‘Our goal is to triple by 2030 the sale and exports of the goods or services of start-ups, and and investments attracted by start-ups. This will be sought through the improvement of business environment, development of targeted support measures, which are focused on the needs of start-ups, and through promotion of the emergence of new start-ups and their competitiveness’, - says Eglė Markevičiūtė, Vice-Minister of Economy and Innovation.
According to her, the Innovation Agency, having recently begun its activities, which is responsible for promoting innovation at all stages of business development - from the development of ideas to product delivery to end users, will significantly contribute to the development and strengthening of the Lithuanian start-up ecosystem. Startup Lithuania, the start-up ecosystem development unit of the former Public Institution Enterprise Lithuania, has also become an integral part of this agency.
The project of the concept was presented at the meeting of E. Markevičiūtė and other representatives of the Ministry with the representatives of the country's start-ups, that took place on the Wednesday. During the meeting, the activity plans of Startup Lithuania were also reviewed.
‘Start-ups still face a lack of financial resources, difficulties in attracting and retaining talents, awareness in international markets, and business regulatory challenges. Therefore, we have to operationalise clear and effective measures', - says Karolis Žemaitis, Adviser to the Minister of Economy and Innovation, who participated in the meeting.
Given the achieved stages of maturity of start-ups, various measures of acceleration, measures to increase internationalization and financial support measures are planned to be proposed. In addition, in order to compensate for the growing talent shortage, the legal regulatory framework for start-ups and investors is planned to be improved, also tax and financial incentives and migration procedures are also planned to the reviewed. The range of consulting services for start-ups, the mentoring programs, and access to R&D and innovation infrastructure are also planned to be expanded.
The indicators of the Lithuanian start-up ecosystem are getting better every year. This shows steady growth and the increasing influence on the whole country's economy. In 2021, companies in this sector contributed 191 million euros to the Lithuanian budget, that is, about 50 percent more than in previous years. In 2021, sales of the goods or services of start-ups totalled to 2.4 billion euros, which is 2.1 times more than in 2020, exports of the goods or services of start-ups totalled to 1.7 billion euros (2.2 times more than in 2020).
Investment in start-ups is also growing constantly: in 2021, they attracted more than 420 million euros in investment, the total value of Lithuanian innovative businesses has reached 7.1 billion euros and from 2016 onwards it has increased 17 times.
Currently, there are 1091 start-ups, including already two unicorns. In 2019, Vinted, the second-hand clothing platform, became the first unicorn in Lithuania (its current value is already 3.5 billion euros). Lithuania has been waiting for the second official unicorn for nearly three years. This second unicorn is the start-up of Nord Security, which became a unicorn after having attracted 100 million USD from investors in early April this year. Today, the value of this company is 1.6 billion USD.
