work in progress

Anti-fragmentation. Pattern from some most impressive marketplace players scaling: 1) pick a promising fragmented European category 2) build infrastructure and break barriers, start scaling both supply and demand. Yes this is Saltz – just closed EUR 20M Series A, as well as Ovoko and Vinted (now EUR 8B worth as BlackRock is buying EUR 574M worth of shares).

Solving fragmentation doesn't always need to be a marketplace –  think also about the likes of Estonian Mifundo (platform linking national credit databases across Europe) or Axiology (capital markets).

Context becoming everything? Anyone else tired of uploading files and asking LLMs "to find that previous chat"? We are bullish for Fieldy 3 wearable release, and their acceleration. Others that have data / context advantage are Desktop Commander, and nexos.ai – which just launched "limitless campaign" and platform to run agents for everyone.

Agentic and autonomous. Albertas is live with Crush – and what a background of a founder, guy is a little bit competitive! Mantas and Nedas built ResolveKit — a platform that brings a real AI support agent directly into your app.

People. Ilma (ex-MailerLite) launched Blue Fondue: a production house designing intimate, participatory experiences. Five years since Vytautas joined Tesonet Investment team – been busy! Deividas in now Head of Drones at RSI Europe. Edas' Chapter two – Motifind learnings and building more products. Arminas is now Head of Payments at Eldorado.

Privacy / security. By the creators of Surfshark: HeyPolo is a new way for families and friends to stay connected in the real world; Edvinas will be the CEO. NordLayer launched a business browser.

rounds and capital

• FIRSTPICK launches EUR 25M fund, in style – with top investors flying in and great event for the community. Great run so far, awesome to see continue.
• Saltz, food supply marketplace, raised €20M in Series A funding from EBRD, Inovo, Lifeline Ventures, and Change Ventures to expand across Europe and transform food distribution. See interview below
• Iron Wolf Capital joins massive $50 million UFORCE round: it emerges from stealth with backing from multiple VC funds including Lakestar, Shield Capital, Ballistic Ventures, and others. UFORCE is led by Oleg Rogynskyy (co-founder People.AI), founder is Oleksiy Honcharuk, a former Ukrainian prime minister, and board member includes Ben Wallace, the former UK defence secretary.
• Finbee secures EUR 5M investment by Tesonet. Expect Finbee to grow way faster, enter new markets, accelerate both marketing and product development.
• Dr. Zabieliauskas pledges to donate EUR 100K to Vilnius University Endowment.
• Lost Astronaut backs Lynxmonadas, another drink venture.

brand + design

w/ rokas from achoo

Design Special Forces. Shopify acquired Molly, a design studio - calling its own “Navy SEAL” squad. Last time tech started swallowing design studios was 2011–2018 - Facebook, Google, Apple, all went shopping. Treatwell acquired LemonLabs. That wave coincided with what’s considered the peak era of software quality. The playbook is back: you don’t hire taste one designer at a time. You acquire it as a culture.

The rise of the Super IC. Lean teams are raising the bar. Companies increasingly look for someone who can own outcomes end-to-end: set direction, make decisions without committee drag, and ship. They want “Super ICs,” senior individual contributors who can think through product strategy, design, and engineering - and build when needed.

founder's guide

Analyzing twenty founders who started $5B+ companies at or before the age of 23. What is the pattern?

I think it comes down to three things. Trauma. Neurodivergence. Polymathic range. Read these twenty-five profiles back to back and the pattern is unmistakable. Nearly every founder carries at least one. The best carry all three.

further insights

• Very interesting read: 60 New Yorkers on how much they made last year
• Daytime napping is associated with a larger total brain volume.
• Play around with public SaaS metrics

‍