Latitude59 CEO Liisi Org said that the involvement of New Nordic investors is a clear sign of trust. “Estonian investors have supported our pitch competition for years, while Latvian angel investors are taking part for the second year in a row. This year, Finnish investors will join the syndicate for the first time, bringing Nordic investors into the mix. The involvement of New Nordic investors gives founders the confidence to build the next success stories, while investors can discover promising startups for their portfolios,” Org said.

Estonian Business Angels Network EstBAN is contributing up to €200,000 to the prize pool, while Latvian Business Angel Network LatBAN is adding up to €100,000. Finnish Business Angels Network FiBAN will join the syndicate, representing Nordic investors. 

EstBAN board member and lead investor Jana Budkovskaja said that Latitude59 has consistently surfaced teams with the ambition and execution speed to scale globally. “Cooperating with LatBAN and FiBAN is exactly the kind of collaboration that strengthens the New Nordic startup ecosystem. When a startup secures a syndicate investment, it’s a good sign for both sides: founders gain committed hands-on supporters, and investors see a team ready to turn momentum into measurable growth. I’m excited to co-leading the syndicate for the Latitude59 together again with David Clark (Angel Investor and Venture Partner at Tera Ventures). After last year’s success with Markedroid who have seen massive growth since the 2025 pitch competition. I can’t wait to see this year’s applications,” she said.

Managing Director of LatBAN Emīls Kragis emphasised that supporting the Latitude59 competition builds closer collaboration between business angel networks. “This is our second year supporting the Latitude59 competition, and it builds on the momentum we created with last year. Since then, we’ve seen much closer collaboration between EstBAN, LatBAN and LitBAN from deal sharing to new co-investment opportunities. Continuing this initiative is a natural next step, allowing us to back strong founders across the region together,” Kragis said.

FiBAN COO Mari Kirjalainen said that the Latitude59 pitch competition strengthens cross-border investing and deepens collaboration. “FiBAN is delighted to be part of the initiative and to offer this investment opportunity to our members as we launch our new syndication activities. It’s a great step towards strengthening cross-border investing and deepening collaboration with our sister networks EstBAN and LatBAN,” she said.

In recent years, startups such as AskToSell, Flowstep, Adact, Atom and Cino have stood out on the Latitude59 stage. In 2025, a total of €675,000 was invested through the Latitude59 pitching competition, with investment of between €175,000 and €250,000 secured by Estonian green energy solutions developer MarkeDroid, Latvian construction startup Adventum Tech, and Lithuanian defence technology company Luna Robotics.

Last year, 407 startups from 48 countries applied to the Latitude59 pitching competition. This year Latitude59 is looking for early-stage startups with a clear mission, a scalable business model, and a functional product with proven traction or strong market feedback. 

The application deadline is 15 April 2026. From all applicants, 15 top teams will be selected for the semi-finals, where they will receive professional training and mentoring. The winners will be announced at the final on 22 May on the Latitude59 main stage.

Latitude59 2026 will take place on 20–22 May in Tallinn at Kultuurikatel. This year, Latitude59 has chosen The Global Village Experiment as its main theme, testing the hypothesis that the most valuable connections happen when ecosystems collide. In 2026, the ambition is to bring founders and ecosystem builders from around the world to Estonia, positioning Tallinn as a gateway to the New Nordics. Organisers expect participants from more than 70 countries.

Important dates:

• April 15, 2025 –  application deadline
• April 29 – TOP30 startups announced
• May 4–8 – pre-finals
• May 21–22 – the finals will take place on the main stage of the Latitude59

Applications are open now, and startups can apply via the Latitude59 website.

About Latitude59

This year marks the 14th edition of Latitude59 in Tallinn. Over the past decade, Latitude59 has grown into the most international and influential technology event in the Baltics and the New Nordics, extending its reach to Asia and Africa. Last year, alongside the flagship event in Tallinn, Latitude59 hosted a two-day conference in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Side events were also held in Singapore, and for the first time, two events took place in South Africa. Latitude59 returns to Tallinn this May with a new ambition to build bridges between the New Nordics and startup ecosystems in Africa and Asia, while putting the balance between humanity and technology centre stage.

About Estonia

Estonia has the highest concentration of unicorns in Europe, with 865 startups per million people. A global leader in digital innovation, Estonia continues to set the standard for thriving tech ecosystems.

The post New Nordics Angel Investors Back Latitude59 Pitch Competition with up to €300,000 first appeared on EstBAN.

The post New Nordics Angel Investors Back Latitude59 Pitch Competition with up to €300,000 appeared first on EstBAN.

Please dive in with us.*

Science and sustainability

Jana started out with an academic background in physics. Motivated by a desire to “save turtles and koalas,” she worked on environmental research, including what we would today call innovation or green deal roadmaps. Later, she moved into municipal projects, helping one Estonian municipality switch fully to renewable energy. This, Jana says, is also one of her proudest achievements. But the turning point into the startup ecosystem came through mentoring youngsters in the Entrum program and later participating in Ajujaht, Estonia’s largest startup competition. That’s where she caught the startup bug: “There I learned about startups and became a startupper myself.”

