Your basic needs

work in progress

• Real Estate. Laurynas is on a mission to deliver the most precious assets for every Lithuanian – cars (Deals on Wheels), and now - homes, with Deals on Homes. Besides Baltics, Profitus is expanding to Spain next. In commercial RE, what future holds post-Covid and post-WeWork? Networks.

• Protect. The initiators of 4% initiative are losing patience – worth listening to Mantas Mikuckas (in LT). It's War Room, he reminds, and we'd better pay for insurance before it is too late. Air Street on evolving defence tech scene: we might be underestimating speed, and very likely – institutions.

Tesonet founders are nominated for the "National Patron" award for donating more than EUR 1m for Ukraine. Latvia-led drone coalition is shipping more drones. Interview with Ernestas, Broswarm founder, who has started several ventures before. Will more serial entrepreneurs get into defence tech? Vytenis Buzas, after Nanoavionics' exit, got involved with Unmanned Defence Systems (UDS).

• Wellness and health. Tesonet has added another longevity venture to its portfolio - supplement brand partiQlar (it went from 0 to 90K monthly revenue in 7 months). Estonian Siffi offers quick and simple access to high-quality mental health services - another player where we've got Mindletic (B2B focus), Tokitus, Meetelp, Manodaktaras, and Yours App.
• Sports. Walk15 is pitching Nico Roseberg and for Euroleague's Final Four launched biking challenge, their first-ever. propusher is a platform for coaches to create digital workout programs. Imuuv wants to make exercise a seamless part of your team's daily routine.
• People moves. Inga Langaite is stepping down from Unicorns Lithuania - after successfully raising the voice of progressive entrepreneurs and pushing through important initiatives. Zilvinas, CEO at Nanoavionics, decides to leave. Egle assumes CEO role at AirGuru. Miks Mikelsons left Localise to join PVcase.
• What next. Keeping an eye on founders/operators, who are exploring or starting something new —

Saulius Krygeris, ex BD at Vinted
Matas Linauskas, founder and CEO creo, ex Entrepreneur First
Dr. Gediminas (Jurgis) Pažėra, at Entrepreneur First
Vytautas Mikalainis, ex Antler
Raimonda Pilipaviciute, ex Perthera and Oxygen
(full list for supporters and Contribees)

sponsors

Privileged to receive support from a group of core sponsors, who decided to get onboard. They have some newsletter invites, too!

Cloudvisor [AWS partner dedicated to startups]
PayPal [Global integrated payments solution]
Vinted [largest C2C European marketplace, always hiring]
Tech Zity [tech hubs and campuses across Lithuania]
Presto Ventures [investing in early-stage B2B startups and marketplaces],
15MIN Group [all the news you need to know]
Wargaming [award-winning game developer, careers]

resources

• Startup lists for the Baltics - Drone startups, Marketplaces, Sportstech
• Repeat Lithuanian founders (added Robolabs founders, also Ernestas Zvaigzdinas, Erikas Milasauskas to the list)
• Ex-founders and operators, exploring something new

rounds and capital

• Deimena with HERlab (enabling precision fermentation for protein production) raised their first round. Investors include Katapult, G-Force, Granpool, Fabien Couderc, HEARTFELT_, The Good Food Institute, Innovate UK.
• Nanordica Medical, an Estonian developer of antibacterial wound care products, has raised EUR 1.75m. The round was led by Estonian fund Specialist VC, with the participation of Estonian VC Superangel and Tallinn-based family office Amalfi.

• AM Craft has announced the closing of their EUR 600k pre-seed funding round led by Change Ventures, with the participation of Badideas.Fund. AM Creaft designs, manufactures, and deliver 3D-printed, small-batch aircraft interior components.
• Shift4 – payment processing company – announced plans to buy POS company Revel Systems. Shift4 has almost 600 people team in LT, while Revel Systems also have a team here - approx 250 people.

• Estonian startups raised EUR 148,9M in Q1 2024, driven by big rounds by Starship Technologies (EUR 90M), Tuum (EUR 25M), BotGuard (EUR 12M). No growth rounds in LT (Q1), so barely EUR 7m and 7 financing events (public). This will change rather soon, but overall – relatively slow pace, at least no breakthrough.
• Plural closes a €500m fund, with an additional €100m raised now. Going after big industries, impact and scale, and... GDP in Europe.

founder's guide

• CTO compensation report, 2024 (mostly UK+W Europe)
• Where would you invest $300k - getting a Villa in Bali for rental, or acquiring a SaaS business? The answer is dependent on what have you done in the past, and also - do you have distribution?
• Don’t Hire a VP of Sales Everybody Loves
• Is this the future job description for operational roles?

• 11 Public Speaking Techniques from the World’s Greatest Speakers
• Other fundraising tactics

further insights

• Dealroom has put together many data points on valuation multiples
• Major change in the world trade system (fragmentation, barriers against Chinese oversupply, tech sovereignty). Biden announced major increase in tariffs this week, too - Noah explains what are the theories of China's industrial overcapacity. US response should not be underestimated.

ecosystem

• Many political discussions in Norway regarding taxes and startups - especially with regards to exit tax. Not a good trend.

roleplay