Press release
November 5, 2025
Latitude59 brought Nordic innovation to Singapore for the second year in a row, aiming to spotlight Estonia’s and the New Nordics’ startup ecosystems in Asia and to foster connections between Nordic founders, leading Asian corporations, and global investors.
Kai Isand, Program Director of Latitude59 and lead organizer of the Singapore satellite event, emphasized that having a presence in Asia is crucial for the New Nordic startup ecosystems. “Strengthening cooperation between the New Nordics and Asia is essential, and Latitude59 serves as a platform to make that happen — bringing together startup founders, investors, and representatives of support organizations under one roof. This creates opportunities for meaningful connections and trust-building, which are vital foundations for global collaboration, innovation, and scaling to international markets,” Isand explained.
Opening the event Latitude59 Singapore: Exploring New Nordics, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Alvin Tan, highlighted that Estonia and Singapore are natural partners in innovation. “Singapore and Estonia are small, advanced, and tech-savvy nations — natural partners in innovation. We both rank high on global innovation indexes and share the same drive to build vibrant startup communities. Events like Latitude59 Singapore and SWITCH bring our ecosystems closer, helping startups from both regions exchange ideas and create lasting business relationships,” he emphasized.
Latitude59 was held as an official side event of Asia’s leading technology conference, SWITCH. At the same time, Singapore welcomed a 50-member delegation from the New Nordic countries, including startups, investors, and ecosystem representatives from Estonia, Sweden, and Finland.
One of the highlights of Latitude59 was a panel discussion on funding opportunities, where speakers stressed that for smaller ecosystems, cross-border collaboration plays a vital role in attracting investment. They agreed that lasting partnerships take time to build — and that genuine trust must always come before any deal.
Margus Uudam, co-founder and partner at the venture capital fund Karma Ventures, noted on the Latitude59 stage that the ecosystems of Singapore and the Nordic ecosystems are built on world-class education, global ambition, humble and hard-working culture. “Collaboration between small countries is an inevitable necessity – alliances build resilience and opportunities that are so much needed in today’s world. Success achieved so far can only be accelerated by building more relationships and cross-border investing,” Uudam said.
The importance of cross-border collaboration was also emphasized by Sharon Lim, Executive Director of the Singapore Venture & Private Capital Association (SVCA), who took part in the panel discussion. “Latitude 59 demonstrates how small nations like Estonia and Singapore punch above our weight. The Singapore Venture and Private Capital Association (SVCA) looks forward to engaging more with Europe and the new Nordics to explore areas of convergence across our ecosystems to power the next generation of innovators,” she said.
Latitude59 Singapore: Exploring New Nordics was held in cooperation with the Estonian Embassy in Singapore as an official side event of Asia’s leading technology conference, SWITCH. Estonia was represented by Startup Estonia, the Estonian Private and Venture Capital Association (EstVCA), Invest Estonia, and Cleantech Estonia. The Swedish delegation will be represented by SISP – Swedish Incubators & Science Parks, and Business Finland will represent the Finnish side.
From Asia, Latitude59 will move on to South Africa, where two events are set to take place in November. The first, on November 12 in Cape Town, will bring together Estonian and South African founders with international investors and potential clients, followed by Latitude59 Johannesburg on November 14.
In December, Latitude59 Kenya Edition 2025 will return for the third time — and for the first time, it will expand into a three-day event. The Kenyan edition will also feature a startup competition open to teams from around the world, with the winner earning a spot on the Latitude59 stage in Tallinn. Latitude59 Kenya Edition 2025 will take place from December 3–5 and is expected to attract around 3,000 participants.
