LATVIAN

STARTUP
REPORT’
22
Message From Startin.LV
When I look back at 2022, I see darkness. I see the world waking up slowly from the
pandemic. I see it directing its gaze towards the sun, seeking reassurance that the
worst is over. And I see it being eviscerated by the devastating war, commenced at the
very heart of Europe. Appalling. Brutal. Ugly. However. When I look back at 2022, I also
see light. I see us all growing aware of the world we live in. I see us learning to make
tough choices and to stand by them. And I see us becoming more empathetic towards
each other. Attentive. Nurturing. Human.

’’
During the last three years, our startup ecosystem went
through a forced reboot. And here we are - emerging as
a community driven by strong founder-to-founder support
culture.
As a startup bubble which desires to grow, flourish, and give back. As a group of
like-minded people who peel off the non-essential in business and in life. As people,
who I trust to get rid of that “we can’t” mentality. One day. So, I wish us all to hold onto
each other, dream big, and do what we do best: work hard. Let’s keep the grind going.

Olga Barreto Goncalves

CEO, Latvian Startup Association "Startin.LV"

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Moments That Made Us Proud

Exit of the year: Nordigen

UK-based payments unicorn GoCardless acquired Nordigen – a Latvia-based
open banking platform that provides free access to bank data and premium
access to data products for analysis and insights. GoCardless shared that after
the acquisition, they plan to integrate Nordigen’s open banking connectivity into
their account-to-account network.

Rise of the next-gen investors

2022 marked a new stage in the development of the local VC scene.
The emergence of BADideas.fund and Draugiem Capital fund suggests that
successful founders of such startups as Lokalise, Printify, Printful, Whimsical,
among others, are ready and willing to give back and invest smart money
into the new generation of Baltic founders.

Crowd-friendly commercial law

CrowdedHero obtained the first EU-wide permit to provide crowdfunding services
in Latvia, issued by the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC).
This was made possible thanks to approved amendments in the Commercial Law
which unlocked opportunities for peer-to-peer investments, previously available
for VC funds and professional investors only.

Greener future with Cleantech for Baltics

Striving for cleantech innovation and sustainable technology acceleration in the
region Cleantech for Baltics coalition was launched in Riga. Supported by
the Breakthrough Energy Foundation and Cleantech for Europe, the alliance
will focus on bringing more relevant data, funding and better policy-making for
the cleantech sector to the Baltic region.

3/10
Latvian Startup Ecosystem At A Glance: 2022

Funding raised by Latvia-based startups, € mln

(2013-2022) 247,3

€ 92 mln
Total investments
92.0
raised by Latvian
50,0 59,3
31,8 44,1 startups in 2022
6,2 7,0 15,5 22,7
2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022
366 2 949
Total number of startups according employees work in
to Startin.LV Startup Database Latvian startups

Latvian cities with the highest number of registered startups

239

20 10 9 7

Riga Jurmala Valmiera Marupe Liepaja

Dominating startup technologies and verticals

4/10
Investment Outlook

Top 3 biggest deals in 2022

Aerones Juro Girrafe360

€ 39 mln € 20 mln € 15 mln
Developer of robotized Contract automation platform The essential 3-in-1 virtual tour
solutions for wind turbine that allows executing and camera for real estate agents.
inspection and maintenance. monitoring contracts from Giraffe360 creates HDR
Since its foundation in 2015, one unified workspace. Juro's photography, virtual tours and
the company has provided clients include several floor plans with 98% accuracy.
services in 19 countries. internationally known brands
such as Skyscanner.

Investments raised by sector Investments by round size, €

(2013-2022) (2013-2022)

FinTech
Advanced Manufacturing
10% 13% Business Software 4%
4% 5%
CleanTech <100,000
4%
6% 14% Consumer Products 15% 100,000-500,000
EdTech 52% 500,000-2,000,000
7%
HealthTech & MedTech 2,000,000-10,000,000
5% 24%
24% PropTech >10,000,000
10% Mobility
4%
MusicTech
Other

’’
This year, with massive stock market price falls and macro-economic headwinds,
has no doubt been a hard reset for many founders and investors, one that I have
been awaiting for a couple of years. As investors struggle to understand what
prices are now reasonable for investment, the pace has slowed dramatically.
Many founder teams have also extended their runway to avoid having to raise
capital. All the same, we still see great companies raise rounds, including two
Latvian robotics success stories, Giraffe360 and Aerones.

Andris K. Berzins, Change Ventures, Board Member at Startin.LV

5/10
Shareholders Statistics

Distribution of female shareholders among Latvian startups

23% startups with AT LEAST ONE FEMALE shareholder

7% startups with FEMALE-ONLY shareholders

Type of Startups with

shareholders Latvian vs foreign shareholders

28% 23%

62% 58%
10% 19%

Legal entity shareholders Mixed nationality shareholders

Female shareholders Foreign shareholders only
Male shareholders Latvia shareholders only

For further analysis of how (and whether) startup age matters, we divided our startup sample into three
categories based on the year when a company was registered.

