It’s the fourth year that Swedbank invites entrepreneurs to apply to compete in the national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup 2024. To test their strength and the potential of their business idea among the best in the world, entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the national finals by 14 May. The national selection is open to any company registered in Latvia and established in the last 10 years.
The national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup are organized by Swedbank in collaboration with partners – the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK), Investment & Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), start-ups association Startin.LV, and TechChill as an informational supporter.
"The World Entrepreneurship Cup in Latvia over the past years has demonstrated that Latvian entrepreneurs are willing to passionately defend their business ideas at the international arena, thus gaining valuable experience and expanding their network of contacts. The ability to grow beyond national borders is an important resource in business, which is why this year too we are giving Latvian entrepreneurs the opportunity to participate in the Entrepreneurship World Cup. We’re confident that the winner of this year’s national finals will also proudly bring global exposure for the name of Latvia through pitching their idea to an international jury and potential investors,” says Jevgenijs Ivanovs, Head of Corporate Customer Division at Swedbank.
The aim of the Entrepreneurship World Cup is to boost the competitiveness of companies of various countries, including Latvia, on the global market, as well as strengthening the confidence of Latvian businesses about their business idea, growing faster and getting cross-border experience. By applying in the Entrepreneurship World Cup, companies get a chance to compete for one of the five spots in the Latvian national finals. The five participants in the Latvian national finals will receive free 'elevator pitch' training under the guidance of an experienced speech coach, as well as video business cards to introduce the company's activities and business idea to the Latvian public.
Any company registered in Latvia and meeting the criteria regarding the year of founding (the year of founding must be 2015 or later) is welcome to submit its application in English by 14 April at the website www.entrepreneurshipworldcup.com/ewc. After the deadline for submission of applications, the registered applications will be evaluated by representatives of the Latvian national jury, and companies will be selected to present their business idea in the Latvian national finals, which will take place at the LAMPA Conversation Festival in Cēsis on 20 June.
From national finals to international competition in Saudi Arabia
The winner of the Latvian national finals will then compete for a ticket to the global finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the prize pool of 1.5 million US dollars, as well as additional investment opportunities and support for global growth. This is a unique opportunity to represent Latvia internationally and to get global exposure.
Juris Kļonovs, founder of BirgerMind, the winner of the last year’s Latvian finals of Entrepreneurship World Cup and the top 100 finalist at the global finals, notes: “Winning the Latvian national finals opened the opportunity for our company to gain valuable contacts on a global level, as well as to boost its visibility not only in Latvia, but also around the world. Last year at the World Entrepreneurship Cup finals in Riyadh, we had the honour to represent Latvia and become one of the 100 most prestigious companies in the world in a competition against more than 16,000 companies. BirgerMind was listed among the top 16 healthcare start-ups at the BIBAN Forum, which was attended by more than 182,000 participants. I would like to encourage Latvian entrepreneurs to be bold and seize this opportunity. It is events like this that provide the opportunity to grow, compete globally and gain valuable advice from experienced mentors, investors and others in the business community, fostering productive international cooperation. Indeed, Latvia can!”.
The application deadline is 14 May. The competition rules and application form is available on the website www.entrepreneurshipworldcup.com/ewc
About the Entrepreneurship World Cup
Swedbank has been the Latvian representative of the Global Entrepreneurship Network since October 2020, which comes with the unique right to also organize the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) finals in Latvia for a fourth time. Since 2019, the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) has grown into one of the largest and most diverse competitions and support programmes of its kind for start-ups, with more than 370,000 entrepreneurs from over 200 countries participating, while offering an impressive prize pool for the winners.