiration for growth. From the outset, Swedbank organized the campaign in partnership with the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK), the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), and the state development finance institution ALTUM. Latvia's Minister of Economics, Daniels Pavluts, was among the ministerial supporters of Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2013 — the same year a GEW-linked #InnovationRiga conference at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga convened policymakers, academics, investors, and entrepreneurs from across Europe and North America to discuss Latvia's innovation ecosystem. 

The Entrepreneur Experience Days grew steadily into Latvia's leading B2B knowledge-exchange movement, drawing participants from Riga, Mārupe, Jelgava, Talsi, Stopiņi, and regions across the country, representing sectors from fintech and IT to manufacturing, real estate, and logistics. By the eighth edition in November 2025, over 600 applications had been received from nearly 300 companies for 28 experience days — with Viktors Valainis, Minister of Economics, attending and noting that the initiative makes "a significant contribution to the development of Latvia's business environment and economy as a whole." That year's campaign, organized by Swedbank with the Confederation of Employers of Latvia (LDDK), LTRK, and LIAA, also featured a "Business Compass" online conference with recordings available on the Swedbank Latvia YouTube channel. 

Latvia is an active participant in GEN's Startup Nations community — the global peer network connecting entrepreneurship policymakers and ecosystem leaders. Elmars Baltins, Director of Connect Latvija, represented Latvia at the Startup Nations Summit (SNS) in Tallinn, Estonia, where leaders from more than 70 countries gathered to explore policy levers and regulatory changes to accelerate high-impact entrepreneurship. The SNS in Tallinn was a landmark event in the Nordic-Baltic policy community, producing among its outputs the Startup Nations Policy Hack Playbook — a model for governments to beta-test regulatory reforms that has since been adopted in ecosystems worldwide. Latvia's participation underscored the country's commitment to learning from — and contributing to — the broader European startup policy conversation. 

Swedbank has also organized national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) — the world's largest startup competition, run by GEN and Monsha'at across more than 200 countries. National finals have been held annually since 2021, organized with LTRK, LIAA, and Riga TechGirls, and broadcast live on television and social media. Each edition provides finalists with pitch coaching, presentation training, video business cards, and access to the EWC Accelerator — resources designed to help early-stage Latvian founders compete on a global stage. 

The competition has produced a consistent pipeline of Latvian startups reaching the global EWC Top 100. HyMet Thermal Interfaces SIA (HyMet.eu), which develops high-performance nano-coatings for thermal management, won the 2021 Latvian finals and reached the global Top 25. Longenesis, a health technology company accelerating pharmaceutical clinical trials through blockchain-based patient data management, won in 2022 and advanced to the global Top 100. BirgerMind, whose brain-computer interface allows people with motor paralysis to communicate via email, speech generation, and social networks using brainwave activity alone, won the 2024 finals. Bdetect, an AI-powered multispectral device for early-stage skin cancer diagnosis, won in 2025. Other national finalists have included My3D.Cloud, Naco Technologies, OX Drive, Uniscopia Group, SpirulinaNord, PurOceans, Medon, PrintyMed, GaloGroup, Zekants, Designed to Live Orthopaedics, and Ecengo — spanning digital health, green hydrogen, food innovation, and smart energy technology. 

GEN maintains extensive relationships with key Latvian ecosystem stakeholders, including the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Employers of Latvia, ALTUM, and Riga TechGirls. Companies and institutions that have engaged in GEW activities include Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, Draugiem Group, Lursoft IT, the Patent Board, Junior Achievement Latvia, Riga Technical University, and airBaltic, among many others. 

Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of GEN, expressed his support for Latvia's campaign at the time of the formal partnership announcement with Swedbank in 2020: "Thanks to our partners at Swedbank, we hope to make it possible for all Latvians to start and scale a new company." GEN continues to work with Swedbank Latvia and its partners to connect Latvia's startups with international investors and mentors, link its policymakers with global best practices, and strengthen the country's place within the wider global entrepreneurship network.