Rezekne to host Latvia's startup community at "StartUP" festival

On October 9, the RTU Rezekne Academy will host the "StartUP festival," continuing an initiative launched in Daugavpils in 2025 to develop Latgale's startup ecosystem. Strong turnout and positive feedback last year confirmed interest in startup and innovation topics beyond Riga, so this year the event moves to Rezekne.

The festival will bring together startup founders, investors, and representatives of universities and support organizations from both Latgale and Latvia as a whole. LIAA director Ieva Jagere notes that a startup's growth depends on the quality of its idea, its founders' knowledge, and their ability to secure funding, partners and customers, and that LIAA's task is to help promising Latgale-born ventures become viable, export-capable businesses.

Program content

Participants will learn how to attract first-round investment in the US, how to use artificial intelligence in building a company, and what criteria investors use when choosing startups to fund. The program will also cover support and funding instruments available in Latvia and Europe, the role of universities in company development, intellectual property in academic settings, and the path from a study program to founding one's own startup.

The event will feature founders' experience stories, startup pitches, and a discussion titled "What would you do in the founder's place?" The festival will close with the opening of "theLAB Rezekne," a new space at RTU Rezekne Academy where ideas can be turned into prototypes.

TechChill head Annija Mezgaile notes that while much of Latvia's startup activity is still concentrated in Riga, talent and entrepreneurship exist throughout the country, and the goal is to create more opportunities for people in Latgale to meet like-minded peers and build a stronger startup community.

A dedicated pitch workshop with entrepreneur Ernests Stals is also planned, where participants will practice presenting their ideas clearly and confidently and learn what investors look for in presentations. Several selected Latgale startups from the workshop will get the chance to present on the festival's main stage. The event runs from 9:30 to 17:00.