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6 min read

Unchained

Unchained
Photo by Paulius Dragunas (The sun begins to set on the mystical Lost Coast..)
Lithuania Tech Weekly #137
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work in progress

  • Winners. There are plenty of hustlers around, and – there is Vocal Image.
  • Fintech / regtech and more? DeepFin launched Sofia AI - a financial assistant for freelancers. We are keeping an eye on what's coming out of Super How, especially since Marius Jurgilas transitioned from the Bank of Lithuania. Axiology believes financial instruments like government bonds should be as simple as making a coffee - enabled by DLT infrastructure. Micapass is a fully decentralized on-chain compliance tool. Both startups won special prizes at the Startup Fair. Is that on the list of recent Coinbase "call for startups"? Besides blockchain, the scene is shifting quickly with AI adoption, watch AI-native teams like Norwegian Strise emerging quickly to compete with others, including Amlyze (which just brought a big event to Vilnius).
Chasing Tails - dog pool from Smart Brands Lab, very happy
Floya by Trafi

rounds and capital

  • WeSky – in-house cabin avionics system – raised EUR 1.1m from LitBAN angels, Coinvest Capital, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, and Notarc Management Group. Angels syndicate includes 38 members, truly national pull this one!
  • Light Conversion has acquired Evana Technologies, in a local deal - getting access to ultrafast laser micromachining tech, since Evana was focused on semiconductor and dielectric material scribing. We looked at fast-growing laser firms here, and should have added Litilit - hearing they are on fire after the Taiwania round)
  • Tallinn-based charging solution for electric vehicles VOOL raised EUR 1,3M, led by Specialist VC. Among angel investors were VOOL’s employees, who supported their company with €195K.
  • Latvian electric scooter for parcel delivery, Bruntor, secured €100K from Latvian hardware and IoT startup accelerator Buildit.
  • More investors than startups? Impellent Ventures having fun, and a few more for investor day.
  • What ridiculous hit rate of early-stage VC look like? Perhaps Haystack with Semil.
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The number of series A and growth rounds has continued to decrease in the first half of 2023; however, the number of pre-seed rounds has risen significantly showing continued angel and pre-seed fund willingness to back new teams. Seed rounds are also starting to rise again.
Less $ as there is less growth/series A rounds, but the early stage is doing fine

founder's guide

Finding startup idea [resources]
How to think, research, and verify. Also how to stay away from bad startup ideas. List of resources, from articles to podcasts, including examples of both poor and excellent ideas to pursue. How to think about startup ideas * Matt and Alice from Entrepreneur First, a podcast episode #4: How to
Tech PhilomathsEditor

The last survey showed we need more marketing support for startups. What kind of? Click and select what is most needed.

further insights

So yes: states should support innovation and generally have, for more than a century. Only in orthodox economics did this ever look strange. Yes states should encourage innovation in their public services, and celebrate the creative bureaucrats, but alongside serious attention to evidence, adoption and learning from others. Yes they should be entrepreneurial (in the broader sense of the word). And yes they could be far more strategic in shaping, and making use, of powerful emerging technologies such as generative AI.
But no, they shouldn't try to innovate and be creative all the time and no, states and bureaucrats should not seek to be entrepreneurs, or if they do, should operate within very strict limits. Otherwise you risk finding yourself on a fast track to corruption, predation and abuse of power.

roleplay

Pick a startup - find a job
Inspired by the reader’s comment below, a practical framework for how to think, research and find the best jobs in the tech market. A draft -help improve this by sending your suggestions. The early options that matter have already matured and there are just not enough high-growth early stage startu…
Tech PhilomathsEditor
Bolt - Country Manager (Latvia)
Bored Panda - Creative Director
Cargo stream - Sales Manager and SDR (both UK)
Cloudvisor - Inbound Sales Manager
NEO Finance - Head of IT
Inbalance Grid - Junior Sales Manager
RSI Europe - Business Analyst

Talent: Justinas Jautzemis is ready for new marketing role.

Advice from Steve Jobs: “Don’t be a career".

ecosystem

  • Just more deliverables from a small technology team within government, and we are excited to see this can gather momentum - both for political decisions, as well as getting more talent to solve important problems.
  • "Nudges remain useful political tools. They are cheap, and they neither ban nor mandate. And if they don’t work, it takes a while for voters to notice" - the latest update on a theory that society can achieve some goals just by helping people make better decisions. This led to the launch of the Behavioural Insights Team, consulting governments globally.

three questions, previously

Member discussion