From September 8 to 22, applications for participation in the Business Incubation Program will be accepted at 20 regional offices of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA), as well as at the Creative Industries and Technologies offices in Riga.
“From this autumn, the amount of co-financing for business development and the purchase of raw materials for incubation program participants has been increased to 70%, which significantly expands the development opportunities of new companies. We are looking forward to companies with innovative business ideas, products and export ambitions to achieve higher goals together,” said LIAA Director Ieva Jāgere, emphasizing that the incubation program can serve as an important stepping stone for a company that is just starting to build its customer base and taking its first steps in export.
Companies registered in Latvia, up to 5 years old, which are export-capable, work with technologies, develop innovative products or services, as well as creative industries with a developed product or service at least at a minimum viable level, can apply for incubation support. The total co-financing that one company can receive in this program is up to 300,000 euros (within the de minimis framework). A new priority direction is dual-use goods manufacturers and new companies working in the defense sector.
Applications for the LIAA Business Incubation Program are made according to the administrative-territorial division or regional principle and a total of 97 companies will be accepted throughout Latvia. LIAA regional representative offices are located in Jūrmala, Tukums, Valmiera, Cēsis, Smiltene, Madona, Gulbene, Alūksne, Sigulda, Liepāja, Saldus, Ventspils, Kuldīga, Talsi, Jelgava, Bauska, Ogre, Jēkabpils, Rēzekne and Daugavpils. Creative industry entrepreneurs can apply for the program not only at the Creative Industries Representative Office, but also at the regional representative office closest to them. Innovative entrepreneurs from Riga can apply for the Technology Representative Office only.
The company "REDFROG", which works on augmented reality products, bringing various spaces to life in a virtual environment, has been operating in the incubation program for about a year. The company's founder, Madara Kalniņa-Kalnmale, emphasizes that this program is a great opportunity for companies that already have their first customers and turnover. "It is an opportunity to receive co-financing to cover the company's operational costs, as well as participate in various international conferences, where you can raise the company's awareness and acquire new customers. In addition, support in the program can be received for three years," says M. Kalniņa-Kalnmale.
In turn, the construction technology startup “Adventum Tech” uses several support programs available at LIAA, participating in pre-acceleration and acceleration programs, LIAA’s previous planning period business incubator, various international exhibitions organized by the agency, the prototyping program “Prototech”, and has already started its participation in the new incubation program call. The device developed by the company measures the load-bearing load of a building structure, providing civil engineers with a complete picture of the monitored building structures in order to make decisions more efficiently and accurately and reduce various project risks during the construction process.
Nikita Gorbatko, founder of “Adventum Tech”, says that the main goals that the company wants to achieve by participating in this incubation program are to expand export markets and increase the number of employees in the company. “Previously, within the framework of the “Prototech” program implemented by LIAA, we have developed a specialized electronic board, which allowed us to improve the innovative load-measuring device for building structures we created. Also in this incubation program call, we plan to use the available support for prototyping to continue improving our developed device in cooperation with scientific institutions.”
In the previous call, this spring, the incubation program was joined by the company “Healthy Snacks”, which offers innovative and healthy products created in the Ilzeskalns parish of Rēzekne region – “Griksi” natural sprouted buckwheat bars without added sugar. Julia Danilina, founder of Healthy Snacks, has researched the nutritional properties of uncooked buckwheat and discovered that it is rich in iron, magnesium, potassium, B vitamins and antioxidants.
“The business incubation program is not just financial support,” says Julia Danilina about her participation in the incubation program. “It also provides an important sense of community on the way to developing your own business model. Valuable training on production optimization, sales, mentoring and financial support, especially in the first year, when making a profit is difficult, as a lot of money is invested in starting a business, provides great motivation to achieve the set goals, create new products and find new export markets.”
The “Business Incubation Support” program, implemented with the support of the EU Structural Funds, includes various financial and non-financial support measures aimed at new companies in order to strengthen the innovative, technological, creative and export-capable Latvian enterprise sector.