SpirulinaNord: attracting highly qualified specialists helps increase production efficiency

Latvian biotechnology company SpirulinaNord, which specialises in the production of fresh spirulina products, is continuing its rapid growth following an investment of more than one million euros in its new production facility. Over the past year, the company has doubled its turnover, developed new products and is purposefully expanding its operations in European markets. At the same time, the company is also making use of the support programme of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) for attracting highly qualified specialists, which helps to refine processes and strengthen the team. 

“Such a programme is very important, as it allows us to look at the company from a development perspective, rather than just dealing with day-to-day issues. It is important for us to continuously improve work efficiency, which is why we are implementing best practices, refining processes and automating routine tasks,” says Agnese Stunda-Zujeva, founder and CEO of SpirulinaNord. 

As part of the programme, four specialists have joined the company: two new employees and two existing team members. As the CEO emphasises, the programme has provided an opportunity for the team to be joined by experienced professionals whom the company could not otherwise afford at this early stage of development. “It is extremely valuable to have such experienced people on the permanent staff. The programme is only halfway through, so we’ll have to wait and see what we manage to implement together. Our aim is to be able to retain these specialists after the programme ends, even without state support,” says Ms Stunda-Zujeva. 

“It is precisely because of the efficiency of our processes that we are now able to increase production capacity without increasing the number of staff. Five years ago, one person operated three bioreactors, but now it is possible to operate around 20. This has been made possible by both the new production facility and more sophisticated, mutually integrated processes,” the CEO of SpirulinaNord says. 

She also views state support schemes very positively overall, whilst noting that certain aspects of the programmes could be improved. “LIAA consultants are very responsive and able to provide high-quality assistance; however, the eligibility criteria for the support programme aimed at attracting highly qualified specialists seemed complicated at first. Some of the information, which the consultants later explained very clearly, would be worth including in the programme guidelines in an equally understandable manner. There are also technical details that could be improved – for example, reports are submitted by logging into the company’s profile, but the company’s details must be re-entered each time, even though this information is already available to the system,” she says. 

According to Ms Stunda-Zujeva, greater attention should also be paid in future to supporting the development of e-commerce: “Most instruments are still geared towards participation in trade fairs and establishing B2B contacts, but e-commerce is an effective way of reaching potential customers in both the B2C and B2B segments even before a trade fair. Furthermore, in the digital environment, it is possible to measure return on investment much more accurately.” 

Speaking more broadly about the importance of state support, the CEO emphasises that this is often crucial, particularly for science-based and deep-tech, or knowledge-intensive, companies. “Developing innovations requires enormous resources. If we were to rely solely on our own earnings, the world would simply pass us by. State support enables us to grow much faster and implement projects at a time when the company needs it most.” 

Information material prepared with the support of the European Regional Development Fund