"You build it, you run it"

work in progress

• Taxify. In 2024 , Bolt reported a revenue of EUR 1.99 billion (17% increase), with EUR 87m loss. Ride-hailing is 82% to this revenue. 4,200 employees, with 1,200 based in Estonia. To compare, Maxima runs EUR 2.2B revenue with 11,700 employees.
• New. Paulius and Saulius are building Logitan – Autonomous OS for Global Supply Chains (big mission, need a stellar team - hiring). With linkjuice experience, Vaiva and Karolis started LinkPricer – world's backlink price aggregator. Gabriele and Leticija we are looking for a founding engineer/CTO for a (very) big AI project. Rasmus and Kevin launched AI-powered conversational search for fashion.
• Industrial. There is also food biotech, and given Amilina worked out just fine, Danas Tvarijonavicius is pushing ahead Pentasweet – EUR 44m project to produce protein sweetener (factory got approvals, and we get startup vibes reading linkedin headlines).

• E-commerce. Getting a sense of Ecom YTD from Sean Frank (Ridge). Erikas breaks down well-converting Shopify pages. reloe is another new venture in DTC space with digital marketing backbone. After Oxylabs, Zydrunas joined TakeOnline as CTO. BURGA's new HQ+facility will have a capacity of 60,000 products – a day. And, Omnisend is hiring Ecommerce Thought Leader (should they get Juozas onboard?)
• Consumer. We recently wrote about how taste and culture got unleashed with AI tech scene. Packy discusses in more depth, with examples (The Great Differentiation). It certainly goes further if you are in consumer: see Omi intro as one example (btw, Fieldy team, locally based, is already shipping). Also, what conversation did Vlad have with his stylist before Robinhood's latest launch? Tibo, well-known indie builder, completely flipped time from building to distribution. Nathan writes well on the power of the "Audience Shortcut".
• Same same – top 4 ideas that FIRSTPICK keep hearing this year. That is 1) AI investment management tracking 2) AI-powered marketing agency 3) LLM-based SEO optimization and 4) Stablecoins-related (wallets, payment infrastructure, and checkout).
• LT's tech history revisited by Paulius (Adeo Web, LupaSearch)
• One year from now, 2026, we look at Tesonet portfolio and perhaps, we find 4 unicorns there? Nord Security (incl Surfshark), Hostinger, CAST.AI, Lovable. This is not a prediction, just estimate. Now what can be Nr5? Oxylabs, nexos.ai (just went live), Eneba – watch them.
• People. Optoman appoints Cyrus Driver as the new CEO. Edgaras joins Burga as Director of Brand. Audinga joins InSoil as Executive in Residence. Juozas Kaminskas appointed as new CEO for Neo Finance. Dovydas joins Walk15 as COO. Moving past Momentha project, Simas is joining Callsy AI to lead growth. Antanas Šegžda leaves Teltonika. Arbo, former Vinted Engineering Director in Berlin, goes Founder mode. Massimo Conte joins namuku as new Head of Sales. Matas left Coinvest Capital. Camila is the new VP of Growth at Lectrium. Sigute joins Mach Industries.

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]
PayPal [Global integrated payments solution]
15MIN Group [all the news you need to know]
Superangel [Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A for tech companies]

rounds and capital

• Estonian VOK Bikes raised $6M in Series A funding, led by SQM Lithium Ventures and joined by existing investors Metaplanet, Specialist VC, Sunly, and SmartCap.
• Mediatech completes acquisition of 4 Bees equity share (22%), which owns 15min group.
• Manufacturer Selteka (EMS, approx EUR 15m rev) got acquired by Inission Group from Sweden – with EUR 8m total share price.
• Baltic startup investment H1 2025, we need more activity

🇱🇹 15 deals, total EUR 167 M
🇪🇪 33 deals, total EUR 171M
🇱🇻 8 deals, total EUR 70M

roleplay

Marc Andreessen’s career advice for the AI era

three questions

Tadas Norušaitis, CEO and Co-Founder, Pickitoo

Tell us about the LastMile acquisition and what followed – is Pickitoo related or completely new?

