Solid autumn for Vilnius-based startups: 14 companies raised more than €147M
As the Vilnius TechFusion Startup Awards are approaching, let’s count how Vilnius-based startups and unicorns fared this fall. We compiled a list of 14 Vilnius-based startups that raised more than €147M in total in the months of September-November to develop their ideas and grow their businesses.
Vilnius-based unicorn Nord Security, a cyber security company founded by Eimantas Sabaliauskas and Tomas Okmanas, has attracted a new USD 100 million investment from the United States private equity firm Warburg Pincus and nearly doubled its value to USD 3 billion in just over a year. Existing investors Novator Ventures and Burda Principal Investments also participated in this investment round. The investments will be used for the development of Nord Security and Surfshark products in various global markets and for potential strategic acquisitions that would allow to ensure an even wider range of cyber security services for private and business customers, according to the press release. (Full story)
Eimantas Sabaliauskas and Tomas Okmanas / „Tesonet“ nuotr.
Green Genius, a Vilnius-based renewable energy company, operating in 8 European markets, and Mundus Bridge Finance, the private debt fund of INVL (the leading investment management and life insurance group in the Baltics), have agreed on €9.5 million financing. (Full story)
The ‘LitBAN’ five-year anniversary event marked a turning point for the pet care app Boop, created by Lithuanian entrepreneurs Deividas Celencevičius and Gediminas Geigalas. It was there that Deividas had a serendipitous encounter with business angel Žilvinas Skardžius. Their subsequent conversations, spanning several months, blossomed into a significant investment of €300,000 from Žilvinas’ UAB “Globalūs Investiciniai Sprendimai” in October of this year. (Full story)
Boop team in Vilnius
Vilnius-based startup Žaislų Klubas (Liledu), an innovative educational toy subscription service, has secured a €125,000 investment for the international expansion of its ‘play and swap’ model. This funding, led by the FIRSTPICK VC fund and a group of angel investors, is designed to propel the startup’s growth and enable the testing of its services in new markets. (Full story)
Following the success in decarbonising the fashion industry, co-founder of pre-loved clothes marketplace Vinted, Mantas Mikuckas, invests 1M Eur to support the green transformation of agriculture. Debt capital will be deployed to small and medium sized farms through the climate tech, HeavyFinance.
Agriculture is one of the principal sources of global greenhouse gases, accounting for approximately 22% of total CO2 emissions. Vilnius-based HeavyFinance aims to transform this sector by providing Green Loans for the shift to regenerative farming practices. (Full story)
Mantas Mikuckas, Vinted, has joined the investors of app Walk15 as well. This year, the startup reached a valuation of 15 million euros and will begin active expansion into Germany.
Breezit, the professional event planning digital marketplace, announced raised $2 million in funding. The pre-seed round was led by Practica Capital, and Breezit plans to use the funds to further develop the generative AI and machine-learning capabilities of its venue and vendor marketplace, which provides highly detailed pricing information of each venue and vendor to help couples discover services that match their requirements and budgets. (Full story)
Vilnius-born Genus AI, a generative AI platform for D2C and e-commerce brands, announced it has secured over $6 million in a seed round extension, bringing the company’s total seed funding to $11 million. New investors include one of the leading US social media platforms; Aleph Group Inc. an ecosystem of global digital experts and technology-driven solutions that enables the growth of digital marketing and strategic angel investors such as Kazuki Ohta, Co-Founder & CEO of Treasure Data, Magnus Lundin, Founder of Heep Agency, Tomas Slimas, Co-Founder of Oberlo (acquired by Shopify) and others. (Full story)
Vilnius-based Lithuanian blockchain startup Micapass has attracted an investment of 240,000 Euros. The investment comes from innovation lab “SUPER HOW?” and Baltic startup accelerator “Firstpick”. Micapass is developing an automated money laundering detection tool aimed at participants in decentralized crypto markets. (Full story)
Gintarė Košubienė, the startup’s founder and CEO
Solid autumn for Vilnius-based startups: 14 companies raised more than €147M
| COMPANY | EUR |
| Nord Security | 91.8M |
| CAST AI | 30.41M |
| Genius AI | 9.56M |
| Green Genius | 9.5M |
| Breezit | 1.74M |
| WeSky | 1.1M |
| HeavyFinance | 1M |
| Repsense | 800K |
| Walk15 | 500K |
| Boop | 300K |
| The Knotty Ones | 250K |
| Micapass | 240K |
| Liledu (Žaislų klubas) | 125K |
| AskToSell | 100K |
Keep in mind – Vilnius is already preparing for one of the most important events of the year – the annual Vilnius TechFusion Startup Awards. At the event organized for the fifth year in a row, awards await both growing high-tech companies and heroes of businesses, talents and ecosystems that have already gained recognition in Lithuania and the world.
Vilnius TechFusion startup awards will be held on January 11, 2024, this year they are organized by Vilnius city tourism and business development agency “Go Vilnius”, Lithuanian startup association “Unicorns Lithuania” and “Sunrise Tech Park”.
