According to the Startup Genome 2023 ranking published today, the Lithuanian startup ecosystem has moved up 20 places compared to last year. Among the top 100 rising startup ecosystems around the world, our country is ranked between 41 and 50, up from 61-70 last year.

Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation, underlines that Lithuania continues to show strong growth in global rankings. “Being among the 50 fastest-growing and high-potential startup ecosystems is a significant achievement for our country. Two significant aspects have had the biggest impact on Lithuania’s rise – our ranking increased in market reach, talent and experience categories,” says Aušrinė Armonaitė.

The Startup Genome survey assesses a range of areas important for the functioning of startup ecosystems. The market reach factor analyses early-stage startups’ access to customers, which can lead to expansion and contribute to the potential to become a multinational company. The talent and experience factor assesses the competencies in the ecosystem, the talents that can be employed by early-stage startups, and the experience of the startups in the ecosystem.

The growth of Lithuania’s startup ecosystem has been also revealed by another global index StartupBlink. According to Roberta Rudokienė, Head of Startup Lithuania at the Innovation Agency Lithuania, the latest report of this index, which ranks 1,000 cities worldwide, records the breakthrough of Lithuania’s major cities.

“Vilnius moved from the 80th place in 2022 to the 72nd this year, Kaunas moved 13 places to the 178th, Klaipėda moved 195 places to the 769th out of 1,000 cities worldwide. Evidently, Lithuanian startups are becoming increasingly visible on the global startup map – they are successfully operating globally and expanding into new markets, the value of startups is growing and investments are attracted, Lithuanian startups are capable of not only successfully selling their businesses to international corporations, but they also acquire successful foreign startups”, – notes Roberta Rudokienė.

Looking at data from 2017 to 2022, Lithuania is the second fastest-growing startup ecosystem in Central and Eastern Europe. Its value has grown almost 17-fold in five years and currently stands at €9.5 billion (Dealroom.co).

“We make great efforts to ensure that our country’s startups continue to grow successfully, we constantly provide startups with consultations, we develop various assistance and support programmes for startups, we strive to attract international accelerators to Lithuania, we present the Lithuanian ecosystem abroad, thus establishing contacts with investors from other countries and helping startups to attract investments. On 7 September this year, we are organising the annual Startup Fair, the most important event of the startup ecosystem, and we also try to attract as many foreign investors as possible,” says Roberta Rudokienė.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Outlook 2023 by Startup Genome is available here.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Index by StartupBlink is available here.