Today, when there’s only one day left before the biggest Lithuanian startup event Startup Fair, as many as 250 investors from 15 countries have already arrived in Vilnius. They were brought together by the Investor Camp, an event for investors to learn about our country’s innovations, make new friends and build closer ties with the Lithuanian start-up ecosystem. The Investor Camp is co-organised by the Startup Lithuania division of the Innovation Agency, the Lithuanian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (LT VCA) and the Lithuanian Business Angel Network (LitBAN).

Startups Demonstrating Impressive Growth

“Lithuania’s startup ecosystem has demonstrated impressive growth over the past five years – its value has increased 7 times EUR 13.7 billion. Lithuania’s name is increasingly mentioned among the leading technology countries in Europe, and the number of unicorns per million inhabitants puts us on a par with markets such as Estonia, Israel and the US. It is not for nothing that more than 300 investors from all over the world choose Lithuania and Vilnius to find promising investment opportunities here,” said Karolis Žemaitis, Deputy Minister of the Economy and Innovation.

Co-organiser of the event Greta Mieliauskaitė, Head of the Lithuanian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (LT VCA), says that this event retains its uniqueness and specialisation, as its aim is not to be massive, but rather to have a close networking among experienced investors.

“It is important to understand that Lithuania is no longer just a country for pre-seed investments. This year, the country’s startup ecosystem has witnessed important later-stage investments, which we will try to highlight throughout the event,” shares Ms Mieliauskaitė. This year, the focus will be on growth-stage investments, Series A and Series B investments and the opportunities that investors see in high-growth businesses.”

The event will also include a discussion on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles – a highly topical issue not only in Lithuania, but also globally in the field of investment. According to Ms Mieliauskaitė, this year’s event will also address women’s leadership and the diversity of startup board structures.

Baltic Startup Review 

“During the Investor Camp, participants will have the opportunity to access the Baltic Startup Funding Review, which will be presented by Jonė Vaitulevičiūtė, Founder and Managing Partner of the venture capital fund Firstpick. Investors will also be able to discuss why they should invest in ESG solutions now. The panel will include Juho Aminoff, EIF Sales Representative for the Baltics, and Kristina Söderberg, Investment Manager at SEB Greentech VC. The discussion will be moderated by Rokas Pečiulaitis, Founder and Managing Partner of Contrarian Ventures.

The second part of the event will feature a discussion on angel syndicates, a discussion between Dovilė Burgienė, Managing Partner of Walless and one of the founders of the association Lyderė, and Vinted, as well as an exploration of the intersection between life sciences and artificial intelligence, with a panel of speakers on innovation in this field: Juozas Nainys, Managing Director of Atrandi Biosciences, and Laurynas Karpus, Founder of Biomatter. The discussion is to be moderated by Donatas Keras of Practica Capital.

“We want to maintain the “boutique” format of the event, so that business angels, representatives of venture capital funds and other investors have the opportunity to meet informally to discuss the projects that have already been implemented, because that is how opportunities are born. The structure of the event is designed to make the most of the principles of networking, with numbers, visions, forecasts and friendly conversations,” said Karolina Urbonaitė, Head of the Startup Lithuania division of the Innovation Agency. She said that after the inspiring Investor Camp held on the eve of the Startup Fair, the next day investors will attend the biggest startup event in Lithuania and will have the opportunity to meet the most innovative Lithuanian businesses at first hand.    

The Investor Camp takes place on the eve of Startup Fair.Pulse 2024, the largest startup ecosystem event in Lithuania. This year, Startup Fair will be held for the 12th time and is expected to attract over 2,000 participants and investors from 68 countries. The event will feature more than 60 presentations and discussions on the hottest topics in the ecosystem, and as many as 50 startups will compete in the Pitch Battle for investment and prizes worth €3 million.