Fintech | ICT | Lasers | Life science

Record breaking year calls for a celebration in Vilnius

2022/12/09

Vilnius TechFusion – which is the name the city has given its thriving Fintech, ICT, Biotech and Laser ecosystem – together with Startup Lithuania, celebrated the end of the year with an all-out party in the dungeons of prominent local startup Kilo.Health, wrapping up the year with a review of the latest statistics.

 

Photo by Olga Posaškova

 

Despite slowing enthusiasm around startups and big tech in Silicon Valley and other places, Vilnius celebrated another record-breaking year. Data shows that startups paid 45% more taxes in the first three quarters of 2022 vs. 2021, and average investments grew from EUR 6.5 to 8.2 million, with 57% growth in total investment attracted. All in all, 2022 saw Lithuania climb to the number one spot among CEE countries for growth of startup ecosystem value (16.6 times to EUR 10B).

“There are two important things about this night. First, it’s a celebration of community – from biotech and laser technologies, to ICT and Fintech, we are all Vilnius TechFusion and we are all connected in a special way that creates value, not just the good vibe of belonging. Second, the results and potential we are showing. Most of our startups use their own revenue to grow and it shows how our resilience to uncertainty creates valuable investment opportunities,” said Inga Romanovskiene, Head of Go Vilnius, the city’s development agency behind the Vilnius TechFusion ecosystem.

 

Photo by Lukas Kazakevičius

 

During the biggest startup ecosystem event of the year, six awards were given to the most distinguished startups. Four were voted by a jury (Newcomer of the Year, Best Emerging Tech, Rising Star Award and Ecosystem Hero); one was awarded based on a public vote (Public’s Favourite); and the highlight of the night – the Startup of the Year award – was voted on by the 14 most prominent startups showcased in the city’s startup museum, as well as previous winners of the award.

 

Photo by Lukas Kazakevičius

 

The winners were:

 

  • Ecosystem Hero – Mantas Mikuckas, Co-Founder of Vinted, the first Lithuanian unicorn, who is currently developing a startup space in a former industrial area of the city and is an active mentor and angel investor into the startup ecosystem.

 

  • Newcomer of the Year – FloHealth, a startup with more than 250 million users of their app Flo, the first AI-powered technology to track women’s health. FloHealth also has offices in Amsterdam, San Fransico and London. Their office in Vilnius opened two years ago and the company currently employs almost 250 people here.

 

  • Best Emerging Tech – Litilit, an up-and-coming laser tech company using a newly developed technology to drastically decrease both the price and time it takes to develop sophisticated laboratory quality lasers. The startup recently received a EUR 3.5 million investment from a Taiwanese fund.

 

  • Rising Star – PVCase, a startup developing tools for solar parks in more than 60 countries around the world. The company plans, engineers and maintains projects, enabling data-driven decisions and continuous optimization.

 

  • Public’s Favourite – Walk15, a startup promoting healthy lifestyles through daily step counting challenges for communities and companies, with product discounts exchanged for steps accrued.

 

  • Startup of the Year – Omnisend, one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world, with 80,000 clients in 130 countries. 2022 was especially successful for Omnisend – it was nominated as one of the fastest-growing tech companies in Europe by Deloitte and Financial Times, and won the Bronze Award at the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

 

Photo by Lukas Kazakevičius

 

You can find more pictures from the event here, and link to the video of our ceremony here.