The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania (Seimas) approved the definition of a start-up provided by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania. The Law on the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises shall determine that a start-up is a very small or small enterprise with great potential of innovation-based business development, operating for less than 5 years.  

“Lithuania became one of the first countries in the European Union to establish the definition of a start-up by law. Although this business model is being actively applied as more and more start-ups are launched in Lithuania, the absence of a clearly defined concept makes it difficult to create a more favourable business environment for such enterprises. Therefore, the statutory definition of a start-up will allow to further strengthen one of the priority areas of our economy – the ecosystem of start-ups”, stated Virginijus Sinkevičius, the Minister of the Economy and Innovation.

Currently there are more than 600 start-ups operating in Lithuania. In recent years, the number of start-ups has increased by 47 percent. Last year, Lithuanian start-up community achieved record results and attracted EUR 183 million of investments from foreign and Lithuanian investment funds. The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania has a goal to increase the number of start-ups in Lithuania up to 1000 by 2020.

The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania has submitted proposals to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania regarding a more flexible taxation of options. The Ministry and other institutions have signed a memorandum which will allow the operation of the procedure for attracting, reserving and integrating foreign talents in Lithuania (“Start-up Employee Visa”). It will reduce the barriers for highly qualified professionals to come to Lithuania. What is more, it is planned to increase the support of the Public Institution “Versli Lietuva” for the developers of start-ups and for moving foreign start-ups to Lithuania.