Unicorns Lithuania

Opportunities to test new ideas should be available across Lithuania. Good to see Kaunas gathering for a second time! At the centre of Make Kaunas Great Again #2 is a #Pitchathon: a short team sprint ending in pitches. Participants will form teams, develop an idea in around two hours and present it. You can bring an idea or develop one together. The main prize is €3,000 worth of support to prepare an EU funding application. Through that application, the team could seek up to €200,000 in funding. Participation is free. 📅 6 September 🕓 16:00–22:00 📍 Santakos g. 11, Kaunas Shout-out to Redas Paulionis for bringing the event back, and to ThinkFin, Eneba, Confluence Investment and FIRSTPICK for supporting it. Registration: https://lnkd.in/dai4saH7

Lithuania’s startup ecosystem has a strategic and pragmatic streak. When it sees a challenge that matters to the country’s future, it brings the right people together and gives the work a dedicated home. That is how this rather unusual trio came together: -> Unicorns Lithuania strengthens the country’s startup ecosystem; -> Its spin-off Švietimas #1 works towards the best possible education in Lithuania and has already made education a hot topic. If you doubt that, head to Bernardinai Garden. They are serving plenty of hot education topics today at Diskusijų festivalis „Būtent!“ discussion festival. -> The newest spin-off, Asociacija Visuotinė gynyba, focuses on national resilience and security. Its new survey found that 76% of Lithuanians support introducing universal conscription by 2030, while 51% want it implemented as soon as possible. A clear signal for decision-makers. Now the trio needs a proper group photo. This one from our strategy session with Švietimas #1 at Workland Offices is already missing Asociacija Visuotinė gynyba. Next time, we’ll need a bigger sofa #Workland.

Lithuania is much bigger in tech than it looks on the map. In her new Entrepreneur Media article, Polya Pencheva explores why Lithuania deserves founders' and investors' attention. For founders, the tax numbers stand out: -> 0% corporate income tax for the first two tax periods; -> 7% corporate income tax for small companies earning under €300,000 a year; -> 3× deduction for eligible R&D expenses. For investors, Unicorns Lithuania CEO Gintare Verbickaite highlights another Lithuanian strength: capital efficiency. Limited access to capital taught local founders to test demand early, earn revenue and reinvest it into growth. Special thanks to Hostinger & Nord Security for bringing international journalists to Lithuania and widening the lens beyond their own stories. By sharing the spotlight, they helped bring greater international visibility to the whole ecosystem. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/dAWYBBFv

What does your startup need next: capital and strategic support, experienced founders around you, or an equity-free acceleration program? At the first #GrowthPartnersBattle, one investor and three growth partners gave founders a clearer map. Daiva Rakauskaite, CFA from Aneli Capital opened with a reverse pitch: “We are looking for founders with a winner’s mindset: founders who act, succeed, learn from failure and keep moving forward. We provide the capital and support to help you correct mistakes quickly, adapt and accelerate towards success. We invest in B2B technology companies across the Baltics, Finland and Poland that have already entered the market and are generating revenue.” Then came three different founder profiles: Rūta Pukenė from Lost Astronaut: “We are always looking for A+ talent, people who want to build something more than anything.” Lost Astronaut looks first at people with grit, clarity and a proven ability to execute. Its support ranges from joining an in-house venture as a cofounder to investment, strategic help, mentorship and resources. jonas bartasius from basedcollective: “The world has enough people waiting for change. basedspace is for the impatient ones.” basedcollective brings together impatient, values-driven founders who want to change how people do things and learn from those who have already faced similar challenges. Jonas’s shortest invitation: “If you’re cracked, show up.” Philip Adler from Freshmango: “We are looking for early-stage solo founders or teams with an MVP who plan to raise within the next six months. Our remote, equity-free programs focus on mentorship, validation, GTM and access to capital, with operators from unicorn startups and big tech companies.” During the one-minute Spotlight Pitches, people looked for funding, cofounders, CMOs, and product leaders; shared job offers; and invited others to hackathons and events. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to Go Vilnius and Tech Zity for organising #Startup Meetup Vilnius together. Save the date for the next Startup Meetup Vilnius: September 29 at 4PM, bact at Tech Zity's Tech Park.

To mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, TransferGo is turning every transfer to #Ukraine into additional support for the country’s vocational schools. 🇺🇦 From August to October, TransferGo will donate an additional 0.2% of the value of every IBAN transfer to Ukraine in Ukrainian hryvnias. The money raised through the #TransfersThatUnite campaign with UNITED24 will help vocational schools buy the equipment they need to train Ukraine’s future specialists. We are proud to see co-founders Daumantas Dvilinskas and Justinas Lasevicius, together with the whole TransferGo team, continue supporting Ukraine. Their long-term commitment sets an example of perseverance and resilience for our whole community. As Daumantas says: “We proudly stand by our friends in Ukraine, and we will continue, as long as it takes.”

Tomorrow at Startup Meetup Vilnius, three growth partners enter the ring, and you get to choose who belongs in your startup’s corner. Startups need different kinds of support at different stages, so join us to find out when and whom to approach. 📆 August 25, 4 PM 📍 Tech Park, Antakalnio St. 17, Vilnius 🎫 Register here: https://shorturl.at/dkcer

Lithuanian startup funding in H1 2026: international funds backed the largest deals. Local investors remained central to early-stage funding, and the number of funding deals stayed broadly flat. The 13 companies in our overview announced €83.7M in funding, compared with 15 funded companies a year earlier. Onodrim Industries raised €40M and Saltz.app €20M. Together, the two investments accounted for 72% of the total. The total was half the €167.6M announced in H1 2025. That period included Cast AI’s €95.4M investment, which accounted for 57% of all funding. International investors in the largest deals included Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Lakestar, Inovo.vc, Lifeline Ventures and Change Ventures. At earlier stages, Coinvest Capital, FIRSTPICK, Practica Capital and Iron Wolf Capital were among the most active funds. Business angels participated in more than 70% of the funding deals recorded in H1. Roberta Rudokiene of Lithuanian Business Angel Network LitBAN says investment opportunities remain plentiful, but decisions depend on the team, product potential and ability to scale. She says better conditions for direct investment could encourage more people to back young companies. Lithuania has recorded between 32 and 40 startup funding deals a year for the past four years. Unicorns Lithuania believes Lithuania should act more decisively to widen this pipeline by improving conditions for private investment and helping more young teams secure their first capital. This would increase the number of companies able to compete for international funding in the years ahead.

A new chapter for Mantas Katinas, Chairman of the Board at Unicorns Lithuania! After more than five years leading Wargaming Vilnius, Mantas is joining the Tesonet ecosystem as CEO of Kurianti karta, a joint venture Tesonet and INVL Asset Management Private Equity Fund II established earlier this year. Kurianti karta will invest in education and develop a modern learning ecosystem in Lithuania, spanning early childhood education, schools, universities and professional studies. “Mantas is a rare example of someone who combines two areas that are extremely important to us. He has a deep understanding of education and learning, as well as strong experience in technology and business. This is exactly the kind of synergy we need for the future of education, and we’re proud to welcome another strong CEO to the team,” says Eimantas S., co-founder of Tesonet. Congratulations, Mantas. We’re excited to see you bring your experience to education and will be cheering you on.

What’s next? Lithuanian startups. Here's one clue: Lithuania’s startup ecosystem currently has 114 open roles with advertised gross monthly pay between €4K and €10K. Could building companies in Lithuania for global markets become the country’s next growth model? At Diskusijų festivalis „Būtent!“, Unicorns Lithuania CEO Gintare Verbickaite will bring the startup perspective to the discussion “The era of cheap labour is over. What’s next?” Joining the conversation: ▫️ Edvinas Grikšas, Minister of the Economy and Innovation ▫️ Giedrius Dzekunskas, Site Manager, Danske Bank Lithuania ▫️ Dr. Živilė Simonaitytė-Vasiliauskienė, Economist, Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists ▫️ Vytautas Šilinskas, Executive Director, Investors’ Forum Moderated by journalist Rasa Tapinienė. 📅 29 August, 12:30 📍 Danske Bank discussion stage, Bernardine Garden, Vilnius Founders, this one is worth arguing about. See you there.

€1 million for Lithuanian AI that turns software workflows into step-by-step training guides. Guideless has raised a pre-seed round led by Superhero Capital, with participation from Unicorns Lithuania partner FIRSTPICK and angel investors Thomas P., Vytautas A. and Mantas Mikuckas. How does it work? A person completes a task in any business software while #Guideless captures the process. Its AI turns every step into an editable guide with visuals, text and narration in more than 40 languages. Companies can create and update their training materials up to 10 times faster. #Guideless already has more than 3,000 users and paying customers across 15 markets, including Vinted. Congratulations to founders Evaldas Bieliūnas and Dovydas Remeika, the whole team and the investors. This is spot on. More Lithuanian AI, fewer wasted hours. That’s good maths for our economy.