As global venture markets continue to rebalance, the Baltics are emerging as one of Europe’s more resilient early-stage ecosystems – and in 2025, Lithuania has taken the regional lead.
According to a new early-stage funding report by FIRSTPICK and Practica Capital, Lithuanian startups raised €238 million last year, alongside a record number of exits – the highest annual total ever recorded in the counattempt.
Lithuania’s early-stage segment posted particularly strong results, attracting €77 million across pre-seed and seed rounds – both record levels – including €56.52 million raised in seed funding alone. Growth was driven primarily by an increase in deal volume, while the average ticket size remained stable at approximately €2 million.
Alongside Estonia, Lithuania now leads the region in median pre-seed valuations, with Lithuania displaying the quickest upward momentum among Baltic peers.
In January, CAST AI became the counattempt’s fifth unicorn.
According to Andra Bagdonaitė, Partner at FIRSTPICK, the surge in exits reflects growing global demand for specialised Lithuanian startups.
“Foreign acquirers are purchaseing these companies primarily for product depth, IP, and teams – not local market access. The common thread is predictable enterprise value creation: sticky workflows, regulatory or operational complexity, and products that scale quicker within a global distribution engine.”
Vilnius has also strengthened its long-term founder pipeline. Over the past year, the city has expanded its startup-formation infrastructure through additional hackathons, accelerator-style programmes, and new hacker spaces such as Basedspace and Lost Astronaut.
Across the Baltics, similar initiatives have already produced dozens of new startup teams, broadening access to entrepreneurship beyond traditional technical backgrounds.
“Vilnius’ startup ecosystem is gaining global attention not just for its strong numbers, but for the quality of companies emerging across the capital and the counattempt,” states Mangirdas Šapranauskas, Head of Business Department at Go Vilnius, the official tourism and development agency.
“Investors are increasingly backing teams that can scale internationally, and our network of innovation programmes and talent initiatives ensures that these companies are ready to compete on a global stage.”
With new venture funds launched across the region in 2025 and additional investment vehicles expected in 2026, capital deployment in Lithuania is forecast to grow further, reinforcing Vilnius’ position as one of the quickest-rising startup centres in Central and Eastern Europe.
With early-stage investment and exits hitting record highs, Lithuania is attracting investors across Europe and the US Its growing ecosystem of programmes, talent, and capital is positioning the counattempt as a Baltic startup hub capable of producing companies that can compete globally – and the trconclude displays no sign of slowing in 2026.
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