Year founded Startup age Number Average number Average age of shareholders
of startups of shareholders at the moment
2020-2021 1-2 years 132 2.7 36.7

2017-2019 3-5 years 129 3.2 39.6

2012-2016 6-10 years 64 3.0 41.0

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Financial Data

’’
For startups, the buildup to great returns can take anywhere between 4-6 years.
And you never know how it’s going to look like - just 2-3 startups can bring in 10
times the initial investment in the whole sector. Investing in startups is a
long-term investment. We might be a relatively small sector now, but there is
tremendous potential and the numbers are starting to show it. This is the best
time to put the startup sector on the list of priorities on the highest levels.

Agnese Veckalne, Longenesis, Chairwoman of the Board at Startin.LV

Total payments to state budget by startup age group

(2021)
In the age group 6-10 years, payments by Mintos, Printify and Printful
are highlighted in different colours due to their significant share.

€ 43,6 mln 7,98

Printful
Mintos
Total startup 4,96
Printify
3,97
€ (mln.)

payments to state
budget in 2021 27,10

2,26 10,47

1-2 years old 3-5 years old 6-10 years old

Average turnover Average profit

(2021) (2021)
64
2 205

402
€ (thous.)

€ (thous.)

68

-29
-40
1-2 years old 3-5 years old 6-10 years old 1-2 years old 3-5 years old 6-10 years old

7/10
State Programs for Startups

Approved Startup Law support

(2017-2022)
2943
2845 72
startups approved
€ (thous.)

for the Startup

Law support
50 50 81 53
since 2017
2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Approved support by type 2022

Startup employees receiving
(2017-2022) talent co-financing, by role
(2017-2022)

IT/ Software
71
Development

41% Production 8

Sales & Business

7
59% Development
Product/ Project
5
Management

Marketing 3

Tax reliefs
Scientists 2
Talent co-financing

Startup visas issued to foreign founders

(2018-2022)

361 145

101
foreign startup
founders received 69
41
Startup Visa to
launch their busines
5
in Latvia (2018-2022)
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

8/10
10 Startups To Watch

Being part of Startin.LV, we are privileged to witness the development of some game-changing solutions from
the early days. Here, we list 10 promising Startin.LV startup members, who achieved some significant
milestones in 2022 – from winning global awards to participation in international pilot projects, attracting
investments and gaining love from their first customers. We are excited to watch them grow and evolve.
Do you want to get to know them? Let’s go!

Copy Monkey LANDE

Platfrom generates content for Crowdfunding platform that helps
ecommerce based on AI or machine farms obtain capital using machinery,
learning technology platform. land, or future harvest as collateral.

Longenesis Fermentful
Intuitive toolkit for data discovery Fermented plant-based drinks to
and patient-centric engagement, support your mental and physical
with focus on privacy and ethics. wellbeing.

abillio BirgerMind
Online tool to support Non-invasive Brain-Computer
individual business, offering Interface (BCI) enabling fully
company-as-a-service. paralyzed patients to communicate
independently.

BeeSage PrintOnPack
Data-driven beekeeping for Online marketplace to find the most
productivity and sustainability. suitable flexible packaging
provider.

Huntli Aimy
All-in-one solution that helps Personal AI assistant who ensures
fight financial fraud and stay up to optimal staffing using artificial
date with day-to-day compliance. intelligence.

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 Methodology
The core sample in the analysis consists of 356 startups with known legal name.
Individual data sets slightly vary based on data availability (for example - whether the
annual report for 2021 has been submitted, which would not be the case for startups
incorporated in 2022). The data is obtained for Latvian-registered companies only
and does not include information on any foreign subsidiaries/parent companies.
The data on Investments (page 5) is gathered and validated by Startin.LV from public
sources such as official press releases and media publications. Investment figures
exclude debt or other non-equity funding, lending capital, grants and ICOs.
Data about Employees' roles applied for Startup Law (page 8) has been collected
only for those startups that have submitted at least one payment request. The
employee's employment agreement is one of the substantiating documents for the
payment request.
Data sources: Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Lursoft, Office of
Citizenship and Migration Affairs, Register of Enterprises, State Revenue Service.

We thank our partners and friends for their continued support in our
effort to contribute to the Latvian Startup Report 2022.
We are especially grateful to the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA)
for providing data on startup visa and startup support programs.

Join our thriving community to stay informed

about the buzz in the Latvian startup ecosystem!

Contacts:
www.startin.lv
[email protected]

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