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Backing Innovation in the Baltics: The VC Firms Shaping Lithuania’s Startup Scene

Lithuania’s startup ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade, with its combined value surpassing €16 billion — a staggering 39x increase in just ten years, according to a recent Dealroom report.

A lot of this growth is recent, Dealroom data shows: The most populated Baltic country was also the fastest-growing startup hub in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the last five years.

In 2024 alone, Lithuanian startups raised €128 million, with early-stage investments reaching €108 million, marking the second-best year on record. The landscape continues to be dominated by unicorns like Nord Security and Vinted, which was recently honored with the Leader of the Year award during the Vilnius TechFusion Awards 2024. However, a new wave of startups, particularly those founded post-2020, is rapidly scaling.

This makes for a tech scene that isn’t limited to a single category. The main sectors driving this expansion include cybersecurity, fintech, medtech, defense, and AI. Vilnius, the capital, has emerged as an EU leader in cybersecurity, while Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city, seems to be a medtech hidden gem.

At the heart of this dynamic ecosystem are venture capital firms that fuel innovation by providing crucial funding to startups. Below is a list of the top 10 most active VC firms in Lithuania – both local and international.

Top Lithuanian VC Firms

First Pick

An early-stage investor, First Pick focuses on scaling Baltic tech startups, particularly in SaaS, fintech, and deep tech. Portfolio startups include Samphire, Tingit and others.

NGL

Specializing in early and growth-stage investments, NGL supports high-potential startups with global ambitions. Portfolio highlights: Amlyze and AISPECO.

Coinvest Capital

A co-investment fund that works alongside angel investors, Coinvest Capital has played a role in scaling multiple Lithuanian startups (Portfolio: UDS, Axiology).

BSV Ventures

A Baltic-focused VC firm investing in pre-seed to Series A startups across various tech verticals. Notable investment: BrachyDose.

ScaleWolf

ScaleWolf backs early-stage tech startups with a focus on scalable business models and cross-border growth. It invested in startups such as Aktyvus Photonics and Blackswan Space.

Practica Capital

One of Lithuania’s most well-known VC firms, Practica Capital invests in seed to Series A rounds, backing startups like PVcase, TransferGo, and Eneba.

Iron Wolf Capital

Iron Wolf Capital is fund focused on early-stage and growth-stage startups, particularly in AI, cybersecurity, and SaaS. Portfolio highlights: Traxlo, Turing College (YC W21).

Foreign VC Firms Active in Lithuania

Bad Ideas Fund

A global investor focusing on non-traditional, high-risk ventures — hence its name! — Bad Ideas Fund has made significant investments in Lithuanian startups such as Leya-AI.

Plug and Play Ventures

A major player in Lithuania’s accelerator scene, Plug and Play has supported numerous early-stage startups through programs like the Startup Lithuania Accelerator.

Superhero Capital

Nordic-Baltic VC firm Superhero Capital invests in early-stage startups across fintech, AI, and deep tech (Cyber Upgrade, AISPECO).

Looking Ahead: A Promising Funnel of Lithuanian Startups

“Despite global market challenges, Lithuanian startups have demonstrated resilience and adaptability, showing greater stability and growth than many regional counterparts,” said Karolina Urbonaitė, head of Startup Lithuania at Innovation Agency Lithuania.

This makes Lithuania a hidden gem worth exploring for new entrants who could join the current top 10 VC firms in funding the next wave of unicorns. Read Dealroom’s full report here to find out which ones are already in the pipeline, and how Lithuania’s tech funnel is shaping up.

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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