Which wave to ride
work in progress
- Cybersecurity. This theme continues to be burning hot, with Google reportedly looking at Wiz (intro) acquisition for $23B (mostly in cash and would be largest for Google ever). Great wave to ride for CyberUpgrade, and FIRSTPICK added more to their portfolio - meet Cyberalert.ai.
- AI, big play, too. Helsing, AI x Defence company, raised EUR 450m at 5B valuation. Plural is one of the investors and Helsing will launch Estonian office, going after the region. Pactum AI lands $20M series B. And if we talk big AI $, this headline was quoted a lot lately
AI's full potential is yet to be realized. Large corporations, rife with repetitive tasks and bureaucracy, are prime targets for AI-driven efficiency. Many startups aim to sell AI tools to these corporates, spanning tax, legal tech, and beyond. Forerunner advises a bolder approach: replace incumbent service firms rather than merely assisting them. Are any Baltic startups building AI-native firms? Consider these themes, in purple for you:
- Creators. Slowly, but creator economy is picking up, again. Not sure if that helps Contribee at all, and too bad we have very few attempts in the space. I am following Modash and Contra, who else?
- Deeptech. McKinsey makes a strong case for VCs to back Deeptech. Baltic Sandbox Ventures already have 19 portfolio companies, here. Iron Wolf is also prioritizing deep tech, their firms are here.
- Sports. WISL app wants to connect people for team sports. Zalgiris Group (Tesonet portfolio) hired Dainius Liulys (ex Pigu.lt) to take the lead. KaiSense brings technology to help fighters train better (Elvis joins as angel).
- Unicorn Factories. While we were uncertain if LT already has local tech "mafias", work of Kipras (Practica Capital) Jokubas (FIRSTPICK) shows we are going full circle, with former unicorn employees are starting new ventures.
It seems to be possible to add a few more names to the list – especially, if we look broader into Tesonet ecosystem, not limiting ourselves to Nord Security. With both Teso and Vinted having thousands of employees, quite a few founders have spent some time with either of those. To consider (or perhaps already under "stealth" in the graph)