The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, in cooperation with “HackCodeX”, will organize a series of events in the Balkan countries to introduce the start-up ecosystem with opportunities for business development and investment attraction in Latvia, the organizers of the event informed “Delfi”.
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From April 18 to April 21, a series of events will take place in Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia with the aim of sharing Latvia’s experience on the development of start-ups and innovations, as well as highlighting potential opportunities for cooperation. Representatives of the technology community of the Balkan countries, Latvian start-ups, as well as companies already operating in both the Baltic and Balkan markets are invited to participate in the events.
The series of events will be launched on April 18 in Bucharest in cooperation with the local startup community organization “Creative Motion”. The event in Belgrade will be held on April 20 together with “Digital Serbia Initiative”, which promotes digital development in Serbia. The final event will take place in Skopje in cooperation with the technology company “TestDevLab”, which successfully operates in both the Latvian and North Macedonian markets. In each of the countries, representatives of local and Latvian start-ups will participate in various discussion panels to provide an insight into the latest innovations and look for new directions of international cooperation.
“With the development of the start-up ecosystem and the available support mechanisms, Latvia has become an attractive destination for foreign entrepreneurs and investors. One such tool is the start-up visa, which gives entrepreneurs from outside the European Union the opportunity to obtain a residence permit and develop their business in Latvia. We see that in the Balkan countries there is a rapid development of start-ups, so we see the potential to attract the talents, innovations and investments of this region for the development of Latvia. On-site events in Serbia, Romania and North Macedonia will provide an opportunity to get to know the technology trends of the region, to make useful contacts for domestic start-ups, as well as to introduce start-ups to the opportunities provided by Latvia, creating long-term development potential,” says Polina Ivleva, leading expert of LIAA’s Start-up Support Department.
Attracting new IT talent is a major challenge for entrepreneurs across Europe, which also affects companies’ competitiveness. Employees in the field of technology are looking for new challenges as well as opportunities, looking at job offers in other countries as well. The series of events has been created in cooperation with the hackathon “HackCodeX”, which will gather several hundred European programmers in Riga from June 3 to 5 to search for new solutions to the challenges presented by leading technology companies within 48 hours.
“Getting acquainted with start-up organizations in the Balkan countries, we see that there are highly qualified specialists in this region who are interested in job opportunities in Latvia. Participation in a European-level hackathon in Latvia is an opportunity for the technology talents of these countries to get to know the local technology community in a short time, as well as to challenge themselves by cooperating with Latvian technology companies. As last year’s experience shows, several foreign developers have found new jobs in Latvia after the hackathon, which is also a great benefit for companies looking for motivated specialists,” reveals Zane Grēta Grants, head of “HackCodeX”.
Latvian start-ups interested in cooperation in these countries are also invited to apply for the series of events in Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia. You can find out more about the event and the speakers at the hackathon on the Facebook page.
The events are organized by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia in cooperation with hackathon “HackCodeX”, start-up organizations of the Balkan countries and with the support of the European Regional Development Fund.
