It feels like yesterday when we were happily greeting the first warm days of 2020, yet a year has already passed in a blink of an eye. Contrary to the thought that time flies faster when you're having fun, it turns out it flies just as fast when you're sitting at home on your couch and patiently waiting for the post-pandemic merry times to arrive.
Anyhow, it's June, the sun is finally out, and the summer looks quite promising pandemic-wise here in Latvia. While we're slowly shaping our plans for the warm season of 2021, let's explore a bit of what Truesix was up to in May.
TechChill's 10th anniversary in a remote setup
2021 marks the 10th year of TechChill – one of the most significant tech startup events in the Baltics, created to strengthen the local startup ecosystem and build a close-knit community of Baltic tech and startup enthusiasts.
Traditionally, the event takes place in winter – it's tech+chill, after all. It gathers startups, investors, and other participants for a several-day-long conference with an annual startup pitch competition – the Fifty Founders Battle, traditional Finnish sauna (yep, an actual sauna from Finland), and endless networking between the attendees.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, TechChill 2021 took place online, and the Truesix team was responsible for the event's media relations. It was our second time managing comms for an online or hybrid event – here's how we rocked 5G Techritory in November 2020.
To balance our energy between our ongoing tasks and organizing TechChill 2021 media relations, we decided to welcome a project-based member to our team. Shoutout to Truesix's addition – Eva – who did an outstanding job with all-things-media for this year's TechChill. 35+ accredited media representatives, including journalists from tech.eu, Sifted, VentureBeat, Deutsche Welle, Startup Reporter, and more.
As organizing an in-person media tour for TechChill wasn't possible this year, our team accepted the challenge of creating an online alternative for it. Brainstorming session and – voila! – online off-the-record happy hour, where participants share their craziest fail stories, was born.
We invited accredited journalists and some startups willing to share their fuckups via a custom-built Gathertown room. The only rule was - what happens in the off-the-record happy hour, stays in the off-the-record happy hour. Loads of fun, crazy stories, networking over digital poker games, and more than just one happy hour. In short – we nailed it!
But enough with storytelling. Here are some stats and facts on TechChill 2021:
- 2300+ attendees
- 300+ startups
- 200+ investors
- More than 40 publications (and counting – some interviews and articles by the accredited journalists are still in progress) in international media related to this year's TechChill, for example:
- Eng.lsm.lv
- 150 sec
- Startup Reporter
- World Today News
- Arctic Startup
Even though TechChill's online edition was great, it's no secret that everyone is looking forward to meeting in person next year. Because let's be honest, networking online (even if it's super well-organized) is totally not the same as networking over real TechChill branded beers or in an authentic Finnish sauna. Keep your fingers crossed for 2022!
Latvia about to develop a national fintech strategy
Undoubtedly, the Fifty Founders Battle of TechChill, where the winning startup takes home 10,000 euros, no strings attached, is usually the central occasion of the conference. However, this year, another major news was announced to the world during TechChill: Latvia is about to develop a dedicated fintech strategy to support the country's rapidly growing fintech sector.
At the beginning of 2021, Latvia was named one of the most startup-friendly countries in the world by Index Ventures. Thus, the country's new fintech strategy will aim to strengthen the country's positions and foster the success of the local startup ecosystem.
Truesix was truly honored to distribute news with such national importance. And we were even more delighted to see the news story grabbing the media's attention. Some of the outlets were:
Honorable mentions
Besides the attention-grabbing (and energy-consuming) TechChill and everything related to it, there are other things worth mentioning in our publicity recap of May.
First of all, this spring, Truesix was involved in writing and polishing Latvia's relocation guide. Together with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia and ERDA, we did our best to craft a thorough, helpful and inviting guide to those interested in moving to Latvia. It was undoubtedly a challenge, but the result is one to be proud of.
You can explore and download the relocation guide here.
Secondly, our client – Latvian mobile tech innovator LMT – launched a 5G router entirely manufactured in the EU. The router was created in collaboration with MikroTik and distributed to Latvia’s first consumers, offering a high-speed and dual-band access point for homes and small businesses. It was our pleasure to deliver the news of the 5G network becoming more accessible to consumers in Latvia – you can view the media coverage here, here, and here.
And last but absolutely not least – Truesix moved to a new office!
We gave you a sneak peek at our new headquarters in April's publicity recap when we had a small (and safe) team gathering in our new backyard. But last month, we officially waved goodbye to our old home, coworking DarbaVieta, and moved into a brand-new office space on Maiznīcas street.
It's lovely and filled with light, and the best thing is that we'll get to have our own improvised terrace for team end-of-the-week happy hours and hopefully some gatherings during the summer. The backyard project is still in progress, but you can follow us on social media to see what urban paradise we end up designing.
So, dear reader, I hope you enjoyed this recap, and you're already looking forward to more news from the Truesix team. I promise to share a before/after picture of our backyard makeover in the next monthly summary post, but for now – wishing you loads of summer sun! See ya!
June 11, 2021
ByAiva Strelca
In