2021

JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” Starts Implementing Its SilvaTech Acceleration Programme

Continuing its course of innovations, JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) in cooperation with accelerator Startup Wise Guys (SWG) starts to implement the acceleration programme called SilvaTech. It aims to create at least ten internationally competitive products, solutions or technologies with high added value and high implementation readiness in areas important for forestry.

SilvaTech acceleration programme adapted to the needs of LVM and the forest industry, helps both internal teams (company employees) and external innovation teams (start-ups) to implement technologies, products and solutions in forestry, logging, seed and plant growing, mineral extraction and production, recreation, as well as in the field of geospatial information technology.

Ilga Anita Bērzkalna, LVM Development Department Manager: “LVM is a leader in the forest industry, which implements responsible and sustainable forestry, introducing and developing more and more innovative solutions. LVM has been an innovator since its very beginning. Without digitalization and tools such as geospatial information systems, tablets and drones, the company would not be able to effectively manage a quarter of Latvia or 1.6 million hectares of forest land. So far, we have created and implemented innovations on our own, but now is the time to go a step further and implement more complex, interdisciplinary innovations. That is why we invite other players in the innovation ecosystem to participate in and delve into the challenges of the forest industry in the SilvaTech programme, in order to jointly find solutions in machine learning, sensors, robotics, remote sensing and other areas.”

From 8 to 10 September, there will be an on-line or hybrid-form (part live, part on-line) hackathon. The teams will be selected for the participation in the pre-acceleration phase. In turn, the ten best teams of the SilvaTech programme will enter the Growth Accelerator. The programme will end in March 2022. Until then, the network of LVM and involved international mentors will provide support and knowledge to teams in developing their ideas. Those interested can apply for the participation in the programme on the Silvatech website.

“Access to large companies, data and expertise is one of the biggest challenges for start-ups creating business-to-business solutions. In turn, innovation programmes such as SilvaTech open these secret doors and make it much easier and faster for start-ups to validate their idea or product in a specific industry or with a specific customer. We congratulate the Latvia’s State Forests team for its courage to take a step towards external innovation and invite new companies to apply for the hackathon, use this opportunity to develop and grow together,” Cristobal Alonso, Head of Startup Wise Guys, is happy with the cooperation.

JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) has been providing responsible and sustainable forestry for 22 years, balancing nature protection, recreation opportunities and economic interests. LVM invests in increasing forest land areas and developing forest infrastructure – restoration of drainage systems and construction of forest roads. LVM governs and manages 1.62 million hectares of land in the Republic of Latvia, including 1.59 million hectares of forest land, of which 1.39 million hectares consist of forests. This year, LVM paid 90.5 million euros into the State budget.

Startup Wise Guys is one of the most active early-stage investors and the most experienced start-up accelerators in Europe. The investment portfolio includes more than 235 start-ups from around the world, including a number of Latvian start-ups: CastPrint, Exonicus, CENOS, Jeff App and others. SWG invests in and develops business-to-business start-ups in the areas of cybersecurity, financial technology and sustainability.