New Nordic Cooperation Between Finland and Latvia

Recently FVCA and Latvian LVCA joined forces to create working-level cooperation that for both sides would broaden investments’ geography and bring new opportunities closer.

For years Slush in Finland and Techchill in Latvia have been the major event platforms bringing the startup and investor ecosystems together. The closer cooperation between FVCA and LVCA will expand the existing Finnish-Latvian VC links and enable new opportunities and better knowledge of the market.

While Estonia has been well known to the Finnish venture capital, there are more opportunities to be looked at in the Baltics.

“It is great to bring Finnish and Latvian private equity investors together on a regular basis to exchange views and experiences. There are also many new players to get to know: In Finland, sixteen completely new VC teams have started their operations since 2017,” according to Pia Santavirta, Managing Director of FCVA.

“Having a local Latvian partner or a local footprint like in the case of Superhero Capital can be very beneficial. We are happy to provide personal introductions for Finnish funds and investors to make opportunities more viable. We propose to be a bridge for those looking for investments in Baltics, and we hope that FVCA members could be partners for Latvian funds searching for investment opportunities in Finland,” expressed by Anita Matisone, the Executive Director of LVCA.

“We see the investment in startups and growth companies as another important source of FDI in Latvia which is why we are supporting further ecosystem connections between Finland and Latvia,” as expressed by Alise Barvika, Head of the Representative Office in Finland, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.

There is, indeed, more and more foreign investment coming to startups in Finland. Also, Latvian funds are interested in broadening their scope in areas like “green financing”, where finding appropriate candidates locally can sometimes be challenging. In fact, Baltic funds have invested 15 mln EUR in 13 Finnish companies during 2010-2019.

There is continuous activity from the Finnish side in Latvia, where currently, 3 LPs are present in the Latvian funds.

There are certainly more opportunities that can be addressed together. How to impact the new Nordic reach beyond the region? What common marketing and cooperation efforts should be in place in order to attract new LPs?

The common comparable data is a challenge in the new Nordics and should be addressed. These are the common questions that can be advanced as regional cooperation evolves.

The format is biannual meetings between the FVCA and LVCA members.

The next event will be held in autumn; stay tuned.

Written by Alise Barvika, Head of the Representative Office in Finland, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.

Thank you to all participants of the first Latvian-Finland VC/PE Fund contact event and, especially, to Pia Santavirta, Managing Directors of FVCA - Pääomasijoittajat and Alise Barvika, Head of the Representative Office in Finland, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.