While being a founder didn’t stick to her, supporting startups and leading investments did. Only this year of 2025 she’s already leading EstBAN syndicate investments into promising startups such as L59’s winner MarkeDroid syndicate (co-lead is David Clark), and sTARTUp Day’s pitch-competition winner BrachyDose and SafePAS syndicate investments.

Why angel investing?

For Jana, investing is about values and trust. She believes talent is equally distributed across the world, but opportunity is not. Her sweet spot as an investor is finding those “diamonds” – the founders who can create a domino effect, where even small investments trigger meaningful growth. – “Money is like trust currency. If I trust my money with you, it means I trust you.”

She admits her first investments were made mostly on faith in the founder. Today, she’s more structured: doing her own research, balancing risks, and keeping emotions out of decisions.

Becoming a lead investor

Jana recently stepped up as a lead investor in EstBAN syndicates. At first, it was daunting: “I had to create my own style and system. If people trust you, you need to know as much as possible – about the team, the risks, and how things can go wrong. You don’t want to let others down.”

An important milestone so far? Leading an international syndicate in medtech, where EstBAN angels co-invested alongside foreign investors with Lithuanian government co-investment support. Jana believes this public-private model, where the state matches angel capital, is one we should have in Estonia as well to risk and empower angels. “I also think that risks should always be calculated and in investing emotions are only blurring the vision,” she says.

Is true Baltic collaboration just a dream?

Looking ahead, Jana wants to support more this kind of pan-Baltic collaboration, cross-border syndicates, and see more co-investment deals. She’s especially interested in cleantech, deeptech, and female-founded startups, and continues to dedicate time to youth projects. “The goal is always to create the next opportunities. To push real investments with real solutions.”

Jana assures that EstBAN is really trying to push a similar model here in Estonia like there is in Lithuania with the Co-Invest Capital where the state provides their part into big investments together with VC’s and angels.

Beyond investing there’s several passsions

When she’s not working with startups, Jana turns to art and nature. She paints daily, exploring Japanese sumi-e ink techniques where, just like in life, “every drop counts.” She’s also a passionate diver and traveler, inspired by the vastness of the natural world from Japan to the Caribbean. Jana seems to be busy, but very present in what she chooses to do. “Life is huge. Everyday decisions are part of the big picture, and every day is a responsibility.”

Jana’s journey shows the diversity of EstBAN’s investor community. From physics labs to startup pitches, from scuba diving to syndicate leadership, she brings a unique perspective to angel investing: one rooted in science, sustainability, and trust.

*Jana is also a diver, exploring this beautiful planet Earth from an underwater perspective.

Read more

• sTARTUp Day Syndicate 2025 – Brachy Dose and SafePAS
• Latitude59 syndicate 2025 (MarkeDroid)

EstBAN Investor Talk series

• Kristjan Raude
• Jan Lätt
• Sandra Globreich
• Paavo Siimann
• Ivar Siimar
• Olga Luštšik
• Grete Pariis

The post Investor Talk: Jana Budkovskaja’s journey from physics to startups first appeared on EstBAN.

The post Investor Talk: Jana Budkovskaja’s journey from physics to startups appeared first on EstBAN.

The syndicated investments are provided by business angels from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Each country’s angel investor network — EstBAN, LatBAN, and LitBAN — will take the lead in supporting the further development of one startup and managing the investment, while also participating in each other’s syndicates.

Luna Robotics will receive investment led by LitBAN, with contributions up to €250,000.  ⁠Adventum Tech is supported by a syndicate led by LatBAN, with angel investors contributing €250,000. ⁠MarkeDroid has secured backing from EstBAN a syndicate of angels contributing €175,000.

Liisi Org, the CEO of Latitude59, emphasized that the contribution of business angels from all three Baltic countries underscores the importance of cross-border collaboration in the region’s startup ecosystem. “The cooperation between the business angel networks of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania reflects our shared commitment to fostering innovation across the region and clearly shows the strength of working together,” Org said. “I’m truly pleased for this year’s winners — Latitude59 has proven itself over the years as an important launchpad for startups, and I’m confident that the next global success stories from the Baltics will start right here,” she added.

EstBAN, LatBAN, and LitBAN will support the competition winners not only through investment but also by working closely with the founders to help drive the startups’ continued growth. The leaders of all three business angel networks agreed that this year’s collaboration sets an important precedent and lays the groundwork for future joint investments in the region — with the shared goal of strengthening the Baltic startup ecosystem’s presence on the global stage.

Karin Künnapas, Managing Director at EstBAN said that making the decision was not easy, as there had been no prior experience in organizing a joint syndicate between the three countries. “It was a valuable learning experience and hopefully we’ll see more such investments in the future. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all have a strong interest in each other’s startups, and we need to share more about our deals and fundraising efforts. Regarding the investment in MarkeDroid it’s encouraging to see investors eager to support green technologies. There is a lot of untapped potential, and we hope that our push will help take MarkeDroid to the next level,” Künnapas said.

Emils Kragis, Managing Director at LatBAN, commented that this year’s pitch competition is a powerful testament to the potential of the Baltic region and hopefully paves the way for future investment collaborations. “We’ll lead the syndicate for AdventumTech, because they shown great grit and consistency. They have developed the product for four years and the founding team has all the necessary qualities to excel in the space,” Kragis explained.

