The Startup Miracle in the Baltic states and its Future Challenges

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The MCC International Symposium on Startup Ecosystems in Europe brings together twelve distinguished experts from across the Baltics, the United States, and Europe to explore the region's startup success and its future challenges. Participants include leading entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovation policy professionals from cities such as Tallinn, Vilnius, Riga, London, Seville, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Budapest. Representing institutions like Sunrise Tech Park, Hostinger, e-Estonia, ADA Economics, and the Bay Area Council, they offer diverse perspectives on entrepreneurship, AI, policy, and innovation ecosystems. The symposium provides a unique opportunity for dialogue between top-tier experts and MCC students.

The topic of the Symposium: While globally there are only 3,000 unicorns (startups valued at over $1bn) and the chance for a startup becoming a unicorn is only 0.00006 percent, in Europe the Baltic states have the highest number of unicorns per million inhabitants. Definitely, this is just the tip of the iceberg, though it indicates that these countries have become the hottest and fastest growing startup region in Europe. In the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – with a combined population of around six million, the sheer size of the local market required startups to think globally from day one. And size matters, allowing startups to move faster, adapt and experiment more easily, embedded in a community in which it’s easy to get to know people, connect, hire, and to be hired. It was also the size of the local market that made it possible to capitalise on the early successes of startups like Skype, which not only brought money and know-how to the region's ecosystem but also served as a role model for tens of thousands of English-speaking tech talent. This development has also been supported by the full digitisation of public services, e-citizenship and light-touch regulation, as these countries are now among the most startup friendly in Europe.

The future is, however, full of challenges. How can we deal with the current summer of artificial intelligence, which promises to become the general-purpose technology of the century? How can startups, which today are increasingly based on deep-tech innovation, attract the investment and talent they need from around the world? How does the emerging trend towards corporate venture capital and government venture capital influence the future development of startup ecosystems? How can small but dynamic ecosystems keep up in a global race with exponentially growing new technologies when this race is increasingly embedded in geopolitical rivalries? What lessons can other startup ecosystems learn from the success of the Baltics and Finland that will also be relevant for the next decade?

The aim of the Symposium: We offer an exclusive and very convenient format of the symposium as twelve distinguished international experts and thinkers, and players of the ecosystem come together for few days to present their ideas and discuss them more broadly with other speakers and our students as well. Hence, the symposium will be a great opportunity to meet influential experts from different countries and diverse perspectives working to support the startup ecosystems and enjoy a few days of conversations fully dedicated to this interesting

field. During the symposium each participant will have a time slot of fifty minutes including presentation and discussion (we recommend 25-30 minutes presentation and 20-25 minutes discussion). In addition, on both days of the symposium we organise a lunchtime debate open to a wider audience of MCC students and the general public.

Symposium Agenda

3rd April (Thursday)

08:45 – 09:00 | WelcomeProf. Zoltán Cséfalvay (MCC, Budapest)

09:00 – 09:50 | Lithuania’s Startup Success: How We’re Building a Nation of InnovatorsLaima Balčiūnė (Sunrise Tech Park, Vilnius)

09:50 – 10:40 | Global Innovation: Entrepreneurship, Investment, and AI in Silicon ValleySean Randolph (Bay Area Council Economic Institute, San Francisco)

10:40 – 11:00 | Coffee Break

11:00 – 11:50 | A Startup Can Start Anywhere—Even in CorporatesEdgars Stafeckis (Trustlynx, Riga)

12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch (MCC, Budapest)

13:00 – 14:30 | Innovation Debate: Lessons Learned – The Startup Miracle in the Baltics and the Innovation Ecosystems in EuropePanellists:

Siim Teller (Lemonade Stand, Tallinn)

Monika Dirgince (Hostinger, Vilnius)

Ramón Compañó (Joint Research Centre, Seville)

Stephen Ezell (ITIF, Washington D.C.)

Petra Holm (e-Estonia Briefing Centre, Tallinn)Moderators: Márton Tasnádi and Marcell Kovács (MCC Students)

14:30 – 15:20 | How Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Will Shape the Financial System in the Coming DecadeRaffaella Tenconi (ADA Economics, London)

15:20 – 16:10 | Technology Transfer of Cutting-edge Research within a University Innovation EcosystemProf. Tamás Haidegger (Center for Intelligent Robotics, Budapest)

16:10 – 16:30 | Coffee Break

16:30 – 17:20 | Toward a Context-Contingent Stage Theory of Entrepreneurial OpportunityProf. "Iris" Xiaohong Quan (San José State University)

4th April (Friday)

09:00 – 09:50 | Session by Siim Teller (Lemonade Stand, Tallinn)

09:50 – 10:40 | Startup Policy and the European UnionRamón Compañó (Joint Research Centre, Seville)

10:40 – 11:00 | Coffee Break

11:00 – 11:50 | Beyond the Miracle: How Estonia Sustains Its Startup SuccessPetra Holm (e-Estonia Briefing Centre, Tallinn)

12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch (MCC, Budapest)

13:00 – 14:30 | Innovation Debate: Future Challenges – The Startup Miracle in the Baltics and the Innovation Ecosystems in EuropePanellists:

Laima Balčiūnė (Sunrise Tech Park, Vilnius)

Sean Randolph (Bay Area Council Economic Institute, San Francisco)

Raffaella Tenconi (ADA Economics, London)

Prof. "Iris" Xiaohong Quan (San José State University)

Edgars Stafeckis (Trustlynx, Riga)Moderators: Csiszár Bence and Sándor Pázmányi (MCC Students)

14:30 – 15:20 | Perspectives on Startup Success from the USA and Challenges to Europe’s Startup EcosystemStephen Ezell (ITIF, Washington D.C.)

15:20 – 16:10 | Why Your Company Should Treat Every Day Like Day 1: The Hostinger CaseMonika Dirgince (Hostinger, Vilnius)

16:10 – 17:00 | Session by László Bacsa (Demola, Budapest)

Participants invited (already confirmed):

Siim Teller (Lemonade Stand, Tallinn)

Laima Balčiūnė (Sunrise Tech Park, Vilnius)

Monika Dirgince (Hostinger, Vilnius)

Edgars Stafeckis (Trustlynx, Riga)

Petra Holm (e-Estonia Briefing Centre, Tallinn)

Raffaella Tenconi (ADA Economics, London),