The pains of growing

The big news is Eimantas' (co-founder of MailerLite) upcoming reveal on what has been happening before the $90 m acquisition. He is about to tell more on attempts to take over his shares, legal processes, and some other nasty tactics within the firm. All the things we don't want to (but absolutely need to) hear.

Growing ecosystem brings inevitable pains along. Higher stakes (and maybe big moneys) expose some bad actors. The earlier, the better. Best ecosystems function all based on trust and pay-forward principle, which means your reputation is pretty much everything. This applies both for founders and investors. Thus having some early and very public lessons will take us long way. It takes courage to speak out, thanks Eimantas!

work in progress

• Product releases. First Lithuanian game about (mostly) Lithuania and its heritage. CityNow ships iOS app. Agmis launched platform for automated marketplace content moderation. New email builder by Omnisend.
• Returns. Tech stocks collapsed, where to invest? We will need a ton of renewables, both for climate and against kremlin. Solitek cells revenue grows 80%, Modus Group will deploy €750 for re: generation, so we are looking at enablers - such as PVCase, Inion, Solarbank, SolarAide, and others (where are they?) But don't stop there - sustainability defies categorization, it's everywhere.
• Difference. Debunk EU featured among ROW100 Global Tech’s Changemakers
• Calendar. Vilnius Tech Leads - The One with Office Politics (May 19), Web3 fundraising for builders w Taizo Son, Mistletoe VC (May 23), Startup Fair (May 26).

rounds and capital

• Soon after launching at Antler, Scales (community engagement platform), is being acquired by Mesch Community in the Nordics.
• Taiwania Capital Management Corporation introduced their USD$ 200m CEE fund. Targets semiconductor, biotech, aerospace, fintech, EVs, laser optics, in both Taiwan and CEE, with a special focus on Lithuania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Will invest both in startups and established companies - and could stir the market, especially if going after some deeptech and mnfg players.

Want to sail a 73-m ship this summer with a diverse group of entrepreneurs, investors, community builders, domain experts, and other brilliant people? Then we would like to invite you for a 48-hour once-in-a-lifetime voyage from Oslo to Copenhagen (or the other way around). There are only 60 tickets available and they are already selling out fast so you better hurry!

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💚 Protecting the ship
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founder guide

• How to keep your startup afloat
• Hyper-growth is great, but don’t die while trying
• The Company OS
• Fundraising guidance for founders

roleplay

UKRAINE

• Pussy Riot Founder Maria Alyokhina Escaped Russia Disguised as Food Courier (welcome!)
• Pijus / Furniture1 is making its first investment in Ukraine
  

Thank you for subscribing and have a great weekend!