“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here as the technique has been around for quite some time. It’s all about combining the time-tested A-Frame structure with our new mobile ultrasonic irrigation technique and doubling your plant density per m2 at scale. Through R&D, successful trials and partnerships, we’re set to create the most productive leafy green system existing,” says Lukas Bartusevicius, Co-founder of Freya Cultivation Systems, a Lithuanian agtech supplier.

In 2022, over 20,000 Lithuanians returned to their country of birth from abroad. A high quality of life coupled with a booming entrepreneurial ecosystem and a collaborative mentality has contributed to what investors are calling a “reverse brain drain.” Many of their minds reemerge in the country’s startup scene.

It was on a visit to Lisbon that I first heard someone refer to Lithuania as “a hidden gem” of Europe’s startup ecosystem. A recent trip to Vilnius convinced me they were right.

In this interview, we’ll get to know one of our new partners, Baltic Sandbox Ventures: a deep tech fund operating in the Baltics and Nordics with a focus on early-stage, science, and advanced engineering R&D-based ventures built by teams solving complex, worthwhile problems.

Lietuvoje įkurtas kosmoso ir gynybos technologijų startuolis „Blackswan Space“ (UAB „Juodosios gulbės technologijos“) pritraukė 760.000 Eur investiciją itin ankstyvame (angl. pre-seed) etape. Pritrauktas lėšas bendrovė ketina naudoti technologinio personalo plėtrai ir produkto, skirto spręsti augančio palydovų skaičiaus orbitoje problemą, vystymui.

Blackswan Space, a Vilnius-based spacetech startup developing advanced software products for complex space & defense missions has secured €760k in pre-seed funding round.

Please enjoy an insightful VC-talk with our new fund member – Baltic Sandbox Ventures’ Erik Bhullar, the venture partner, about their journey as a company and into the crowd of our network.

Axiology, a Vilnius-based infrastructure for tokenized securities trading, has raised €2M in funding from angel investors, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, and Coinvest Capital. Led by Dr. Marius Jurgilas, the startup aims to revolutionize capital markets by leveraging Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to reduce costs associated with financial operations. The funding will be used to develop a regulatory-compliant infrastructure, starting with the tokenization of government bonds, and to apply for a DLT Transaction Settlement System license, with plans to commence regulated activities in the second half of 2024.

Šių metų vasario 1 d. įvyko „Baltic Sandbox Ventures“ kartu su partneriais – Vilniaus universiteto Medicinos fakultetu (VU MF), Gyvybės mokslų centru (GMC) ir VUL Santaros klinikomis – organizuotas 4-osios inkubavimo programos renginys „Demo Day“.

2 mėnesius vykdytoje inkubavimo programoje dalyvavo daugiau nei 70 mokslininkų ir verslo profesionalų iš gyvybės, medicinos mokslų ir giliųjų technologijų (angl. deep tech) sričių, taip pat – inovacijomis moksle besidomintys entuziastai. Patyrusi „Baltic Sandbox Ventures“ ekspertų komanda, įvertinusi technologinius verslo idėjų aspektus, suteikė dalyviams individualizuotas konsultacijas, kurios galėtų padėti atskleisti komercinį mokslu pagrįsto startuolio potencialą bei pasirinkti teisingą verslo plėtros strategiją, skyrė praktines užduotis, dalinosi sukauptomis žiniomis ir patirtimi.

Axiology, a DLT securities trading and settlement infrastructure, has secured a €2 million investment round co-led by Baltic Sandbox Ventures and Coinvest Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund, acting in a group with accredited business angels and angel syndicates. The investment will be used towards the development of a fuly functional, regulatory-compliant infrastructure, positioning Axiology as one of the first tokenised financial securities infrastructures in the EU.

Pernai įkurtas finansinių technologijų („fintech“) startuolis „Axiology“ paskelbė pritraukęs 2 mln. Eur investiciją iš vietos rizikos kapitalo investuotojų ir verslo angelų. Šio startuolio, gimusio „Super How?“ inovacijų laboratorijoje, įkūrėjų komandoje – gerai žinomi Lietuvos finansų ir „fintech“ specialistai.

The platform is in the EU DLT Pilot, enabling regulated financial participants to enhance the EU economic market using distributed ledger technology.

Rizikos kapitalo fondas „Baltic Sandbox Venture“ ketvirtadienį paskelbė apie bandomąjį projektą, kuris turėtų palengvinti startuoliams, norintiems kurti medicinos inovacijas, prieigą prie nuasmenintų antrinių sveikatos duomenų rinkinių.

