Lithuania is a standout startup nation in Northern Europe. The Baltic nation is home to beautiful sweeping forests, as well as the magnificence of the full-of-history oldtown of the capital, Vilnius. It’s a place that attracts visitors looking for adventure, some mental clarity and inspiration – a combo that also inspires innovation. Perfect for startup culture.
With an abundance of multi-lingual tech talent, government-backed initiatives and favourable founder conditions, Lithuania has strong foundations for a healthy and thriving startup community with global ambitions.
Lithuania benefits from 18 incubators, 11 accelerators, 10 investment organisations and has the 3rd lowest profit tax rate in the EU giving it a highly developed infrastructure to launch and attract tech startups. The GovTech Lab is a stand out example of such programmes growing the ecosystem, as well as the support to grow AI innovation and combat climate change. In 2019 Vinted, an online used-clothing retailer, raised €128 million in a funding round that valued it at more than €1 billion, making it Lithuania’s first tech unicorn – there are many more unicorns on the horizon, and it is definitely a nation to watch.
Here, we shine a light on ten Lithuanian startups that are looking promising for this year ahead. All of these startups are founded post-2018 and have unique innovative solutions to share for the modern world.
Revolab – Founded in 2020 and based in Vilnius, Revolab is a healthtech startup using AI to gain better insights from blood test result data. The startup is aiming to change the way people track their medical care across Europe – enabling users to do so from the comfort of their homes. The company was a winner of the 2020 EIT Digital Venture Program and have closed a seed funding of €300k in May 2021. Offering an at-home blood sample kit that allows for lab-grade results in just 24 hours, Revolab’s solution is reinforced with insights from medical doctors. Users collect a blood sample from their finger and ship it to our partner lab. Thereafter, they can access their data in their personal account and keep track of their results. Currently, there are more than 30 available health tests ranging from thyroid panels, STD tests to Covid-19 testing. The product is distributed via the website and app, and while currently traction is focused in Lituania, the company aims to grow across Europe. Healthtech is growing across Europe with the industry increasingly turning to digital solutions that enable at-home medical treatment, reducing the pressure on health systems and workers, making Revolab one to keep a close eye on.
Divaks – Focusing on tailor-made, high-quality insect protein solutions for the food industry, Divaks is growing fast. Founded in 2020, the food tech startup has a goal to incorporate sustainability and traceability into every step of its business. The company is developing a fully automated vertically integrated insect protein using environmentally friendly by-products from the local agriculture and food industry, to create quality and sustainable protein products for human consumption. Food shortage is a growing global problem. It’s become clear that current western diets cannot be sustained long term – not only in terms of problems of mass production but also due to the carbon emissions produced and water wastage during the process. Divaks is offering an innovative solution, to keep us healthy and full of protein and amino acids, whilst reducing the environmental strain. Possible applications for the tech include meat alternatives, sports nutrition, confectionery and snacks, as well as bakery products.
Zyro – Founded in 2019, Zyro is a cloud-based platform that enables businesses to design customizable websites and set up online stores. Features include a Drag-and-Drop editor, predefined templates, inventory management, reporting, customer relationship management (CRM), and more. We live in an increasingly digital world, and any business that wants to survive in 2022 really needs a digital presence. Zyro empowers businesses to make their online presence felt without the need for coding or website building knowledge. Powered by AI, it also can help get the creative juices flowing. The company has been growing fast and already has a team of over 120 with headquarters in Kauno. Zyro helps users create a professional website at lightning speed, and has a variety of affordable price points. The platform has already built over 250k websites.
Openface – Launched in 2019, Openface is offering a pioneering AI-first SaaS product for skincare. Underpinned by the belief that we are all unique, and all have unique skin, Openface analyzes your skin type and condition to create personalized serums tailored to your specific skin needs. Custom skincare brings a variety of benefits – it taps into our unique needs and reflects our lifestyle, it ensures that we are only purchasing products that will actually work for us, saving money and avoiding waste, and it means we know what we’re paying for. The cosmetic tech company creates products that ‘know’ your skin, using a blend of scientific expertise and an extensive ingredient library. After taking a quiz, the platform provides a detailed skin report, selects the perfect ingredients and then quickly delivers a personalized skincare kit to your door. In 2021, the startup raised about €305k and is growing fast. As consumers continue to make more conscious decisions, Openface is one to watch for sure.
