Most Challenging lithuania-Based startups

Transcription

Startup WIKI 2013
2013 December / 2014 January No. 12 (29)
10,00 Lt / 2,90 €
2,50 £ / 4,00 $
TOP
State Support for
Fledgling Business
93
Success Factors for
Fledgling Business
Startup Infrastructure
in Lithuania
What Is the Demographic
Picture of Startupers?
ISSN 2029-8056
Most Challenging
Lithuania-Based
Startups
2013 gruodis / 2014 sausis Nr. 12 (29)
BZN Start is a business magazine which publishes only inspirational and positive stories. We share with you first-hand knowledge
of HOW to build a business. Drawing on the stories of people from the business, sports, and entertainment world as well as lay
citizens who have set up their own enterprises, we will attempt to encourage active and creative people to undertake initiatives.
5 Overview
6
What changes are taking place
in the technology business?
44 Technology Startup
68 Pupil Startup
63 Startup Immigrant
70 Startup Student
65 Startup Franchise
72Spinn Off Startup
66 Startup 40 +
74
The Picture
of Most Challenging
Opinion
Success factors for fledgling business
10 State Support
Funding and subsidies for startups
and business development
12 State Support
Free services for those planning
their own business and those
who already have one
Photo: © BFL / Butautas barauskas, Andrius Ufartas, from personal archive
16 Business Guide
For those who seek quick success
18 Startup Infrastructure
Startup communities, science
& technology parks, and
accelerators
21 Startups WIKI 2013
23 Startup
Atspausdinta
ant perdirbto
popieriaus
Lithuania-Based Startups
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2014 m. vasario 1 d.
3
Overview
Are Taking Place
in the Technology
Business?
By Tomas Fedaravičius
Photo: Flickr.com
Changes taking place in the
technology business over
the past years was at the core
of my talk with CEO of Vilnius-based Northtown Technology Park (Šiaurės miestelio technologijų parkas),
Gediminas Pauliukevičius.
Just a decade ago, young
people creating world-changing technologies in a garage
would have been something
you could hear about only in
the Silicon Valley, but not in
Vilnius or Kaunas.
4
Guys, You Are Worth of Millions!
CEO of Northtown Technology Park
told me about exciting Lithuanian scientists’ visits in foreign countries 5-10
years ago to present their ideas to potential investors. At that time, we lacked in
knowledge not only of how investment
infrastructure operates, but also of how
to present yourself in an attractive way.
“A group of IT specialists, we went
to an investors’ forum in the United
States. After the Lithuanians presented
their ideas and technologies, investors
asked: ‘How much do you want for your
technology?’ Our specialists pointed out
10-20 thousand USD. The Americans
joked: ‘We can give you the sum right
away, but maybe you shouldn’t be selling yourself so cheaply? Guys, put in
some work and you’ll be worth of millions!” Pauliukevičius recalls the first attempts to attract foreign investors.
We Have Become More Open
We have gradually picked up the skills
to present and evaluate ourselves adaquately. Furthermore, scientists have
started to look for possibilities of attracting investors in Lithuania too.
However, at first Lithuania-based business angels and venture capital funds
used to demand majority shareholding of the startup in exchange for major early-stage investments. Later they
began to realise that after selling their
idea and business, scientists tended to
become demotivated to go on working
for the investors who had taking over
their startup. At present venture capital investors do not normally claim for
more than 30 percent of the startuper’s
shares and are much more willing to
share their expertise and advice.
“Mutual understanding has been built
up. Earlier there was a popular notion that
after revealing the idea to an investor, the
latter would simply steal it. However, the
exciting thing about the technology business is that without knowledge you can’t
create here anything. Investors make
business with investments, but not by
creating technologies, so the idea theft
is a tale rather than a real fact. Why not
be the first to develop the idea and break
through your competitors?” explained
Gintaras Pauliukevičius.
Bankruptcy Perceived As
a Life Lesson
Competition in the technology business is fierce. Only one out of ten
startupers manage to achieve successful growth of their business. Nevertheless, Pauliukevičius thinks that we can
look at these figures from a different
point of view. If you try to succeed ten
times, your technology will appear to be
worth of something while you will have
learned a lesson from your mistakes and
will be able to create a successful business. Low ability to handle failures is
still undermining Lithuanian people’s
entrepreneurship. In the US and Israel,
famous for technology startups, bankruptcy is perceived as a serious lesson
while in our country it is considered a
The new generation of
entrepreneurs base their
activity on different algorithms of success. There is
much more openmindedness and courage
to test one's own ideas
in the global market
too.
Gintaras
Pauliukevičius
Photo: from personal archive
What
Changes
shame and a sign for a loser. Things are
getting better though; the new generation of entrepreneurs eagerly acquire expertise abroad and base their activity on
different algorithms of success – instead
of complaining and lamenting they go
on working with determination. There is
much more open-mindedness and courage to test one’s own idea not only in
Lithuania, but also in the global market.
More Attractive Infrastructure
for Cooperation Between
Science and Business
“Lithuania will soon enjoy one of the
best infrastructures for cooperation between science and business: science
parks and valleys as well as investment
zones with great conditions for scientists
and technology companies. However,
to my mind, Lithuanians alone will not
manage to create as many technology
businesses as this infrastructure would
allow for. Therefore, we need to attract
more strategic foreign technology companies to these science valleys, so that
smaller businesses could form symbiotic
clouds around them. I have no doubts
that our country then will become home
to businesses that will be making Lithuania’s name known all over the world,”
concluded Gintaras Pauliukevičius.