The story of Pickitoo starts with LastMile — but it’s now on a new path with a clear, focused mission.

Following rapid growth and success in building the LastMile grocery delivery platform, a strategic decision was made to separate the operational and technology sides of the business. The LastMile brand and operations — including the e-store and home delivery services were successfully transferred to a newly established company fully owned by IKI Lietuva.

Meanwhile, the original startup that created LastMile, is now backed by Rewe Ventures and has been rebranded under the product name Pickitoo. With this split, we’re doubling down on what we do best: building powerful, scalable software solutions for retailers across Europe and beyond.

So while Pickitoo carries the DNA of LastMile — same deep retail insights, same passion for operational excellence — it is a completely focused international software business. Our mission is ambitious: to make every local retail store just a click away.

We’re building the infrastructure for that — not just logistics, but the entire operating system for modern omnichannel retail. Think: white-label storefronts, real-time order orchestration, smart picking apps, DaaS integrations, and data platforms — all designed to help retailers launch and scale digital commerce fast, without massive infrastructure.

Our values shape how we operate. We believe in extreme ownership (“You build it, you run it”), transparency, trust, and team-driven success. Our performance model is built to empower people, move fast, and deliver outcomes. Backed by Rewe Group, we now have the strategic support and resources to take what we built locally — and scale it globally.

So yes, Pickitoo is born from LastMile — but it’s more than a rebrand. It’s a new company, with global ambitions, built on proven traction and a clear vision for the future of retail tech.

Your product and which markets are you going to first?

Pickitoo is a modular platform built to power modern retail operations — from store-based fulfillment to full-stack digital commerce. It enables retailers to launch branded shopping apps and web stores, integrate with marketplaces and loyalty platforms, manage in-store picking, and orchestrate delivery — all through a single, flexible system.

What sets us apart is the ability to deploy step by step: start with just one store and one order channel, then scale gradually across geographies, channels, and partners. This makes it possible for retailers to activate digital commerce quickly without major tech overhauls or long lead times.

We’re already supporting ambitious retail teams across Europe and beyond — from those building their own online storefronts and delivery networks, to those connecting to all major food and q-commerce marketplaces. Our platform has helped:

• Boost total store sales by +10–15%, with additional +50% online revenue growth after joining local delivery marketplaces.
• Enable multi-channel reach, integrating e-commerce into loyalty apps and click & collect models — resulting in 5%–20% growth in relevant channels.
• Drive major gains in underperforming locations — including +100% sales increases in stores that previously struggled with foot traffic.

Our platform is already used in 500+ stores across multiple countries, supporting a wide range of retail formats. We’re actively working with retailers in Germany, Austria, Romania, Cyprus, and Lithuania, and are currently running pilots in the U.S., demonstrating that our technology can adapt to different regional and operational realities.

At its core, Pickitoo helps retailers maximize revenue per square meter, operate more efficiently, and serve modern shoppers on their terms — whether that’s delivery in 30 minutes or pickup at a local store. Our job is to make digital retail work in the real world.

Fundraising, hiring – what should we be expecting next?

Right now, we are fully backed by Rewe Ventures, who not only bring long-term capital but also deep strategic alignment with our mission and go-to-market approach. Their support gives us the freedom to stay focused on execution — without the distraction of early-stage fundraising.

For the next 12 months, we have no plans to raise external capital. Instead, our focus is on building a strong global customer funnel — expanding into new markets, deepening our work with existing partners, and proving our model at scale.

On the team side, we’re growing in a focused, disciplined way. We’re investing in product, engineering, and customer success — the core functions that directly impact our customers’ ability to launch and scale. 

As we expand, we’ll continue to strengthen our commercial capabilities — particularly in regions where our pilots are showing early success. Our goal isn’t just growth for growth’s sake. It’s to deliver measurable outcomes for our customers, and to build the operating system that powers the future of local retail, globally.

founder's guide

• How to work with AI: Getting the most out of Deep Research
• Legora from Sweden is a good example of how you can skip industry experience, if you've got motivation + grit.
• Resonates: