Since 2004, we’ve been enjoying all the advantages that the EU membership offers. Free mobility of products and labor, no roaming charges inside EU – You name it, we have it. In 2014 we also joined the Eurozone.

Latvia isn’t solely the very heart of Baltic States, it’s additionally a point where West meets East. Riga International Airport is the largest air transportation hub within the Baltic States – three times the population of Latvia travels through in a span of a year. The airport serves over a hundred direct flights, as well as those to New York, Dubai, and adds many new direct flights each month. The international bus and train transit is also comfortable, reasonable and frequent.

BRILLIANT IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Not only is Latvia ranked as the country with the tenth quickest internet worldwide, free wi-fi may be found virtually all over within the center of Riga, the capital city. The largest telecommunications company of Latvia, Lattelecom, has ensured an average of 3 free Wi-Fi connection spots per square-kilometer.

NOT SO SEVERE TAX SYSTEM, LOW PRICE OF BUSINESS AND OVERALL SUPPORT FOR STARTUPS

Latvia really needs you – we introduced a startup visa and an entire Welcome Pack to support your business as you kick-off. We are keen to guide you through practical matters and mundane realities of daily life. With this idea in mind, we have started our own transformation towards becoming a startup one-stop-shop – Magnetic Latvia Startup – which will provide all foreign founders with nowadays concierge service. We are ready to hold your hand when you need us to.

A LOT OF TALENTED PEOPLE

We’re tri-lingual, well-educated and creative! Our startup talent pool varies by age, gender and nationality. It’s will be easily to find and make a professional crew of locals as well.

VIBRANT STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

We throw great startup parties like DFF and TechChill; we’re equipped with thousands of sqm of modern cosy offices and co-workings; we understand our internal market is non-existent and we think global from day zero. Start-up Association has your back, while Business Angel Network and PE&VC Association are working hard towards increasing the available pool of investments. We’ve witnessed many startups exits, and we want more.

UNSATURATED STARTUP MARKET

With four hundred solid startups in Latvia and expanding financing opportunities, the market is far from saturation point. And is also responsive to sensible ideas. What does that mean? To succeed in Silicon Valley, you’ve got to be a genius. In Latvia – at the moment – you simply got to be very very good. However, as both amount and quality of startups increase, this window might be closing shortly. Act on it.

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

During the last 15 years the GDP of the country has sustainable growth averagely on 7-8% per year:

•  EU customs zone;
•  Developed and sound banking system;
•  Low level of corruption and high level of legal personal property and foreign investment protection.

Most of Latvia’s GDP (~71%) is the market of services, which includes the tourism sector. If you would like to open a business in Latvia in this field, you will have developed infrastructure and ready demand ahead of you.

NATURE

54% of Latvia is forest; 33% of its border is a white-sand-pine-tree coast. Come dip your toes in the serenity. Get lost in the woods, picking mushrooms and wild berries. Give your soul a recreation and see your energy peak!

RIGA: SMART YET LIVEABLE

We seek to boost productivity, upgrade efficiency, increase mobility. That’s all great! What we all forget in the process: the city also needs to be livable – with human interactions and challenges. All those things will convert into anecdotes we’ll tell our grandchildren one day in smart future… Riga is exactly that city! So pack your bag and come live a life here!

LANGUAGE

Latvia has one official language: Latvian. However most of Latvian inhabitants know other languages such as English, Russian and German. Latvia’s approximate structure of inhabitant language knowledge is as follows:

• Over 85% of Latvians speak Russian
• 70% of people under 40 speak English
• German, French and Scandinavian languages are also widely spoken

SUMMARY

• Latvia is in Europe so there are ties with a lot of countries;
• Really good IT infrastructure that leads to one of the best WiFi’s on the planet;
• Lenient tax system, low price of business and overall support for start-ups;
• A Lot of young talented minds;
• Vibrant startup ecosystem;
• Unsaturated startup market;
• A really good city for your business;
• English and Russian are widely spread in Latvia.