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Part 4 - Lithuania

Our first day in Vilnius began with the visit of the Sunrise Tech Park. Laima Balčiūnė’s (Director) and Kamilė Miltinytė’s (Communication and Marketing) presentation offered a captivating glimpse into a dynamic organization dedicated to fostering innovation and supporting entrepreneurship. This organization appears to be a central hub for technological advancement, with a particular focus on cleantech and sustainable solutions.

One of the core focuses of this organization is to nurture and support startups. The presentation we heard revealed initiatives aimed at providing essential resources, such as funding, mentorship, and infrastructure, to help these fledgling businesses grow and thrive. By fostering a supportive ecosystem, the organization empowers entrepreneurs to bring their innovative ideas to life.

Furthermore, the organization seems to be deeply committed to promoting cleantech and sustainable development. The presentation slides showcased various projects (such as Enterprises Baltics) and partnerships (like TalTech) aimed at addressing environmental challenges and transitioning to a greener future. By investing in cleantech solutions, the organization is playing a vital role in driving innovation and creating a more sustainable world.

Another key aspect highlighted by the images is the organization's dedication to fostering innovation and creativity. By providing platforms for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and idea exchange, the organization encourages a culture of innovation. This is evident through initiatives such as workshops, hackathons, and networking events, which bring together diverse individuals to spark new ideas and drive technological advancements.

In conclusion, the organization showcased in the slides is a powerful force for innovation and positive change. By supporting startups, promoting cleantech, and fostering a culture of innovation, Sunrise Tech Park is making a significant impact on the technological landscape. As it continues to evolve and adapt, it is poised to shape the future of innovation and drive sustainable development.

The second stop of the day continued with Hostinger. The Soonicorn founded in 2004, has grown from a small startup to a global web hosting provider with over 900 employees representing 45 nationalities and serving customers in 150+ countries. Initially established as a bootstrap-financed business, Hostinger has managed remarkable growth, achieving 40x revenue expansion in the last decade. Eiviltas Parasciakas (Head of Communications) and Monika Dirgince (Employer Branding Manager at Hostinger)explained that nowadays, the company operates 12 data centers worldwide and supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a range of digital products, including web hosting, a website builder with integrated AI, VPS, domains, and email services. A key turning point came when Hostinger’s CEO recognized high demand in Indonesia, which catalyzed global growth through a targeted market entry strategy: translated landing pages, influencer partnerships, and affiliates.

With a focus on customer experience and internal transparency, Hostinger’s culture emphasizes openness, data accessibility, and accountability. Weekly metrics reviews and a dynamic, flexible work structure promote agility and collaboration across teams. Inspired by companies like Netflix and Amazon, they have adopted "bar raisers" who contribute critically to hiring and organizational growth. Additionally, all employees are empowered to provide feedback directly to anyone in the company, including the CEO, fostering a culture of radical candor.

The company takes pride in its ethical values, shown by several facts such as the equity of men and women working at the company or the responsibility towards society. Hostinger's ambitions include substantial global expansion, aspiring for a 20x growth in the next decade, while staying lean in headcount. The founders envision building a recognized global brand for SMEs, constantly iterating and enhancing processes with AI while staying true to core values of transparency, customer obsession, and employee empowerment.

At the end of the day we visited Rokas Kolovskis who mentioned his Go Vilnius project. The project is mainly about why one should go and visit Vilnius and what advantages could Vilnius and Lithuania ensure to people who choose to go to the colourful Vilnius.

After this we took part in the Vilnius Tech Fusion: StartupMeetup event where we could hear some business pitches. This business pitch competition offered us a unique window into the entrepreneurial mindset, providing valuable lessons for both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals. Observing pitches not only allowed us to witness innovative ideas but also teaches us the importance of communication, adaptability, and market insight in the world of business. One key aspect from pitch competitions was the power of clear and concise communication. Entrepreneurs had to distill their ideas into an easily understandable format, within 2 minutes. This need for brevity highlights the importance of clarity and focus when presenting an idea. Another critical fact is the role of adaptability. Participants in his pitch competition had to be prepared to answer questions and adapt on the fly, showing their ability to think quickly and respond to feedback. Observing entrepreneurs modify their responses based on judges’ questions could teach us the importance of listening and being responsive, rather than rigidly sticking to preconceived plans. Finally Dotbots which is robotics startup won the competition due to the fact that they got the most votes by the audience.

In the end of program and of the day we could attend at a networking event where we could make conversations and friendships with the participants of the pitch competition that we can remember after years.

 

October 30th

After an abundant breakfast, we started the last day of our study trip at Startup Lithuania, where Rita Gréskaité welcomed us. She began her presentation by introducing the Lithuanian Innovation Agency, to which Startup Lithuania also belongs. They put a focus on consulting, trade missions, and doing business partner search for startups. These activities are supported by 22 attachés for commercial affairs, 15 coworking spaces – including one in Silicon Valley – and by over €500 million for support measures. Rita put a huge emphasis on the startup events and pitch competitions, for instance Startupfor, Miltech and Vilnius Space days. She also mentioned that accelerator programs like xEdu and Civitta play a crucial role in organising these events and in developing the ecosystem. Last but not least, Rita claimed that in 2023 three times more people work in the ecosystem in comparison to 2018, and a 600% increase in tax is also considered a significant result.

Our next destination was the office of Civitta, where we met Sander van der Molen. After a short presentation about the institution, in which he claimed that Civitta is a project-based non-profit organisation providing consultancy services for startups, we were mainly speaking about innovation theory. He put the main emphasis on working culture, where mutual trust should be the core of a partnership. As the Lithuanian startup community is relatively small, in Sander’s point of view, it will immediately turn out if someone is not reliable or trustworthy. Another idea of Sander which caught my attention is the following principle. If we have a business idea, we should not be afraid to tell anyone. If they steal it and can make better than me, then they deserve it.

Lastly, we had the chance to visit one of the Lithuanian unicorn, called Nord Security. From the CTO, Marijus Briedis we heard the short story of the company. It was really inspiring to hear that they reached unicorn status in 2022, but one year later, their valuation jumped to €3 million. We also had the chance to ask some questions, and Marijus even convinced us why it is the only great choice to use Nord Security.

After the meeting, we had to catch our flight. With a transfer in Warsaw, where we could buy some Polish specialities, we landed in Budapest on time, around 8 PM. We still have to digest all the knowledge that we gained, but it is no doubt that these 10 days became unforgettable.