Startup conferences are about speeches, pitches and wooing investors. The big ones, they’re the cruise ships of seafaring. Latitude59 is a lovely yacht without the crowds. Only people who really matter.

Latitude59 2023 is going to be bold. Our mission is to employ the tools, talent and know-how of startup and tech community to tackle the crises the world faces today. We invite you to envision the future with us and take action with the brightest minds in the region.

Bolder, not Bigger

Latitude is not just your location. It is your personal capacity. Your freedom to think. Your freedom to act.

Estonians have taken freedom to another level by setting up a digital society and an advanced tech ecosystem. We are a country with only 1.3 million people. But a birthplace of 10 unicorns and 1400+ active startups. The ICT sector has quadrupled in value since 2002, now covering 8% of GDP. By measuring the total taxes paid, funds raised, and revenue made, our startup sector has kept growing roughly by 30% YoY. We might be a small country by size, but technology is helping us shape our future in ways we can’t even fully foresee now.

We can do big things. Estonia’s own history has shown that being free – and progressive – can demand pioneering thinking as well as bold moves. The world today is facing a multitude of crises – economic, energy, climate, humanitarian, and war. These are huge challenges for all of us, whether we like it or not. We have also learned from the past that a crisis should never go to waste. Estonia’s president from the 90s, Lennart Meri is famous for saying, if the situation is sh*t, it’s the fertilizer for the future. Let that sink in.

We believe that the solutions for the world’s crises are yet to unfold in the cooperation, collaboration, and coordination between the hard-working people in the fields of technology, startups, government, investment firms, NGO-s, and corporations. As the team behind Latitude59, witnessing the collision of all of these global interest groups and bright minds, we recognize our part in the equation and the potential impact our platform holds.

How can we truly help and not just “enable conversations”? How can we create value and not just amplify the noise? In the context of a conference, how to use our most valuable collective asset – time – in a way that maximizes the positive impact on the world? These can be difficult questions to face, yet we are very willing to go off the beaten track in this new decade of Latitude59’s history.

We call it the Latitude Attitude – driving the change, giving voice to impactful stories, cutting the BS, and unmasking our human side, all while holding on to the quirk, the unique twist, and remembering to appreciate the positive around us.