The land of 1000 startups: how Lithuania serves as a launchpad for future unicorns

 According to a recent report published by Dealroom, the combined enterprise value of Lithuanian startups has now reached €7.1 billion, up 17x since 2016. And when it comes to VC investment, Lithuania ranks 5th in the CEE, with close to €1 billion raised since 2015.

In the first three quarters of 2021, Lithuania-based startups have attracted €420 million in funding. Among startups with the largest rounds were Vinted (€250 million), TransferGo (€43.2 million), Interactio (€24.4 million) and PVCase (€20 million).

And where are even more signs indicating the rising maturity of the ecosystem, for example, self-organisation of the startups community (led by Unicorns LT), ever-growing talent pool or promotion of diversity and inclusion.

Startup Heatmap research on women entrepreneurs in Europe published in 2020 found that only 15.5% of all founders or co-founders are women. At the same time, according to a representative survey of Lithuanian startups conducted by Startup Lithuania at the end of 2020, 38% of startups have at least one female founder.

Moreover, more and more professionals in their 50s are joining Lithuanian startups. As Darius Verseckas point out: ‘Variety of people joining startups really helped build better processes and products for rapid growth. Changing the perception of a “hipsterish culture”, where everyone is sitting bean bags drinking lattes with almond milk and using fancy keywords.’

If we cached your attention, see our latest review, in which you can access all the information about:

• How did the Lithuanian startup scene emerge.
• How is the Lithuanian doing now.
• What makes the Lithuanian startup ecosystem stand out.
• What are some Lithuanian startups to follow.

We will happily provide more information of valuable contacts in Lithuania if needed.

For any further assistance, please contact us (brand@lithuania.lt).