More rounds closing

Hey all, we have revamped our career listings. We highlight pan-Baltic early-stage opportunities (the earlier, the better). Ideally, it is for those needing a co-founder, and building the initial team at pre-seed / seed. Very easy to add if you have a job opening, and puts you in front of a top-calibre audience. Feedback welcome!

Special note for friends at Cloudvisor (customer success) and Spike Technologies (sales execs) hiring.

work in progress

• Assuming Musk has no time for Neurolink these days, Neurotechnology is here to help – releasing BrainAccess Mobile App for scaling up EEG Hyperscanning experiments. This firm has its own niche, and seemingly good at nurturing talent – Oxipit and Pixevia are some of the beneficiaries.
• Health. Samphire Neuroscience wins the Healthcare Innovation World Cup at Medica. Interview with Pulsetto's co-founder and CEO Povilas Sabaliauskas. Alianse founders want to revolutionise epilepsy treatment with AI.
• Industrial strategy. Teltonika's story hit the headlines, and look like this did the job ("emergency mode on", although frustratingly couple years behind plans). Update here, what a resilient founder story. I like the reactions, no complacency is being tolerated any more, so things will have to improve. Publicity helps. Dalius brings DOGE LT idea.
  • PS. I still stand for the thesis that the two highest-leverage career tracks are either building impactful companies or leading in the government. Also, Academia, especially if you do something novel at the time.
• In Defencetech, RSI Europe continues to ramp up production and hire a lot. Estonian Frankenburg Technologies – air-defence technology – is moving ahead with key hires and production plans. Kovo is bringing advanced armour. SmartCap in Estonia started the market consultation regarding EUR 100m defence fund.

• IPOs. Klarna is ready to go. Not sure about Bolt, but this Harry Stebbings talk with Markus Villig is fantastic. Vinted wants to list later (“We’re expanding into new countries and we’re expanding our categories. We’re taking a ton of risk,” Plantenga said in an interview at the Web Summit in Lisbon. “I want to play these bets out.”).
• AI in sales. Nope, AI SDRs do not work yet. The famous 11x (moved from UK to SV) and backed by Andreessen Horowitz, seemingly are not there, either. Here is AI agents stack if you are ready to build better.
• Ventures. Baltic Sandbox has news to share, starting with a fresh identity (BSV Ventures, following growth from an accelerator to a fund that backs ambitious founders). Next, they are welcoming Janiina Lammi as a Venture Partner, in Finland.

• Calendar. Open mic w/ Thomas Plantenga (Vinted), Nov 26th.
• People. Vytenis Koryzna is the new CEO of Detra Solar. Donatas joins Caszyme as head of business development. After leading sales and marketing at Barbora, Julija is open for new opportunities. Uldis (ex-Nexpay, host of Pursuit of Scrappiness) joins Paybis as CRO. Tautvydas from Deals on Wheels is up for smth next.

sponsors

Meet our friends pushing the startup scene forward

Cloudvisor [AWS partner dedicated to startups]
PayPal [Global integrated payments solution]
Notion [Connected Workspace - try 6 months for free]
Vinted [largest C2C European marketplace, always hiring]
Tech Zity [tech hubs and campuses across Lithuania]
Presto Ventures [investing in startups – security, defense, aerospace]
Wargaming [award-winning game developer, careers]
15MIN Group [all the news you need to know]

rounds and capital

• CyberUpgrade, AI-driven cybersecurity solutions provider, has raised EUR 2.5m seed from Superhero Capital, Specialist VC, FIRSTPICK, NGL Ventures, and angel investors Marios S. Kalochoritis and Sergei Anikin, ex-CEO of PipeDrive.
• Ligence, echocardiography AI startup received EUR 3m from NGL Ventures 53 angel syndicate, Simpact Ventures, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), Coinvest Capital, Lemonade Stand, and Rita Sakus.
• AISPECO secured a EUR 2.4m grant from European Innovation Council. This follows the September announcement about EUR 1.45 million round from investors.
• isLucid closes the pre-seed round, impressing us all with perseverance (see Vytenis' write-up). isLucid secured EUR 400k from Coinvest Capital, along with angels (Dokobit and Tutotoons founders, Jeremy Hitchcock, Business Angels Fund, others).
• Ukrainian Bavovna.AI, developer of autonomous navigation solutions for UAVs in GNSS-denied and EW-threatened environments, closed seed funding of $2.7M, led by Presto Tech Horizons (also scouting for startups in the Baltics).
• 500 Emerging Europe transforms into e2vc, fund III will back European founders (CEE, Baltics, Turkey) looking to be Bay Area natives to tackle the US market with initial checks averaging EUR 1m.
• Maki Fund III (Finland) brings the newest EUR 100m fund to fuel the next wave of deep tech and brand-driven startups in the Nordics and beyond.
• Business Angels Fund has deployed EUR 1.8m in the first 9 months of 2024. Startups are Trafipark, isLucid, Speiz, and Inbalance grid. In addition, supported recent development of portcos InRento and Sign on Tab.
• Giving. Philanthropists Irena and Algirdas Juozapavičius have allocated EUR 1.3 million from the inheritance of their late son to the Vilnius University (VU) Foundation; establishing a sub-fund in memory of Mantvydas and supporting physics and life sciences. Tesonet co-founders were awarded the title of National Patron for their support of Blue/Yellow. Helery and Anna-Liisa launched a charity art campaign in Tallinn airport.

founder's guide

• Y Combinator's latest themes at the call for startups – things have changed, some workflow SaaS but new approaches, this all signals what is hot in SV.
• VC answers – ultimate decoder what these words mean
• Beware, help you don't need

Whenever a startup ecosystem begins to gain steam and develop, a host of pilot fish swarm around the doers ...

Tech Philomaths' community

Get access to additional resources, including

• Lean and Mean - small profitable Baltic tech firms
• Baltic Founders with YC experience
• Revenue Leaders - LT scaleups above EUR 25m revenues
• Startup lists for the Baltics - Drone startups, Marketplaces, Sportstech
• Repeat Lithuanian founders - 40+ serial founders building now

further insights

• Do you have a time machine? Get back to 2016, and spend all the money you can get buying Revolut shares on Crowdcube: 400x return later.
• FT film: Sequoia Capital and the evolution of the VC industry
• European alternatives for digital products

ecosystem

• Anticipate more of these stories US VS Europe (and how we took a back seat in tech). Immense wealth has been accumulated building software, social networks, hardware tech. And most politicians still think Europe can accelerate by building better cars or furniture...
• Shocking stories from Norway, or how unrealized gains taxes can destroy tech ecosystem.
• Lack of talent or compensation too low? This Viktoras' post triggers discussion.
• Tomas Peluritis talked to Eimantas, who transitioned from tech to the government and found ways to create and scale impact.

job board

Find early-stage technology companies searching for talent

15min is inviting to the World Press Photo exhibition at Tesonet campus.