Could there be a better way to kick off spring in Riga than with the joint Late Fintech Breakfast by the Fintech Latvia Association and the Latvian Business Angels Network, hosted by Magnetiq Bank? The event was full of great conversations, fresh ideas, and inspiring people from across the Baltics.

Marine Krasovska, Head of the FinTech Supervision Department at Latvijas Banka, opened the event with a compelling introduction to the Latvian Fintech Strategy.
Mārtiņš Valters, Co-founder and COO of Mintos, and Toms Jurjevs, Founder and CEO of Sun Finance, brought the strategy to life by sharing their personal journeys — both in Latvia and internationally. They spoke openly about their growth, the lessons learned from mistakes, the art of building strong teams, and their vision for the future.

Keynote Highlights:

• Succeeding in similar ways across very different markets
• Regulators are not asleep
• Every market needs its own CEO
• Be smart when investing in technology and build your IT team wisely
• Cut bureaucracy at all costs

The panel discussion, moderated by Emīls Kraģis (LatBAN), featured Ansis Spridzāns (LatBAN, Angel Investor), Jakub Więcław (Magnetiq Bank), Mārtiņš Valters (Mintos), and Toms Jurjevs (Sun Finance). The topic: collaboration and competition — unlocking the potential of Baltic synergy.

Key Takeaways from the Panel:

• Crypto and AI remain the top investment focus areas
• Once again: regulators are not asleep
• Investor mindsets are changing rapidly

The evening continued with startup pitches.
Deniss Skokovs from Intrepid Fox presented AI agents for onboarding automation in fintech and banking — a perfect fit with the earlier discussions on AI and reducing bureaucracy.
Helmuts Buls from ZalaPay introduced a tech-bank solution for retailers with significant potential.
We were also glad to have fellow Lithuanian startups represented: Mihkel Mandre from Lyfery introduced next-gen life insurance, and Margiris Laučys from Chaseit presented an AI-powered automated debt collection platform that communicates through email, calls, WhatsApp, Viber, and SMS in the most effective way.

All startups delivered their pitches creatively — and we are truly grateful to witness such driven new players entering the fintech scene!

A huge thank you to Magnetiq Bank — Jakub Więcław and Julija Feščenko — for hosting the event, and to Emīls Kraģis, Managing Director of the Latvian Business Angels Network, for the fruitful collaboration in bringing together fintech leaders, innovators, and enthusiasts to share insights, explore future trends, and strengthen cross-border connections across the region!