International startup training program, the pre-accelerator Startup Pirates has concluded in Riga on October 18.
Held for the first time in the Baltics, and Nordic countries, Startup Pirates Riga featured 8 full days of extensive workshops, lectures, mentoring sessions and pitches — to bring the raw ideas to life.
Youngsters from all around Latvia and beyond participated in the week-long bootcamp and were shown the startup life from inside, but more importantly: were able to work on their ideas and develop them in a profitable business.
Various startup entrepreneurs were invited to share the experience and lead workshops on topics such as Business Modeling, Lean Startup, Pitch techniques, Sales & Marketing, Finances & Investment. Among the notable guests were Uldis Leiterts of infogr.am, Maris Dagis of Sellfy, Artis Kehris of Ask.fm and others.
The venue for Startup Pirates Riga was provided by Microsoft Latvia — were the Pirates started their sailing into the open seas. The Final pitches, and the Thursday meetup with the startup community were held at the Nordic Club House, just next door to the city’s startup mecca, TechHub Riga, which was also a supporter of the event.
For the Final, 8th day, Startup Pirates Riga teams were able to polish their ideas to pitch them to the grand jury. Five startups were born, and all of them pitched to the panel for the main prize: tickets to the Silicon Valley Comes to Baltics, Coffee Inn subscriptions and various winners-only perks. Runners up also got hooked up with valuable prizes and special perks available exclusively to Startup Pirates participants.
The five startups that were born during the week: Airlined, Friends & Cheese, Ka-Ching, Prieks and Roadtrip, with the latter taking the win home. “All participants are winners though.” — event organizer Aleksandrs Borovenskis stresses the importance of the program to all Pirates that were on board.
The Pirates have acquired valuable knowledge to take their startup to sail the oceans. They won’t be scared of sharks, high seas and uncharted waters now.
Next Startup Pirates Riga event is set to take place Spring 2016. Follow Startup Pirates Riga on Twitter for fresh updates and don’t miss your chance to jump on deck!
