Working Class

work in progress

• We examined a four-day work week concept as popularised by some politicians. Our sophisticated quantitative analytical framework drives us back to... 996. More on that from Tomas and basedspace_.

• Latvians have launched some truly interesting business models combining hardware+software. HackMotion (new pod episode) is bootstrapped and profitable, other success stories of course are Aerones, Giraffe360 (FY 2024 accounts showing GPB 6M revenues), as well as Natrix. Also – drones, of course.
• Sustainability. Where is the opportunity in climate? Financial architecture, according to Contrarian. Also, examples of how great climate-first businesses continue to get built, at scale. InSoil Carbon Farming Program was verified by SCS global. Esgrid turns two.
• Founder venues. As people get excited about FR8 in Finland, we can't be more thrilled to see basedspace_ movement. From humble beginnings at Tech Zity, they are about to move to a larger, 750 sqm premises at this emerging campus. More builders are getting a roof!
• How is HR tech doing? "In an experiment with 70,000 applicants in the Philippines, an LLM voice recruiter beat humans in hiring customer service reps, with 12% more offers & 18% more starts." Co-founded by Karolis, YC-backed, Humaans seems to be growing well with impressive customers. MELP celebrates 5th birthday, Juozas sounds like they might have raised a round. It is time and place to build AI-enabled recruitment firm. TeamFill helps screen candidates faster. CoFive is going after the market.
• People. Jonas Gilys joins 15min as CCO (ex-mediatech), the group is actively hiring executives. Jurgis, Performance Lead at Adtractive, is leaving the firm. Toma is leaving Google. Martynas joins Spike Technologies. Ugnius steps up as Head of Data and Strategy at Coresignal. Roberts is the CEO of Latvian Startup Association.

Startup Fair 2025: The Future Gathers in Vilnius

On October 9, Vilnius becomes the center of startup gravity. Startup Fair 2025 is back - louder, bolder, and more global than ever. Think 2,000+ curious minds, 450+ boundary-pushing startups, and over 430 investors from 65+ countries. One day. One expo hall. Infinite connections.

Why this year stands out?

Keynote spotlight: Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze and author of Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution. If you’re building something that matters, you’ll want to hear what he has to say.

→ Pitch Battle: Watch top startups go head-to-head for over €3M in investment.
→ Match & Mingle: Skip the small talk. Meet your future investor, co-founder, or collaborator.
→ Startup Avenue: Walk through what's next — product demos, prototypes, and founders with ambition that doesn’t quit.

Get your tickets → https://www.startupfair.lt/tickets

rounds and capital

• We are hearing a brand new software acquirer is being born in Vilnius – waiting for news to come this week.
• Vocal Image – 12M ARR, 50,000 users – raised $3.6M seed round led by Educapital, with participation from Specialist VC and G-FUND.
• Another AI superstart from Estonia – Practica Capital wins to lead EUR 1.8M pre-seed for Creem, alongside Antler. $1 million in annual revenue in just 10 months since being founded.
• Latvian Tournated has closed a $750,000 funding round: Scandiweb, Shijiazhuang Chaofeng Sports and an international padel organization.
• Funds. How many unicorns does Donatas (Practica Capital) need to return the fund? Fun talk on venture investing. byFounders launch III fund, 100M+ size, with Magnus Hambleton now joining as a partner.
• Peter Thiel-backed SNÖ Ventures is winding down, partners will go on to raise solo GP funds.

three questions

Victoria Trofimova, CEO, Nordcurrent

Nordcurrent has grown to impressive size - what is the current snapshot of revenues, team size, and locations?

Nordcurrent has over 320 people across Vilnius, Warsaw, Dnipro, and Gothenburg. In 2024, our revenues reached €65 million, and our games have been downloaded more than 800 million times worldwide. At the moment, we have four flagship mobile games and a growing catalogue of indie PC and console titles that we actively develop.

What are the biggest online game market misconceptions, even among startup/tech community?

Many believe success comes from a single “hit” game, but in reality it’s built on long-term community, live ops, and steady improvements. Another misconception is that mobile games are mostly for kids, while the audience is broad and largely adult. And finally, mobile games aren’t simple. They require large, multidisciplinary teams and years of development.

Curious about the learnings from the past strategic moves - acquiring other studios, as well as catalogue of games. Should we expect more of that?

Our acquisitions showed us the value of diverse creative voices and how much faster we can grow by combining strengths. We’re open to more opportunities if they fit our culture and strategy, but our main focus remains on sustainably building and growing our current titles.

sponsors

Cloudvisor [AWS partner dedicated to startups]
Hostinger [making online presence accessible to everyone worldwide, hiring]
Google For Startups [cloud credits up to $350K, expert support & faster growth]
Oxylabs [Step into the world of web data gathering]
VIALET [Business accounts for growth, hiring]
Surfshark [Top 50 among fastest growing in EU, hiring]
15MIN Group [all the news you need to know]
Superangel [Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A for tech companies]

roleplay

founder's guide

• AI for Enterprise – great piece and examples by a16z
  Oil Wells vs. Pipelines: Two Strategies for Building AI Companies
• Consumer founders: The Distribution IS the Brand

• How to build an AI company in a new market.
• Don't follow a pattern:

After 15 years of investing, our biggest learning is that truly great founders have something that is almost impossible to fake: deeply unconventional life choices and highly atypical personalities that give them the creativity and edge to build something extraordinary.

further insights

• Wanting this is fine, however

• Don't discount your future time

ecosystem

• Estonian e-residency proves simple mechanics: customers and revenue they bring compound, as long as they don't churn.

In the first six months of 2025, e-residents and the companies they established contributed €68M to the Estonian state budget. This is twice as much as in the same period in 2024.

+adding to this: one of these e-residents is Brazilian Gabriel, Creem founder, who drove $1m revenue in 10 months and just closed a round from Practica Capital+Antler. He explains how Estonia is winning the talent race.

• Swapnil believes height restrictions for buildings in Vilnius push prices up in the central parts of the city.