New High-Tech Companies to Emerge in Riga with the Support of Baltic International Bank

‘We can say with confidence that Latvia is on its way to global leadership in the commercialization of technologies. The approximately 30 new innovative companies created over the last five years have generated values worth over EUR 20 million, and their price continues to grow rapidly. The combination of excellence in business and science is the main asset of the new post-industrial economy, as evidenced by the interest of investors about these companies. Latvia is one of the first countries in Europe where the commercialization of scientific achievements is being implemented since 2009 when LIAA (the Latvian Investment and Development Agency) started supporting this programme,’ says Mr Edgars Grants, representative of the Commercialization Reactor.

The main objective of new business platform Commercialization Reactor is to provide scientists and entrepreneurs with an opportunity to meet one another, to help them understand one other, and to attract initial investment for setting up a business. A proto-company is created and an initial business development strategy is developed in the follow-up of a Commercialization Reactor event. Over the next six months, the new company is developed under the auspices of the platform and receives support from mentors in order to get prepared for attracting further funding. Pre-seed capital is attracted within the platform framework that can be used by the newly created enterprise to gain a foothold and consider attracting investments from venture capital funds, banks and other investment platforms on a larger scale.

Focussing its activity on supporting sustainable investment projects, Baltic International Bank attracts investor funds and invests them in business projects in Latvia and the EU, and highly appreciates the emergence of science-based businesses. ‘There has been a significant increase in the volume of investments in alternative investment projects, including new companies, over the last decade. We too see in our daily activities that the customer interest about alternative investments in business projects is growing. Investors are willing to invest in the areas of energy and medicine and, traditionally, in information technology. However, entrepreneurs need to think about how to improve the quality of their projects so as to make business more attractive to investors. The Commercialization Reactor and the events they organize help do this excellently,’ Ilona Gulcaka underlines.

For more information about the event and the Commercialization Reactor please visit: http://www.commercializationreactor.com