Thursday, April 16, 2026

Headlines

In the media

55 over 55: in which NGOs are the highest salaries and dependence on funds?

There are 30,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Latvia, of which only 1% receive funding through the Society Integration Foundation (SIF). Of these 300 organizations, fewer than half, that is 128 associations or foundations, have received SIF funding exceeding 50,000 euros over a three-year period. For 55 organizations, SIF funding has exceeded 100,000 euros. These are 55 NGOs whose activities, without state and various European Union (EU) […]

Alternative to traditional funeral services

To make composting of human remains the new normal in the funeral services industry, the company Return Home has attracted millions in investment. “Until now we simply got rid of human remains,” says funeral service provider Katie Houston. During the pandemic, from January 2020 to October 2022, more than a million people died from COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. […]

Mushroom hunting in your office

Līga and Uģis Zemturis grow mushrooms in their office and then sell them both fresh and processed as a source of vitamins. Right there you can also enjoy a nine-course dinner paired with wines selected by Raimonds Tomsons. What do a financier and a model have in common? Mushrooms, of course! Fashion industry professional Līga Zemture and financier Uģis Zemturis are building a joint business – growing Japanese Eringi […]

Potential not yet discovered

In recent years, Lithuanian business turnover in Latvia has become more noticeable. Data show that investments by entrepreneurs from neighboring countries in companies in Latvia, and the turnover of these companies, grow faster precisely during crises. In just the two years of Covid-19, the turnover of companies in Latvia owned by Lithuanians increased by 56%. But how are Latvians doing in the neighboring country? It was a sunny day in July when my colleague and I, delighted about […]

Rolls-Royce social network

Car manufacturers’ apps, through which you can monitor a car’s technical condition, order various services and communicate with the manufacturer, have long been nothing new. The exclusive carmaker Rolls-Royce has turned this into a multimillionaires’ social network. This August in Riga was Rolls-Royce month – the owners of the antique Phantom model stopped here as part of a trip celebrating its 100th anniversary […]

Soft power ecosystem

In late autumn, when politicians traditionally heatedly debate budget issues, discussions arose on the agenda about whether the Society Integration Fund (SIF) should or should not be abolished. At that time, the association “Civic Alliance” pointed out that such an initiative should be seen as an attempt to weaken civil society and restrict democratic processes. Summarizing data on the organizations and media funded by SIF over the last three years, to the aforementioned […]

Low-cost private aviation

To be able to offer elite, private aviation to a wider audience, JSX co-founder and CEO Alex Wilcox has to stay one step ahead of federal regulations. As if it were an awkward joke by his grumpy character from the series Curb Your Enthusiasm, writer and actor Larry David has arrived at the wrong airport – Los Angeles instead of Burbank. “Wait a minute!” says the airline JSX co-founder and […]

“We can be the flagships of artificial intelligence.”

In the field of research and development (R&D), Latvia’s small and medium-sized enterprises invest only when all other needs have already been covered and there is money left over. However, R&D is in fact the very foundation that makes it possible to explore and introduce unprecedented services and products. Working with scientists is often something only large and wealthy companies can afford. Guna Soloveja heads the R&D department in one […]

Freedom by overworking and growth in drama

It is 2018, 10:30 p.m. A bottle of wine in my left hand. A box of tissues in my right. Feverish after a 15-hour workday, yet feeling lighter than I had in years – both literally and figuratively. For the first time in many years, I wasn’t carrying a laptop. It was my last day in the United Kingdom before moving back to Riga. Two thoughts were running through my head: 1. This is […]

Baltics-scale financier

Ownership rights and decision-making power in the largest companies in the financial sector allowed Forbes magazine to rank Maksims Mališko in the “40 under 40” list of success stories in finance. Although Maksims is not yet 40 years old, he has already achieved a lot in his career. Source of publication: Forbes Latvia, August 2021.