Riga has been popping lately – making enough noise to knock off Tallinn as the main hub of the Baltic startup scene. TechHub Riga, the coworking space, is at the center of the Riga startup community and its growth has reached the point where their offices are literally running out of space.
So what do you do when you’re out of space? That’s right, you get more space.
What started as around 20 entrepreneurs back in 2012 has grown to its current numbers of over 100 members working in more than 30 startup teams. As in to topple the decreasing availability of office space, TechHub Riga has announced that it will be moving to a new location next September, with the official launch of the new co-working space taking place on November 21st.
The new coworking space will modernize and double the size of TechHub Riga, providing future residents access to a total 800m2 of space, including a full kitchen and dining area, space for small developer meetups, multiple meeting rooms, rest areas, Skype call booths and an outdoor terrace. Additionally, on another floor of the same building a large meeting space will be available for monthly meetups and larger events.
TechHub Riga is the Latvian branch of startup community booster and coworking space provider TechHub. Though it was established only a few years ago, the Baltic TechHub organization represent has seen tremendous growth, both in the size of its community as well as in external interest from the public.
How did it all happen though?
Apart from being a major contributor and booster of local startup events, most notably its trademark conference TechChill Baltics, TechHub Riga tells us the main reason behind the growing Riga-based startup community is the success of companies the coworking space has sprouted since its establishment. These companies, including such names as Infogr.am, Sellfy, Froont, Cobook, Fastr Books, MaxTraffic, and Reach.ly among others, have served as an inspiration for a new generation of entrepreneurs that are following in their footsteps, which is why TechHub has expanded the number of desks available for resident members.
The new spaces will further increase the numbers of these desks, as well as provide more drop-in space for Flex and Lite members who do not have their own dedicated desks.
But room for new startups isn’t the only reason why TechHub needs way more space than they currently have. The existing, vastly grown resident startup teams aren’t keen to move out either: “We did not want to leave TechHub, even as we approached 20 team members, because our team and new recruits loved the community”, explained Uldis Leiterts, CEO of Infogr.am.
In order to address this, the new TechHub Riga space will provide glassed-off team spaces for more established 4-8 member teams that want separate space where they can work together, but still remain in the co-working space and mix with the rest of the community.
Membership at the new TechHub Riga offers a variety of co-working space options. All TechHub Riga members receive a benefit package of discounts (including cloud hosting, customer service and other startup technology providers), access to free member-only events, discounts for the TechChill Baltics conference and other paid events as well as access to regular mentoring events.
Membership options are as follows:
- Resident (dedicated desk, 24 hour access) – €100/member/month
- Resident lite (drop-in access all week during working hours, no dedicated desk) – €75/member/month
- Flex (occasional drop-in access during working hours) – €400/member/year
- Team (dedicated 4-8 person team space, 24 hour access)
- €500 per month for 4 person team space (max 5 members)
- €750 per month for 6 person team space (max 8 members)
- €1000 per month for 8 person team space (max 10 members)
The new TechHub Riga will also provide opportunities for corporate and private supporters to help TechHub Riga to develop the next generation of startup entrepreneurs. By ‘sponsoring a desk’, these supporters are helping to cover the costs of running the foundation and make way for more resources and activities to support Latvian entrepreneurs.
The Chairman and co-founder of TechHub Riga Andris K. Berzins invites supporters to help out: “The four of us who co-founded TechHub Riga, along with our two new board members are all unpaid volunteers. The goal of the foundation is to create the environment for successful startups that spark innovation, growth and jobs. Please support our efforts to grow the next generation of technology entrepreneurs.”
The official opening of the new TechHub Riga space will take place during Global Entrepreneurship Week, on November 21st, and will be attended by visiting startup leaders, TechHub members, government representatives, ambassadors and a variety of our other friends and supporters.
For more information on membership and sponsorship contact TechHub Riga General Manager: [email protected]