The first open call for the secondary use of health data was launched in Lithuania yesterday, simplifying the startups’ access to vital datasets that would help train innovative medical AI models and create other innovative biotech solutions based on real-world evidence, while unlocking breakthroughs in patient care. The pilot was announced at the early-stage life sciences demo day by Baltic Sandbox Ventures, where 20 teams, half led by distinguished Lithuanian scientists and medical professionals, also presented innovations rooted in their clinical practice and research.

Lithuania is a nation focused on fintech innovation. At our innovation dialogue in Vilnius, it was evident that public institutions such as Invest in Lithuania, the Bank of Lithuania, and the Ministry of Finance work collaboratively with fintech companies. While the Lithuanian government sets ambitious mandates for the sector, they actively seek constant feedback from the public sector and industry experiences.

Baltic Sandbox Ventures is the region's first early-stage venture capital fund specialising in Deep Tech. We concentrate on pre-seed and seed level startups, particularly in Deep Tech and Life Sciences. Our focus is on businesses with a strong emphasis on technology and IP. We support these startups through our incubation and acceleration programs, offering grants and investments to pre-seed entrepreneurs.

Sandra Golbreich is a General Partner at Baltic Sandbox Ventures, the first specialized early-stage VC fund in the Baltic region investing in deep tech and life science startups. Baltic Sandbox Ventures makes seed-stage investments in teams solving complex technical challenges with large potential for commercial application, and supports founders by running incubation and acceleration programs. For the second year in a row, they are awarding up to €125k investment to one team at the sTARTUp Pitching 2024 competition. We asked Sandra what sets Baltic Sandbox Ventures apart from other VC funds, how they support founders and what’s her advice to participants of this year’s pitching competition.

Discover the top startups in Central and Eastern Europe that secured funding in October. Solutions span a diverse range of industries, featuring a significant presence of startups from the Baltic region, alongside contributions from other countries. Want to know more? Let's dive into the article!

Vilnius-based AI startup Repsense has secured nearly €1 million in funding from its existing investors. In a recent investment agreement, Iron Wolf Capital, Coinvest Capital, private angel investors, and Baltic Sandbox Ventures collectively contributed €800K. This follows Repsense’s €500K funding from the same investors in the previous year. Repsense aims to create a global platform for public information analysis with its next-gen text analysis tool. It serves various industries, including business and defense sectors.

NLS asked Dominykas Milašius, Venture Partner at Baltic Sandbox Ventures and co-founder of Delta biosciences, about the Baltic business climate for life science startups and companies, and opportunities for investments and collaborations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

“While active since 2018 as a private accelerator, Baltic Sandbox launched its newest fund in April, Baltic Sandbox Ventures. This is the region’s first specialized venture capital fund for early-stage deep tech. With EUR 15.5 million to deploy, we are helping deep tech and life science founders to build science- and engineering-driven companies with a strong technological or IP edge. Our incubation and acceleration programs (with optional grants and/or investments) cater for pre-seed, while our seed fund helps founders at slightly later stages. Overall, our target is to deploy a third of the fund into life sciences.”

Kol Žemėje gyvens žmonės, tol bus pačių įvairiausių nuotekų – tuštinamės, prausiamės, plauname indus, skalbiame drabužius visi. O ką, jeigu tie nešvarumai taptų elektros energija? Šį klausimą kelia FTMC Cheminės inžinerijos ir technologijų skyriaus doktorantas Kasparas Kižys, kuriam talkina to paties skyriaus doktorantė Pamela Rivera bei Lazerinių technologijų skyriaus doktorantas Romualdas Petkevičius. Jaunieji mokslininkai susibūrė į komandą #hitEnergy – ir jų idėją pradeda rimtai vertinti vis daugiau ekspertų.

Rugsėjo 20–21 d. Vilniuje vykęs „Life Sciences Baltics“ forumas pritraukė daugiau nei 800 dalyvių iš 30 pasaulio šalių. Didžiausias Baltijos šalyse vykęs gyvybės mokslų renginys sutraukė tarptautinę sprendimų priėmėjų, mokslininkų, startuolių, investuotojų bei talentų auditoriją vienoje vietoje. Įspūdingas renginys domino ir užsienio žiniasklaidą – renginio nušviesti atvyko žurnalistai iš kaimyninių šalių, taip pat – Jungtinės Karalystės, Izraelio, Ispanijos, Italijos, Graikijos, Vokietijos, Taivano. Forumą vainikavo „Startup Pitch Battle“ konkursas, kuriame vieną pagrindinių prizų laimėjo Lietuvos startuolis „#hitEnergy“, pasirengęs proveržiui biotechnologijų ir žiedinės ekonomikos srityse.

