We love a good challenge at TWINO. So when the opportunity came up to join FinQuest 2026 as a challenge partner, we jumped at it. FinQuest is Riga Business schools first fintech coopetition event, and this year it made history on being the biggest hackathon RTU has ever hosted.

For us, being involved in events like this is not just a nice thing to do. It is genuinely important. Supporting education and fostering fresh thinking in financial services is something we care about deeply, and it aligns with a broader mission that our CEO Nauris Bloks is personally committed to. Nauris is an active member of the Baltic Finance Center, an organisation dedicated to leveraging education and independent research to help develop sustainable and innovative financial service markets

Our challenge for the teams was this: how do you turn savers into investors?

It sounds simple, but it is one of the most stubborn problems in personal finance. Across Europe and around the world, millions of people are carefully putting money aside every month. That is a great habit. The problem is that in a world of persistent inflation, saving alone is quietly losing the battle.

~3.5%

Average eurozone inflation in recent years, steadily eating into cash savings

56%

Of Europeans hold cash savings earning less than the rate of inflation

$6T+

Estimated value of household savings sitting in low or zero-yield accounts globally

The gap between saving and investing is not really about money. Most people could start investing with a small amount. It is about confidence, familiarity, and that first step that never quite happens. Closing that gap takes creativity and empathy, which is exactly what students are brilliant at.

Going into FinQuest, we knew we would enjoy it. What we did not expect was just how energising it would be. Sitting with teams, helping them sharpen their ideas, watching a rough concept scribbled on a whiteboard turn into a confident, well-argued pitch over the course of the event.

Our team showed up as mentors, but honestly, we came away having learned a lot too. Students ask questions that make you stop and rethink assumptions you did not even know you had. The ideas that came through ranged from gamifications to community hubs to AI-powered financial coaching.

Team InSpark

InSpark came up with an idea that is as clever as it is heartwarming: gifted investments. Instead of giving someone cash for their birthday or a big life moment, you gift them an investment. A real, growing asset that starts working for them straight away. The beauty of it is that the recipient becomes an investor before they have ever had to make a conscious decision to be one. Someone who cares about them did that for them first.