We sat down with Marco Filippi, CEO and founder of Wego Europe, to get a preview of some of the advice he’ll share about scaling up in the Baltics, at at our Tech-Chill side-event ‘Scaling your startup in Europe‘!
How did you find out about Startup Lighthouse?
I discovered this program browsing through the web, in particular on the F6S page while we were looking for initiatives to expand our connections abroad and exchange experiences and thoughts with other startups from the EU countries.
Where did your startup begin, and how did being in this environment allow you to thrive?
We started our business in Italy but Italian startups ecosystem, though is improving and growing, is still far worst if compared to other countries like our neighbours in Austria or Switzerland or the nordics ones: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. That’s exactly the reason why we decided to start to look outside Italy; we knew we should have developed connections with other institutions, countries and startup players outside our own country.
What aspects make the Baltics the ideal place to scale up your business?
While in Vilnius we really appreciated that due to its small size, it is easy to reach almost everybody in terms of governmental institutions, accelerators and other supporting players. Moreover, the small size reduces the time and the complexity required to the proposal and the approval in changes in the legal system or getting support when it comes to propose innovations or disruptive solutions.
Do you have any words of wisdom about scaling up in another European country, for other startups?
I believe that one has to start from the micro/local dimension (in compliance with the Lean methodology) in order to be able to begin with the business and prove his/her assumptions in a very simple way, entailing a limited waste of resources when things are not going as expected. But though starting micro is important, it is important thinking big as well; in fact a startupper has to have a bold Vision for the future in order to know which path to follow. Startup lighthouse was perfect for Wego to implement this; during our period abroad we have the chance to develop primary connections and refine our project.
When attending TechChill, what will be your main objective (investment, finding new partners, etc)?
We are here at TechChill in order to further explore what’s around and to develop connections and potential partnerships. We may consider to open Wego for a bridge round of investment. TechChill is said to be one of the main events in Europe for Startups; during this edition Wego will contribute to apport a lot of positive vibes and energy.