Naujuosius studijų metus Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas (LSMU) pasitiko darbingai. Daugiau nei pusantro mėnesio Emanuelio Levino centras buvo tapęs inovatorių ir startuolių Meka – drauge su rizikos kapitalo fondu „Baltic Sandbox Ventures“ inicijuotoje inkubavimo programoje čia žinių sėmėsi ir savo įdirbiu, idėjomis dalijosi net trylika sveikatos srities inovatorių komandų.

„Džiaugiamės bendradarbiaudami su pirmuoju akademiniu partneriu. Universitetų bendruomenėse glūdi daugiausia mokslinio potencialo, jose gimsta svarbiausi išradimai. Savo ruožtu esame pasiruošę padėti kūrėjams bei įgalinti juos gauti reikiamą kapitalą“, – teigė „Baltic Sandbox Ventures“ partneris Andrius Milinavičius.

Ryškėja naujas investuotojų susidomėjimo objektas – jau kurį laiką jų akį traukiantys giliųjų technologijų (angl. „deeptech“) startuoliai. Ekspertai sako, kad tokias tendencijas nulėmė dirbtinio intelekto (DI) vystymosi bumas. Kiti atkreipia dėmesį, kad mokslu paremtos naujos technologijos ir turėtų būti tikroji rizikos kapitalo misija. „Deeptech“ sektorius kuria mokslu ar inžinerija paremtus produktus, galinčius užsiklijuoti intelektinės nuosavybės etiketę. Tai apima naujosios kartos technologijų inovacijas: genų inžineriją, lazerius ar šiuo metu visur linksniuojamo dirbtinio intel...

Lithuanian-British aviation tech startup WeSky is enhancing inflight experiences by developing its in-house cabin avionics system. Due to the light weight of the recharge product, reducing overall cabin weight, overall fuel consumption will be lowered.

The start-up, founded by Vytis Petrusevičius, has raised a €1.1 million funding round. The round includes investment from Coinvest Capital, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, existing investors Notarc Management Group and an angel syndicate. The fresh funding will fuel testing on functional aircraft by the first quarter of 2024 and see international sales efforts expanded.

Life sciences is a priority sector for global economies. And Lithuania is emerging as an advanced innovation hub in Central and Eastern Europe. In the country’s well-established research and development scene, researchers and entrepreneurs are actively commercializing science to shape the future of healthcare and beyond.

The sector has grown elevenfold in the last ten years, making it one of the nation’s most valuable. Lithuania has top-level universities, cranking out 5-7 thousand STEM professionals early. And it is teeming with top labs and incubator spaces for biotech startups.

Presenting a glimpse into the forefront of Lithuanian defense innovations deployed in Ukraine, an event organized on the eve of the NATO Summit in Vilnius provided a practical showcase of how emerging technologies are changing the nature of warfighting, and set the groundwork for closer intra-NATO collaboration on emerging disruptive technologies.

CoInvest Capital, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, ScaleWolf, INVEGA, and other partners from the Lithuanian VC and defense / dual-use ecosystem are thrilled to host an interdisciplinary, invite-only stakeholder event, showcasing Lithuanian defense innovations to local & foreign partners, intended to foster future collaboration. We have pooled efforts together to organize this event, targeting international media & guests arriving in Vilnius on the occasion of the NATO Summit 2023.

Birželio 8–9 d. Fizinių ir technologijos mokslų centre (FTMC) vyko antreprenerystės dirbtuvės. Antreprenerystė – tai verslo idėjų kūrimas, naujų įmonių steigimas, socialinė ir ekonominė atsakomybė.

Renginį organizavo FTMC Inovacijų ir technologijų tarnyba kartu su „Baltic Sandbox Ventures“ – į verslo startuolius investuojančiu fondu, kuris dirba aukštųjų technologijų srityje.

In the fast-paced world of venture capitalism, where million-dollar deals are made with a flick of a pen or a swipe at the touchscreen, the path to starting a successful VC fund can seem like a herculean task. However, for those with an entrepreneurial spirit and a keen eye for promising startups, the potential rewards are tantalizing.

Getting those rewards is the hard part though. According to investors themselves, launching a VC fund requires a combination of financial acumen, industry expertise, deep understanding of the startup ecosystem, choosing the right team, and a lot more.

