• Techchill, one of the biggest tech event in the Baltics and CEE, expanded to Kyiv as Techchill Kyiv took place on June 6th
• The organizers drove all the way from Latvia on a convoy of cars which were later donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
• It was uttered that there’s definitely going to be Techchill Kyiv 2025

This June, one of CEE’s most significant startup events – Latvian Techchill – traveled all the way to the capital of war-town Ukraine and held an event there. The Techchill Kyiv event was a logical continuation of the pronounced support for Ukraine that was voiced during Techchill’s main event in Riga in April.

Techchill’s Choice of a Wider International Context in 2025

On April 17-19th, Riga’s Fantadroms and Hanzas Perons welcomed techheads from all over Latvia, the Baltics, CEE, and beyond at Europe’s most laid back tech event – TechChill Riga 2024. The program began with Run for Ukraine – a charity run to collect money for drones for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Overall, it was apparent that support for Ukraine in its defensive effort against Russia and the consequently growing importance of Defense Tech both in CEE and globally became the leitmotifs of the event.

TechChill’s unchanging mission is to drive the development of the Baltic startup ecosystem. However, it is apparent that a vibrant startup ecosystem doesn’t grow on its own, in isolation, and successful ecosystem development requires collaboration with others. Thus, the Techchill team began to look beyond Latvian and Baltic borders.

Choosing Ukraine

‘We asked ourselves – what makes sense for our ecosystem? It was clear to us that Ukraine makes sense. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. And if it’s beneficial for us, then it’s certainly beneficial for the other side, as it drives common growth,’ Techchill’s CMO Katrina Krievane says.

Among other signs of attention that Ukraine enjoyed during April’s Techchill in Riga, a delegation of startups from Ukraine was present, with 8 startups, selected by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, showcasing their solutions.

‘We are very impressed with the resilience not only of Ukraine, but also their startup community. We hope to continue to strengthen ties with the Baltic startup ecosystem to benefit both,’ Techchill’s CEO Annija Mežgaile shares.

The Techchill team admits that the talks about organizing an event in Ukraine had been circulating prior to the April event in Riga, but it was only during the conference that the final decision was made. The key factor for this decision was the inspiration that the Ukrainian delegation instilled.

It was announced on stage in Riga that TechChill planned to expand its activity to Ukraine, geographically, and the innovation community was invited to participate. It seemed to the Techchill team like the next logical step to organize the next Techchill event in Kyiv and drive cars – that were consequently donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine – to Ukraine as a means of transportation to the event, and thus provide even more value to the event. The trip would culminate in an ecosystem meetup, organized in collaboration with Lift99 Kyiv Hub and scheduled for June 6th.

On the Way to Ukraine

‘One of the main challenges from an organizational perspective was putting together the TechChill Kyiv event in June so soon after TechChill’s main event in April. However, it had to be done sooner rather than later, as during the summer months more people go on vacations, and we wanted everyone’s full attention. We had the feeling that there’s no going back – it had to happen,’ Ms Krievane recalls.

The transportation of cars was organized in partnership with Entrepreneurs for Peace – who are sending such convoys to Ukraine on a regular basis. Laura Skrodele, the organization’s director, kept joking that everything that could’ve gone wrong – did go wrong. Ms Krievane tells ITKeyMedia that cars kept breaking from the very beginning, but fortunately, they could always be repaired quite quickly.

The convoy was flanked by vehicles with emergency signals to ensure a faster way. The delegation was driving through towns, which usually have a 50 km/h speed limit, at 80-90 km/h. Entering Ukraine, they saw people with children on the side of the road waving to them. They did get stopped by the police from time to time, because naturally they were exceeding the speed limit. However, after ascertaining what the delegation’s business was, the police wished them safe travels, and all the cars successfully reached Kyiv.

Regardless of all of the technical mishaps along the way, the team recalls the ride as overall smooth. The cars were highly anticipated, as they were specialized military vehicles with stronger motors and other hardware from the National Armed Forces – the second such batch from Latvia.

‘When we delivered the cars, men from the frontline drove at night to collect them – men with overgrown beards, gray hair, and so much warmth in their eyes. This is where two worlds collided as we were a group of young women, last to hand-off the cars we brought from Latvia. We were standing there, naturally tired from a long day’s drive, and we were happy to be there. But you understand that the people coming to greet you are so much more tired than you. And they say that for them, our words of support are enough for them. In that situation you have such a range of feelings – you want to scream and cry, to embrace the soldiers, but at the same time you have such pride in what you’ve done,’ Ms Krievane continues.

An Air Raid Warning App and a Heartwarming Event

Everyone in the team had to download an app that would notify us about air raids over Kyiv. Many admit that they still can’t bring themselves to delete the app.

Overall, the Techchill team is overwhelmingly happy with how the Kyiv event turned out – in terms of both content and participants, of which there were more than 100.

‘It was a very intimate and heartwarming event. We were able to communicate with local startups and see how they’ve built their startup spaces. They were all incredibly welcoming. Our next event is already highly anticipated. After the event we were flooded with questions about when the next event would be held. This, in our opinion, is the highest metric for success,’ Ms Krievane tells ITKeyMedia.

‘By driving to Kyiv we demonstrated unequivocally that we stand with Ukraine, and by bringing our startup ecosystems closer together, we highlight that we have much in common to fight for,’ Ms Mežgaile adds.

The team feels poised to make TechChill Kyiv a regular event and to welcome everyone in Kyiv in 2025 once again. In the meantime, they will be attending Ukraine as soon as in September at Lviv IT Arena. Also in September, Techchill has scheduled a conference in Milan, Italy.