Latvia's 2026 startup industry awards presented
Awards for Latvia's startup sector were presented in seven categories, honouring Amorphous Health, Origin Robotics, Deep Space Energy, SUBmerge Baltic, Convershake, Outvoicer and founder Kristofs Blaus.
Latvia's 2026 startup industry awards, known as the Startup Awards, have been presented, recognising companies and founders across seven categories. The event is organised by the Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV and Startup House Riga. The results show which young companies stood out this year through investment, contracts and new partnerships.
Nominees were put forward by almost 20 startup ecosystem organisations and representatives, as well as by anyone who wished to apply in the open nomination stage. In six categories an independent jury chose the winners, while the Community Choice award was decided by public vote.
Winners
Newcomer of the Year — Amorphous Health, which develops a clinical data analytics platform for hospitals and turns unstructured medical records into structured data. In 2026 the company launched its product, began working with Daugavpils Regional Hospital and raised pre-seed investment of 2.2 million US dollars.
Breakthrough of the Year — Origin Robotics, which develops autonomous defence systems for Europe and NATO allies. Its turnover grew more than tenfold in 2025, and in 2026 it signed a multi-year framework agreement on supplying the BLAZE autonomous drone interceptor to the Latvian National Armed Forces. France has become the fourth NATO member state to purchase BLAZE.
Deep-Tech Startup of the Year — Deep Space Energy, which develops radioisotope power sources for space missions. It became the first Latvian company admitted to NATO's DIANA defence innovation programme and plans to demonstrate its technology in orbit in 2028 using the International Space Station.
Defence Tech Startup of the Year — SUBmerge Baltic, which builds unmanned underwater vehicles and maritime surveillance systems. It signed memoranda of understanding with the French naval defence company Naval Group and the Ukrainian company Roboneers, and has raised more than 2.6 million euros in investment.
Fintech Startup of the Year — Convershake, which has built an AI-based voice communication platform for consumer lending companies. The platform operates in six countries.
Founder of the Year — Kristofs Blaus, co-founder of Nutrameg and several non-governmental organisations, who has supported and advised other entrepreneurs.
Community Choice — Outvoicer, an invoicing platform for small and medium-sized businesses and accountants in the Baltics. It is used by more than 900 companies, and more than 300,000 invoices have been issued through it.
Startin.LV head Roberts Alhimionoks stressed that startups create jobs and pay increasing taxes, but that continued growth requires more people willing to found companies.
