On November 28 this year, the Kurzeme Business Forum "Baltic Defense Investment Pitch 2025" took place at the VIZIUM Science Center in Ventspils, bringing together more than 150 participants from Latvia and the Baltic States – entrepreneurs, policymakers, investment experts, and defense industry professionals. The event was dedicated to the development of defense and dual-use technologies, attracting investment, and strengthening regional cooperation. The aim of the forum was to strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors by promoting investment and innovation in the defense industry.
At the opening of the forum, a marine drone developed and manufactured by the Latvian company SIA "NEWT21" was demonstrated on the Venta River. The demonstration highlighted the technological capabilities and innovation potential of Latvian companies in defense and security solutions. In the two thematic parts of the forum, participants discussed Latvia's readiness to host defense industry manufacturing, analyzed opportunities in the regions, and learned about new technological solutions in the investment session "Defense Investment Pitch." The event was held in Latvian and English, while SIA Tilde provided simultaneous interpretation using artificial intelligence technology, making the forum accessible to a wider international audience.
In the first part of the forum, experts addressed the question "Is Latvia ready to host defense industry manufacturing?", analyzing both the prerequisites and challenges, the availability of labor, infrastructure development, the investment environment, and the role of regions in the growth of the industry. The discussions revealed that Latvia has a good foundation for the creation of a defense industry cluster, but that coordinated cooperation between state institutions, local governments, and entrepreneurs is necessary.
The second part featured a "Defense Investment Pitch," where companies presented innovative solutions for defense and security needs. Investors had the opportunity to learn about projects that have the potential to become the next exportable technology products in the Baltic region. The presentation session stood out for its high level of professionalism, with investors acknowledging that the presentations were particularly strong, with a clear commercialization strategy and technological maturity. Investors repeatedly commented that Baltic companies are becoming visible players in the international defense innovation market.
The presentations were evaluated in three categories: SIA Airglade (a company that has developed a controllable gliding module for civilian and military purposes to explore and survey hard-to-reach places) was recognized as the best pitch. the best product award went to SIA Ascent Lumina (a company that offers computer vision, artificial intelligence and synthetic data set solutions for target detection to manufacturers of unmanned systems), and for the best future prospects – SIA AGM orthopaedics (a manufacturer of high-quality medical devices that pays particular attention to reliability and performance).
The law firm WALLESS, highly appreciating the companies' performance, awarded not only the previously planned prizes, but also additional sympathy prizes this year. Five hours of consultation at the law firm were awarded to SIA Ascent Lumina, SIA Airglade, and SIA Biorefic NRG, while the main prize, ten hours of strategic consultation, went to SIA AGM orthopaedics. WALLESS representatives emphasized that the awarding of additional sympathy prizes was self-evident, as the level of presentations and the professionalism of the teams were pleasantly surprising and exceeded initial expectations.
The forum was organized by the Ventspils City Council in cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), the Kurzeme Planning Region, the Ventspils Free Port Authority, and the Green and Smart Technology Cluster.
Photo gallery Kurzeme Business Forum "Baltic Defence Investment Pitch 2025"
Translated with DeepL (free version)