NO-CV – Based in the Lithuanian capital, NO-CV is bringing modern algorithms to the hiring game, getting rid of old0-fashioned CVs. The NO-CV mobile application and platform is very easy and simple to use and ensure an ethical and sustainable candidate sourcing process. In the age of the Great Resignation and the War on Talent, HRtech is a rapidly expanding area and innovations that streamline the talent acquisition process are in high demand. Launched in 2020, the startup picked up €212.5k at the end of 2021. The platform analyses candidates to then classify them as follows; ‘Matching’ – how many candidates meet the specified criteria, ‘Applied’ – how many have submitted their data and ‘Let’s talk’ – those invited for an interview. As a result, employees can quickly and conveniently find job offers, and employers can find talents for their teams.
Fleming – Launched in 2020, Fleming is a digital healthcare solution enabling people to receive medical consultations from anywhere, as soon as they need it. Created by a team of experts in the IT, AI and medical fields, the young startup has a multidisciplinary team fueling innovation. The virtual care platform connects patients with doctors as soon as possible, without long waiting lines and travels to the hospital. The product does not only provide instant medical support but also helps to manage everyday health, thanks to smart data monitoring incorporation and the medical AI library. Fleming’s core idea is to help the primary care sector, which takes the largest portion of patient interaction, become more human-centred. The solution is sure to grow with telemedicine becoming the latest trend du jour across Europe. In 2020, the healthtech company raised €1.3 million.
Memby – Edtech startup Memby is on a mission to provide learning with a purpose. The online learning platform, founded in 2020, provides engagement-oriented real-time large group lessons, making after school tuition cheaper and accessible worldwide – helping struggling students who are too often left behind stay consistent and reach their potential. In August 2021, the startup raised about €880k and has been growing fast since, operating in Lithuania, Poland Greece. With the vision to make quality education more accessible, the startup handpicks teachers that are not only experts in their field but are also passionate about helping students learn. The company claims to be 5 times cheaper than one-to-one tutoring – making after school tuition something available to everyone, irrespective of their financial status. Memby is now helping over 3,500 high schoolers, has generated over 6000 hours of educational content, with 24 different subjects and courses and 48 top-tier teachers.
Inbalance Grid – Founded in 2018, Imbalance Grid is making EV charging smart and easy. Developing intelligent electric vehicle charging solutions for businesses and grid operators, the startup designs, customizes, produces, and implements solutions that utilize existing electrical capacities and manages them through cloud-based software and controllers integrated on their charging points. Electric vehicles are the hot topic of 2022 across Europe, and it’s great to see so many providers of electric vehicles popping up. However, the question that’s remained is how we keep the vehicles running. Well, enter Inbalance. The startup’s solution simplifies charging from start to end, providing a great innovation to the micro-mobility movement. In 2021 the team picked up about €1.5 million, and its solution is helping businesses go green – from offices and real and hospitality spaces to residential and public locations.
HeavyFinance – One for the fintech world, HeavyFinance connects a global investor community with European farmers. The startup got off to a promising 2022 by ending 2021 with an €880k funding boost. Born in 2020, HeavyFinance is a marketplace to invest in mortgage loans to help businesses in farming, forestry, and infrastructure. Every single item of heavy machinery in this platform is used as collateral to make investments in business loans safer. The firm provides farmers with short-to-medium term financing solutions ranging between €6k – €300k. Farmers can then use these loans across the board, including the financing of the purchase of used farming equipment, land, and/or used as working capital. Europe’s farmers are currently under a lot of pressure – they are often criticised for the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions they emit, yet are not given the tools and funds to reduce their carbon footprint. Farming is a labour of love, and are in much need of financial assistance to meet net-zero targets. HeavyFinance is stepping up to fill the gap, giving the farming community a dedicated investor marketplace.
Dserve – Designed as a modern affordable self-checkout for fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, Dserve got its kickstart in 2019. With Dserve, businesses can boost sales, improve customer experience, and cut labour costs. Its cloud-based self-service solution ensures smooth operations, increases customer loyalty and retention. Dserve also enables customer feedback and an admin dashboard where owners can manage all in one place. The startup already has names such as Circle K, O’Leary’s and iLunch as clients, and are focusing on expansion across the Nordics and the UK. Ordering convenience is a growing interest area for the restaurant sector, and Dserve is offering an innovative solution that can help boost sales, improve upselling capacity, save personnel expenses and make checkouts flow much better.
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