Roberta Rudokienė, Managing Director at LitBAN: “We’re proud to see Luna Robotics among the winners and thrilled that all three Baltic angel networks joined forces this year — it’s a powerful step in helping our startups grow and compete globally. We warmly congratulate Adventum Tech and MarkeDroid as well — the whole region wins when we lift each other up. We hope angels from all three BANs will join these investments and continue building cross-border success stories together.”

Latitude59, which took place for the 13th time in Tallinn, Estonia, was visited by more than 3,500 people, including more than 900 startup representatives and 20 national delegations. Nearly 700 investors participated this year. 170 speakers could be seen on Latitude59’s stages. In total, there were participants from more than 70 different countries worldwide. 

The next Latitude59 will again be held at Kultuurikatel on May 20-22, 2026.

The post Luna Robotics, Adventum Tech, and MarkeDroid share the Latitude59 pitch competition win first appeared on EstBAN.

The post Luna Robotics, Adventum Tech, and MarkeDroid share the Latitude59 pitch competition win appeared first on EstBAN.

Startups from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are set to take the stage at Latitude59, the flagship startup and tech conference of the Baltics and New Nordics, held this week in Tallinn, Estonia. The top six will compete for a syndicated investment of up to half a million euros.

The six finalists include the Latvian construction tech startup Adventum Tech and Talenme, which develops AI-powered hiring platform; the Lithuanian technology startups Luna Robotics and MELP, and, from Estonia, the green energy solutions developer MarkeDroid and healthtech startup Muun Health.

What do the lead investors of the syndicate investment think?

• Baltic Business Angels to Invest Half a Million Euros in Latitude59 Pitch Competition

The post The Six Finalists Revealed for Latitude59’s Pitch Competition first appeared on EstBAN.

The post The Six Finalists Revealed for Latitude59’s Pitch Competition appeared first on EstBAN.

Lead investors make the biggest contributions to the winning teams and guide the whole process of syndicate investment. As this year LatBAN and LitBAN have also jumped on board, the amount of investment and quality of the process is expected to be high. From the Latvian business angel network side the lead investors are Ansis Spridzans and Girts Licis, Lithuanian lead investor is to be announced any day soon.

Latitude59 startup pitch competition has for a long time been a kickstarter for startups to continue their marathon of building brands and innovative businesses. This is the 7th time for the EstBAN network to make a syndicate investment into the winning team(s) of the flagship startup event in Estonia. Formerly Fractory, Atom Mobility, Ender Turing, Adact, Vocal Image, Cino and Flowstep have received angel investments from the Latitude59 teams. Adact has already announced a successful exit this spring.

Lead investor Jana Budkovskaja, CEO of Beamline Accelerator, has 10 years experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, having supported and fostered investments in more than 100 teams with €1M. Beamline Accelerator manages a portfolio of 42 startups with a total investment of €2.6 million. Budkovskaja is also a member of the management board of EstBAN.

“As a passionate advocate for cleantech and deeptech, I believe the most groundbreaking innovations emerge at the intersection of sectors – especially when there’s a validated product-market fit. Syndicate investing is not just about capital; it’s a fine-tuned balance of a startup team’s readiness and maturity to truly leverage business angel support,” Budkovskaja says.

David Clark, a fund member of EstBAN with Tera Ventures, supports their portfolio as Platform Partner. David has been part of the Estonian startup ecosystem since 2012 and made some 20 angel investments. An early backer of YC S22 startup Devyce and recently exited UK fintech Freetrade, he is back again working with the Latitude 59 syndication process having been part of the 2023 competition.

“I’m excited to co-lead this year’s  investment with EstBAN with Jana. We already see another strong competition among all the startups who’ve applied and made it to the Top 30. After the incredible success of the competition 2 years ago, I’m looking forward to finding the next breakout founder and team alongside the wider Baltic Angel Investment community” David Clark adds.

A total of 391 startups from 47 countries around the world applied to participate in the Latitude59 Pitch Competition 2025. A jury made of investors and the Latitude59 team selected first the top 30 that were invited to pitch in the pre-finals. Out of these, five best teams will get an opportunity to pitch at the main event on May 23.

Latitude59 2025 takes place in Tallinn’s Kultuurikatel from May 21–23. It is the most international and influential startup and tech conference in the Baltics and New Nordics, bringing together startups, investors, and ecosystem builders from around the globe.

• Go to Latitude59 2025

See previous EstBAN syndicate investment news about Latitude 59 startup-pitching:

• 2024 (GaltTec, Beholder, AsktToSell)
• 2023 (Cino, ÄIO, Flowstep)
• 2022 (Vocal Image, Ender Turing)
• 2020 (Adact, Atom Mobility)
• 2018 (Fractory)

The post Jana Budkovskaja and David Clark co-lead the EstBAN syndicate for Latitude59 first appeared on EstBAN.

The post Jana Budkovskaja and David Clark co-lead the EstBAN syndicate for Latitude59 appeared first on EstBAN.