Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA) — One-Stop Investment Attraction for Latvia's Capital

The Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA), established by the City of Riga in April 2021, is the Latvian capital's dedicated one-stop body for attracting foreign direct investment, supporting startups, promoting Riga internationally and facilitating the relocation of skilled international workers.

What it does: RITA operates across three tracks. For investors and companies, it runs investment attraction missions, sector-focused pitches and the Workcation Riga programme (targeted at companies with €5 M+ turnover that want to explore Riga as a remote-work or expansion base). For startups, it implemented the Startup Houses Support Programme — a €450,000 three-year initiative to develop co-working and incubation hubs across Riga — and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Latvian Startup Association in 2023, co-organising 27 ecosystem activities in 2024 (up from 18 in 2023). For international talent, RITA launched Work in Riga in February 2023 — Latvia's first centralised digital portal aggregating job opportunities, relocation guidance and permit information for non-Latvian job seekers.

Results: Riga-based startups attracted €21.8 million in private investment in 2024 and €60 million in 2025, with the sector generating €62.6 million in tax revenues — a 13 % increase on 2022. International investors have created over 1,200 new jobs in the city. Riga's total foreign direct investment stock reached €10.2 billion by early 2026, with €320 million invested during 2025 alone. Major source countries include Sweden (€4.36 B), Estonia (€803 M) and Germany (€711 M).

Why it's a good practice: In a relatively short time, RITA has combined investment promotion, startup ecosystem activation and international talent attraction in one agency, adapting proven Western-European models to the Baltic context and demonstrating measurable growth in both startup financing and inward investment.

Read the full analysis: https://www.liveriga.com/