Prototype it

validate your business idea

Business ABC

Learn the basics of building a company

Prototyping

Build a working prototype

Scholarship

Receive funding of €4.5K for prototyping

Place to

work from

Office space for you and your team

Teambuilding

Participate in teams of 2-4 (at least 1 student per team)

Networking

Remote sessions in-person networking

Mentoring

Skillet mentors sharing hands-on experience

Individual approach

Workshops, keynotes, 1on1/individual meetings

What is it?

During the 4 months program, we'll teach you how to turn your idea into a company and navigate the world of prototyping by providing the necessary funds, knowledge and support. By the end you'll have a working prototype ready for testing, so all you need right now is a clear vision

and dedication!

Who can apply?

Teams of 2-4 people
At least one team member must be a student

What to expect?

4 months filled with various workshops and learning sessions, as well as live meetups and networking to sharpen your business skills (mostly during evenings). The rest of the time you'll manage/be the boss of yourself: planning individual meetings with mentors and reporting the progress. In conclusion, you'll be able to show off your prototype and pitching skills among the other teams and the jury. Any guidance you might need, our team will be there to help and make sure you're getting exactly what you came for.

Meet the mentors

Innovation Consultant and Facilitator

Karlis Jonass

Karlis helps teams bring their visions to reality through experimentation. He believes that organizations can save a lot of time and resources by experimenting with ideas before implementing them. To achieve that, he:

Coaches teams on innovation and experimentation,
Joins project teams as an external consultant,
Leads workshops on topics such as design thinking and service design.

Venture Partner at Superhero Capital

Ernests Stals

Ernests is failing forward by building startups and sharing his learnings with other entrepreneurs and founders. Have been involved with the Latvian and Baltic startup ecosystem from the beginning. Now involved with TechChill conference and TechHub Riga co-working space.

As a venture partner at Superhero Capital, he's able to help founders also with capital.

Co-Founder of Truesix

Julija Gifford

Julia Gifford is the co-founder of Truesix, an award-winning content marketing and PR agency with a focus on visibility for high-tech organizations. She was part of the founding team of Printful, Latvia's first startup unicorn. She is an editor and contributor at Labs of Latvia and Tech.eu, one of Europe's leading startup news platforms.

Managing Partner at Buildit Latvia

Matiss Neimanis

Matiss believes people will like to stay in the real world to use products they can touch, smell and feel. He also believes that innovation is not about earning more money but about generating wealth for society in a responsible way.

Currently: he is running the accelerator and the investment fund - Buildit Latvia. There are two funds (together 5M EUR) and a portfolio of 40+ companies under management. In parallel, he is involved in various activities to support and strengthen innovation and startups (reading lectures, running seminars, mentoring, etc), by sharing his knowledge and experience.

The main field of expertise - setting up the Business Model and short term goals that comply with 'Big dream' for early stage startups

Why you should apply?

"The program and its mentors have genuinely taught us what it means to develop an idea and create a company out of it. I would say the most fascinating revelations were how you must create multiple plans, pivot when difficulty arises and how the timeline for the plans shifts before your eyes."

- Emīls Egle, CEO at Saubram

"Although ESI provides many lectures and workshops, it's super important to mention that the team members behind this program are like a family! This whole experience would not be the same without the Program Director and Manager. They are like two moms who always check in with you, support you and join you in your adventures. Trust us - this is not your average incubator!"

- Sāra Zdanovska,
CEO at YourLibet

"The ESI programme has allowed us to develop the idea not only on a theoretical business level but also provided financial support for developing product samples and even for market testing. We definitely recommend it to everyone who has the self-motivation to work every day to make an idea into reality"

- Elvija Vanaga,

CEO at Fat Cat Leaves

"ESI incubator provided an opportunity to meet world-class mentors and participate in interactive workshops allowing us to future develop our solution."

- Valters Slava,

CEO at Greencheck

Topics

I only want the knowledge

Statutes