Lithuania’s Ministry of the Economy and Innovation has initiated a 13 million EUR public tender to attract an internationally-acclaimed startup accelerator to the country. This initiative is aimed at better harnessing the potential of the Lithuanian startup ecosystem.
“Our goal over the next several years is to grow Lithuania’s startup ecosystem at least threefold and raise its international profile. Last year, over 240 million EUR were invested in Lithuanian startups. Our innovative startups show great potential, so we continue our work to increase opportunities to attract foreign investment,” says Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation.
“Lithuanian startups point out that the international scope of the ecosystem is one of the most important aspects for them to grow and discover new markets. We hope that an international accelerator will help Lithuania further establish itself in the global startup ecosystem,” says Karolis Žemaitis, Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
Service providers who have implemented an accelerating program with a value of at least 5 million EUR over the last three years and generated an average annual income of at least 6 million EUR from accelerating services during the same period can apply for the tender.
The service provider that wins the tender will to provide a three-year accelerator program for at least 60 startups and invest at least 4 million EUR of venture capital funds. The program aims to have at least 45 participants who will each attract at least 30,000 EUR of investment.
The Startup Lithuania team at the Innovation Agency Lithuania will provide all necessary assistance to the service provider and selected startups.
Over the past several years, the value of Lithuanian startups has increased 17 times. Last year, they attracted 238 million EUR in investment, with the total value of Lithuanian startups reaching 10 billion EUR. The country has three unicorns — Vinted (2019), Nord Security (2022), and Baltic Classifieds Group (2023).
