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The awards are an opportunity to honour the startup community

“The awards event is one of the ways to introduce the technology businesses operating in the country to the public, and to recognise their efforts and initiative. We are glad that Vilnius continues to be an attractive city for business, where Lithuanian and international startups want to establish themselves, and that their activities and ideas stimulate the growth of both the community and the capital city. By raising foreign investment, startups born in the city develop new technologies and become leaders in their field, who are visible worldwide. The data shows that the startup ecosystem of Vilnius is one of the fastest growing in Europe. We are proud of it and we hope that the awards will encourage its development even more,” says Lina Šetikienė, member of the jury and Head of Vilnius Tourism and Business Development Agency Go Vilnius.

Inga Langaitė, CEO of the association Unicorns Lithuania and member of the jury, points out that this is the 5th time that the Startup Awards have been held in Lithuania. With the number of talent working in startups growing more than 3 times (to 18 000) and the amount of taxes paid increasing more than 5 times (EUR 92.6 million in Q3 2023) in the last 5 years, we have even more potential for the future.

“The importance of technology in our daily lives and the capital in the hands of investors is only increasing. In addition, the opportunities needed to build a business today have never been more accessible. The world is on the brink of change, and we need to hurry to accumulate as much of the most essential available asset, i.e. intelligence. The startup industry in Lithuania is growing and strengthening, and we need to make sure that we live up to the potential we expect with both talent and an increase in the competitiveness of Lithuania in the region,” Ms Langaitė points out.

Meanwhile, Laima Balčiūnė, Director of Sunrise Tech Park and member of the jury, notes that startups contribute not only to the economic development, but also to the promotion of green technologies.

“These awards are an important emerging tradition to appreciate each other, support Lithuanian startups and find inspiring contacts. At the same time, it is a place to promote good change. To achieve zero emissions by 2050, the “Tech for Good” nomination is more than just praise. The cleantech sector, which includes energy, transport, resources, circular economy and more, focuses on the potential for a clean and sustainable future for Lithuania and the cleantech ecosystem, which is becoming increasingly significant with the climate change challenges growing every day,” notes Laima Balčiūnė, Director of Sunrise Tech Park.

“Startup of the Year” revealed

This year, startups competed in 7 different categories. The main title of the “Startup of the Year” was awarded to PVcase, a global leader in solar design software from Lithuania, which aims to combine all steps of the design and operations process of solar power plants in one platform. This startup was also awarded the “Tech for Good” prize. In 2023, PVcase not only raised an investment of USD 100 million, but also acquired a successful US company Anderson Optimization.

Five more category winners selected

The “Newcomer of the Year” nomination, recognising international players in the startup ecosystem growing their businesses in Vilnius, saw the triumph of Plug and Play, the US startup accelerator. This company has committed to invest EUR 6 million in at least 45 startups in Lithuania over three years. According to CB Insights, in Q4 2023, they were the most active investors in startups worldwide, with 39 deals completed.

This year, the “Rising Star” award went to Ovoko, a fast-growing platform for selling used car parts, operating in Lithuania under the name RRR.lt. The e-commerce platform is already used by more than 3 000 car part dealers from Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, France and Italy, with more than 14 million parts on offer.

Triumph of the Tesonet accelerator and its leaders

Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas, unicorn breeders who have been creating Silicon Valley in Lithuania, were selected as the most deserving “Ecosystem Heroes” by the startups and the jury. Both of them are the leaders of Nord Security, a global leader in cybersecurity and one of Lithuania’s unicorns, the co-founders of Tesonet, a startup accelerator working with over 30 products, the authors of the Cyber City project, a technology space that was opened in 2023, and active members of the startup association Unicorns Lithuania.

Namely the opening of the Cyber City technology space in the former Sparta factory site in Vilnius was recognised as the “Highlight of the Year”. The business accelerator Tesonet moved companies such as Nord Security, Surfshark, Oxylabs, CyberCare, Hostinger and others into three 35 000 sqm office buildings. The area with co-working spaces, offices, shops, cafés, bars and sports clubs can accommodate 3 000 people.

The “Public’s Favourite” nomination was won by startup RatePunk, developing a tool that analyses the best prices on different accommodation booking platforms and suggests the best option for the traveller, saving them time and money. The winner of the “Public’s Favourite” nomination was determined solely by the votes of the public.

This year, the jury consists of: Laima Balčiūnė, Director of Sunrise TechPark, Inga Langaitė, CEO of Unicorns Lithuania, Greta Mieliauskaitė, Managing Director of the Lithuanian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Gintarė Bačiulienė, Head of the Technology Sector Team at Invest Lithuania, Roberta Rudokienė, Managing Director at LitBan, Gintarė Narakienė, Head of Sector Development at Startup Lithuania, and Lina Šetikienė, Head of Go Vilnius.

Vilnius TechFusion Startup Awards 2023 are organised by Go Vilnius, Unicorns Lithuania, and Sunrise TechPark.