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 Latvia's capital's dedicated one-stop body for attracting foreign direct investment, supporting startups, promoting Riga internationally and facilitating the relocation of skilled international workers.

RITA operates across three tracks: investment attraction missions and the Workcation Riga programme for companies with €5 million+ turnover; the Startup Houses Support Programme and cooperation with the Latvian Startup Association; and, for international talent, the Work in Riga portal launched in February 2023 as Latvia's first centralised digital platform aggregating jobs, relocation guidance and permit information.

RITA co-organised 27 ecosystem activities in 2024, up from 18 in 2023, and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Latvian Startup Association in 2023; the Startup Houses Support Programme is a €450,000 three-year initiative developing co-working and incubation hubs across Riga.

Riga-based startups attracted €21.8 million in private investment in 2024 and €60 million in 2025, generating €62.6 million in tax revenues (a 13% increase on 2022); international investors created over 1,200 new jobs; and Riga's cumulative FDI stock reached €10.2 billion by early 2026, including €320 million invested during 2025 alone, led by Sweden (€4.36 billion), Estonia (€803 million) and Germany (€711 million).

RITA combines investment promotion, startup ecosystem activation and international talent attraction in a single young agency, adapting Western European models to the Baltic context and showing measurable growth in both startup financing and inward investment, though without a formally evidenced multi-stakeholder governance board.