Rusijos agresija Ukrainoje ne tik performavo saugumo suvokimą regione, tačiau ir paskatino Lietuvos įmones ieškoti savų gynybos sprendimų. Kai kurie savo įmones įkūrė visiškai šviežiai, tačiau jau dabar realiai prisideda prie Ukrainos pasipriešinimo. Kitų valanda dar išauš – jų prototipai laukia savo šanso ir investicijų.

Inovatyvias radijo ir elektroninės sistemas gynybos sektoriui gaminančios „RSI Europe“ vadovas Tomas Milašauskas 15min pasakoja, kad su broliu nutarė įkurti įmonę iškart po to, kai vasarį prasidėjo Rusijos invazija. Pats T.Milašauskas su karybos pramone tiesioginės sąsajos iki tol neturėjo.

„Nerkime gilyn į technologijas“ – šiais metais tokiu šūkiu inovacijų paroda KTU „Technorama“, kurioje pristatomi per pastaruosius metus sukurti pažangūs sprendimai, pasitinka dalyvius ir lankytojus. Tai – ne tik skambus ir kūrybiškas pakvietimas apsilankyti jau rytoj, gegužės 25-ąją dieną, KTU „Santakos“ slėnyje vyksiančiame renginyje, tačiau juo referuojama į vis labiau populiarėjantį giliųjų technologijų (angl. deep-tech) fenomeną.

Some tech ecosystems in Europe punch above the weight of their geography, and for none is that more true than the three small and (relatively) remote Baltic nations. Startups based in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania drummed up around €1.8bn last year according to Dealroom, and have kicked off 2023 with €111m raised in Q1.

Virš metų trunkantis konfliktas Europos žemyne pakeitė Vakarų investuotojų poziciją dėl dvigubos paskirties technologijų, o gresianti recesija dar kartą patvirtino giliųjų technologijų (angl. DeepTech) įmonių tvarumą. Šis kontekstas paskatino „Baltic Sandbox Ventures“ organizuoti „Technologijų geopolitikos“ renginį, kuriame įvairių ekspertų grupė analizavo pokyčio technologijų (angl. Emerging Disruptive Technologies) vaidmenį geopolitikoje ir valstybės valdyme, bei jų poveikį…

Is there a dichotomy between academia and scientific entrepreneurship? Could the two sectors be complementary – and how? These are the questions that a panel of experts with interdisciplinary backgrounds grappled with on Friday at a "Commercialising Innovation: Academia versus Entrepreneurship?" event.

The panel featured a diverse and international line-up, each with a unique perspective, based on extensive careers in different sectors – entrepreneurship, academia, venture capital and the corporate world, all aiming to inspire young scientists in Lithuania and support their future career decisions…

The Baltics have gained a new venture capital (VC) firm. The Vilnius-based Baltic Sandbox Ventures has closed a €9 million investment into its latest €13 million deeptech fund and accelerator. The fund will be split into two equal parts of €6.5 million each, aimed at pre-seed and seed investments into up to 80 emerging Baltic deeptech startups. The VC gathers partners with technical backgrounds and experience in building and scaling deeptech companies…

Nuo 2021 m. Lietuvos startuoliai pritraukė daugiau kaip 420 mln. eurų investicijų, o bendra inovatyvių verslų vertė pasiekė daugiau kaip 7 mlrd. Eurų, skelbia Ekonomikos ir inovacijų ministerija. Turime jau ne vieną startuolį, pasiekusį 1 mlrd. Eur vertę. 15min studijoje – diskusija apie tai, kokių startuolių proveržių galime tikėtis kitais metais?

Brand new Lithuanian VC firm Baltic Sandbox Ventures has raised €10m for its first deeptech fund, out of a target final close of €13m. It’s the first VC in the Baltic region that focuses solely on early-stage deeptech and life science solutions — something which, its founders say, can help to build a whole new ecosystem almost from scratch. Where will the money go? The fund will be split into two equal parts of €6.5m, one aimed at pre-seed and the other seed investments...

AIN.Capital created an extended list of new VC funds that were launched in 2022. It consists of 25 investors that have their headquarters in the CEE and support the founders from the region. Freshly founded Lithuanian firm Baltic Sandbox Ventures raised €10 million for its first deeptech fund in December. For its closure, the firm targets to raise a total of €13 million. The fund is the first in the Baltics focusing on early-stage deeptech and life science solutions...

With growing VC interest, resilient economic growth and a unicorn boom, Lithuania is one of the leading innovation hubs in central and eastern Europe (CEE). While average funding per startup is decreasing globally, it’s increasing in CEE, with Lithuania growing the fastest since 2017 in enterprise value.

The country is particularly seeing a growth in deeptech startups, supported by its life sciences innovation and favourable tax and legal regime…