TechChill took place in Riga on 18-19 April. Known as the Baltic’s biggest startup event, it was a no-brainer for the Black Unicorn PR team to give it a visit. Especially considering our Baltic footprint and having the chance to join the Lithuanian startup ‘delegation’ on the Hoperfy Express (a chartered train from Vilnius for startuppers).
Needless to say, TechChill didn’t disappoint. The hospitality at the event, side events and the welcoming Latvian hosts, the good food, locations we explored made it an experience to remember and recommend.
TechChill Day 0: Lithuanian Startup Train, city tour and unofficial journo summit
We started the day at the Vilnius train station. Believe it or not, the direct train connection between Vilnius and Riga is quite new. Despite being quite close and taking only about 4 hours, the connection is no older than 1 year. It’s comfortable and affordable.
Anyhow, we were not on a regular train service to Riga. This was a chartered train for startuppers. News of the initiative went viral in the startup community and the train was even christened by Lithuania’s Minister of Economy and Innovation. There were some Lithuanian startup legends on board, too.
The train had designated work and party zones. A few drinks and chats, and a bit of work later, we arrived in Riga in a flash. We met new people, caught up with friends, but it was definitely a refreshing and fun way to travel. I wonder what will be the next such initiative?
Now in Riga, next on the agenda was the official TechChill city tour. We met guide Edgars at the Latvia National Museum of Art. We learned everything from the power struggle of European powers to take over Riga to the stories behind the architectural marvels designed by Eisenstein. An awesome touch at the end was the pierogi and Mežpils beers.
For dinner, we had an unofficial side event with journalists. We met Anda Asere from Labs of Latvia and Bojan Stojkovski from IT Logs for the best Italian dinner we’ve had in the Baltics so far at Italissimo. However, we had mixed opinions about the sour cream flavoured gelato.
TechChill Day 1: Brunch fail, meeting friends old and new
Day 1 started with a morning coffee Sifted’s Zosia Wanat. We had the fun idea to do a ‘Brunch with Sifted’ style breakfast at the famous This Place Doesn’t Need A Name, but… the venue was booked for an official TechChill event. Oops! We found a cafe nearby and caught up on the latest going on in CEE and the Baltics before heading to Hanzas Perons.
The team went on to enjoy the talks and network. We met old friends Uldis Tēraudkalns, host of the legendary The Pursuit of Scrappiness Podcast (sorry Uldis, we might have met a bunch of people we recommended to pitch you for the podcast!).
The food trucks at TechChill had clearly been vetted thoroughly. They all seemed to have some kind of street food award. On the first day we had pizza. The pizza guys were hustling startup-style.
We also saw Juhan Kaarma, co-founder of the coolest car sharing and car subscription startup of the moment in Europe, OX Drive. Juhan was kind enough to give us a press trip-style tour of the OX Drive HQ. An impressive attention to detail in this operation. His sales skills were later confirmed. We couldn’t help but download the app and use their Teslas twice on the same day.
At the TechChill speakers’ dinner there was more pizza and Series B beers. It was a fond surprise to meet Alexandra Balkova and Elena Mazhuha for the first time after knowing each other only virtually. We also caught up on current stories (and the state of the media) with Cate Lawrence from Tech.eu.
TechChill Day 2: JJ’s Fireside Chat, Fifty Founders Battle and Karbonade Night
Day 2 started with a bang. It was showtime for the BUPR team: JJ’s fireside chat with Zoltan Vardy. JJ’s objective was to have Zoltan spill the beans on his sales secrets from 30 years in sales and executive positions and overseeing $2 billion in sales. In case you are wondering what actionable insights he had to share, we’ve written an entire blog post about it here.
Between meetings and presentations, time was moving fast. After a delicious burger we had a chat with Raitis Puriņš, formerly CMO of Latvia’s first unicorn company Printful (who also played handball at the highst level, repping Latvia at the 2020 Euros), to learn more about marketing, entrepreneurship and life in Latvia in general. For him, Latvia is a great place to live because anyone can become anyone they want if they work for it.
A few talks later, it was time for TechChill’s Fifty Founders Battle finale. It was full house at the Founders’ Stage, where our legs started to feel the pain but our brains were too stimulated to give up. If we were judges we would have not been able to decide on one winner. However, after a short break for the judges deliberation (in which Christoph Sollich aka The Pitch Doctor almost steals the show with his Pöny pitch), Salesforge, an AI-powered cold email solution, was deservedly awarded the biggest prize. A really interesting way for the event to come full circle after the B2B sales fireside chat with Zoltan.
After a well deserved rest, we reunited with the journalist gang for dinner at Lokāls Karbonādes in Lienes iela. Karbonades are a kind of schnitzel, often served with potatoes. After our authentic neighbourhood food, our Latvian hosts took us for a night walking tour of Riga. We checked out the Tallinn Street Quarter, and some of the epic buildings of Riga, finishing at a famous cafe run by a Frenchman where the city’s intellectuals meet to drink coffee until midnight (and hopefully manage to sleep later).
Summing up
Much is said about Latvia trailing Estonia and Lithuania in the Baltics in terms of fundraising. But when it comes to events, we have to say that TechChill does not fit that narrative. Positive vibes, a variety of insightful talks, exciting startups and lots of international visitors including journalists. The Latvian founders we met had great ideas and were ready to execute (if not growing their startups already). An overflow of talent. As always, there wasn’t enough time for all we wanted to do, but that’s a good sign – it tells us we need to come back.
Special thanks to Anda Asere for the ‘reverse press trip’. She was a true champion of the Latvian ecosystem, not only with her stories of Latvian startups, food recommendations but also as a real tour guide. And thanks to Luīze Dārta Sietiņa for taking care of the speakers including JJ.
Kudos to the organisers and partners for putting together a fantastic event.
TechChill, thank you, we’ll be back! 🙏 🇱🇻 🫶
Can’t get enough of startup events? Check out our definitive guide of European startup events!
Want more from TechChill? Read the writeup on Zoltan Vardy’s lessons from doing $2bn in B2B sales.
You can also read about our impressions of How To Web 2023 here.
