TALLINN, Estonia (Chatnewstv.com) — Latitude59, Estonia’s leading startup and technology event, is taking its global ambitions a step further with new satellite events planned this year in Singapore, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Nairobi, the organizers announced in a press release on Wednesday.
Latitude59 CEO Liisi Org said the expansion marks a significant milestone for the Estonian-born conference, which has evolved into one of Europe’s most recognized platforms for startup innovation and cross-border collaboration.
“Over the past decade, Latitude59 in Tallinn has gained global recognition. We are seen both as a connector of startup communities and as a platform that fosters meaningful partnerships and sparks ideas capable of changing the world,” Org said. “This has opened doors for us on other continents as well.”
The event, which first ventured abroad in 2023 with a successful edition in Nairobi, Kenya, followed by Singapore in 2024, will now expand further with two additional events in South Africa this November.
The Latitude59 Kenya Edition 2025, scheduled for December 3–5 in Nairobi, will grow into a three-day program expected to attract around 3,000 participants. As in previous years, the event will feature an international pitch competition, with the winning startup earning a spot on the main stage at Latitude59 in Tallinn.
In Asia, Latitude59 will host its Singapore side event on October 29, in partnership with the Estonian Embassy in Singapore, as an official side event of the SWITCH technology conference. The gathering will bring together major global investors and leading Asian corporations with deep-tech startups from the New Nordics — a collaboration of Estonia, Sweden, and Finland.
Estonia will be represented by Startup Estonia, EstVCA, Invest Estonia, and Cleantech Estonia, while Sweden and Finland will be represented by SISP and Business Finland, respectively.
From Asia, the Latitude59 team will move to South Africa, where the program will debut in Cape Town on November 12 and Johannesburg on November 14.
“South Africa is one of the continent’s most advanced markets and an important innovation hub with a strong investor community,” Org said. “Our goal is to help Estonian startups and technology companies reach the right partners and clients by serving as a platform that connects Estonia’s experience with South Africa’s potential.”
Org also revealed that discussions are underway to expand the Latitude59 concept into South America and Canada.
“We are currently in the negotiation phase, and there has been genuine interest for quite some time. For now, our focus is on successfully delivering the announced events — after that, we’ll look further ahead,” she said.
This year’s Latitude59 main event in Tallinn drew over 4,000 attendees from more than 70 countries, including 900 startup representatives, 20 national delegations, and 700 investors managing portfolios worth an estimated €30 billion.
Latitude59 is Estonia’s flagship startup and technology event and the most international tech conference in the Baltic States and New Nordics. The event serves as a global platform connecting innovators, investors, and policymakers from around the world.
Estonia, known as the world’s first digital nation, boasts the highest concentration of unicorns in Europe, with 865 startups per million people. Estonian startups such as Bolt, Admiral Markets, and Yaga have also established a strong presence in Africa.
