Lithuania’s startup market is becoming more and more interesting for investors
In 2024, the Lithuanian startup market exceeded EUR 16 billion. Over the past 10 years, the sector has grown 39-fold. This has placed the country second in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of startup industry development. Estonia leads the region.
TFN reports that Lithuanian startups attracted a total of EUR 128 million in investment last year. At the same time, analysts noted a decrease in funding for projects in later stages of development. According to Vytautas Sabalis of Tesonet, local investors are more attracted to Series A rounds. Such trends are forcing Lithuanian companies to look for sponsors outside the country.
Investment activity overview
The year 2024 can be characterised as less active in terms of investments compared to 2023. In general, the market situation was as follows:
1. The average deal size in 2024 was EUR 10-20 million.
2. Ovoko led the largest round. It raised EUR 20 million for solutions to sell used car parts.
3. Argyle led a Series C round, raising EUR 13.6 million. The startup develops products to manage sales data.
4. Investment in Cube3, a developer of solutions for secure cryptocurrency transactions, totalled EUR 13 million.
Vinted, the first Lithuanian unicorn, was valued at EUR 5 billion. The company reached this figure after a secondary raise of EUR 340 million in autumn 2024. In the last period, early-stage venture capital investments totalled EUR 108 million, the best result in the sector’s history.
Overview of the most popular sectors
The most promising areas in the global market are fintech, cybersecurity and AI. This is also true for Lithuania. In terms of investment amounts, the following directions are the most popular:
– fintech startups attracted about EUR 49 mln;
– solutions for marketplaces and e-commerce received about EUR 30 mln;
– products for the transport sector – EUR 23.2 mln;
– security – EUR 20.5 mln;
– enterprise software – more than EUR 19 mln.
Dealroom says Lithuania ranks second in the region in terms of investment in the security VC sector.
The country’s efforts in other sectors are also noteworthy. Investment in artificial intelligence totalled almost EUR 39 million, as estimated by analysts. Circular economy solutions received EUR 20 million and deep technology EUR 15 million. Investments in the cryptocurrency and DeFi sectors totalled around EUR 14 million.
In Lithuania, there is still little activity in the AI and machine learning sectors. However, according to analysts, there are a number of promising projects that will boost the industry.