5
Opinion
for Fledgling
Business
Expansion Makes
Young Entrepreneurs
Burn Out
Photo: Dreamstime.com
6
Head of Business
Customers
Department and
Board member
at Lietuvos Draudimas insurance
company
Before beginning to explore factors
for success, we need to answer one question: how do people become entrepreneurs? I would classify those willing to
start a business into three groups.
The first group includes people
who are born entrepreneurs. Business
is their vocation. Without even completing any studies, they are capable of
finding a field of activity where they
can excel. This type of people normally
achieve good results and manage to create a successful business. Yet there are
only a few of them.
The second group is much larger
and consists of people who complete
some kind of studies, work in different
enterprises for some time, acquire relevant experience, and after they have
accumulated some expertise, decide to
start a business of their own.
The third group comprises those
who have been dreaming about the freedom businesspeople enjoy since childhood, but never do too much and never
invent a wheel. To put it simply, these
people tend to copy. Some of them are
successful, the others are not.
We shouldn’t forget that any story of
success we come to enjoy contains a lot
of stories of failure. Only no one talks
about them; on the contrary, there is a
tendency to conceal them. You need to
understand that not everyone achieves
success.
I am convinced that a person who has
chosen to walk the entrepreneurial path
must be able to assess her/ his potential
and decide which she/ he is better at –
creating or executing. Personal qualities
are vital to success in business.
Another question to ask yourself is
how you are going to position your business – are you going deep and narrow
or wide and shallow? I would suggest
the first variant for starters, i.e. explore
one field in depth and do what you are
best at. It is crucial to understand that
a successful entrepreneur is the best
expert in her/ his field.
Expansion makes young entrepreneurs burn out: they run short of energy,
resources, and the ability to manage business. Thus leave development for the
future and take up the activity in which
you excel.
5 Things
You Need To Know If You Want
To Achieve SUCCESS, According to
Darius Nedzinskas
There are no unfavourable market conditions for business; there are only unfavourable, unwise, and untimely solutions.
A startuper is like a one-man band, so
it is very important to keep playing your
piece to the end.
It is not a business plan laid out in the
paper by specialists, but personality that
affects the investors’ decision.
As the saying goes, ‘Measure nine times,
cut once.’ When you start a business of
your own, measure ninety-nine times and
from all perspectives.
I don’t believe in spontaneous ideas.
I don’t believe that an ingenious idea can
pop into your head out of the blue, when
crossing a street. I think that it results from
all experiences and knowledge that have
accumulated in the unconscious over the
years.
Jurgita
Blazgienė
Head of Small
Business Support
Department at
Swedbank
A Good Start Is Just
the Beginning
Nowadays it hardly takes a few days to
start a business. Nevertheless, to turn a
startup idea into a thriving business, you
need not only ambition, but also a considerable deal of expertise. Even a good start
is just the first step on the entrepreneurial
path.
Think About Development
After One Year
Beginning entrepreneurs need to deal
with a series of challenges over the first
years. You form a reliable team, look for
customers, and attempt to ensure a steady
supply of goods and services. From the
very first days, you are bound to face various financial issues, plan marketing solutions, build your competitive advantage,
and analyse the legal context of your business.
Once you have overcome the first-year
challenges of searching for solutions, it
is time to think about development possibilities. Banks can help fledgling businesses to assess their actual potential for
development and choose the right pace
for growth. However, to achieve success
in your first talk with a bank, it is vital to
do the homework beforehand and assess
the financial state of your enterprise thoroughly.
It Is Important To Know the
Answers
The bank that provides financing and
the enterprise that receives the funds share
the same expectations: we want the enterprise to operate profitably and manage
its finances responsibly. Therefore, bank
specialists will need to know the enterprise better before making the decision.
We are going to ask you not only about
the shareholders’ participation in the
business, but also about the market for
the business, your competitors, and the
strengths and weaknesses of your business. Be prepared to say what risk factors
your enterprise might face and how you
are going to handle them. We will also
be interested in what the stability of your
business is based on and how you are
planning to ensure its viability.
Your competence is important to us too;
we assess the background and experience
of the company’s directors as well as their
expertise in the sector. We will also want
to know how the enterprise has managed
to handle various commitments: whether
it has always managed to settle mobile
phone and utility services payments in
time and whether it has never been late to
fulfil other financial obligations.
Knowing the answers to these questions is important not only for the bank,
but also for entrepreneurs themselves.
Only after you have analysed your business environment, thoroughly explored
your competitors’ markets, and become
aware which factors foster the development of your business and which undermine it, you can expect a successful future
for your company.
Photo: BFL / Andrius Ufartas
SUCCESS
Factors
Darius
Nedzinskas
Photo: BFL / Butautas Barauskas
Opinion
Long-Term or Short-Term
Financing?
Before going to the bank, decide what
exactly you need financing for.
Fledgling businesses are often challenged by a lack of working capital: your
business has moved into full swing, your
products or services are in demand, you
are developing more and more contacts
with potential partners, but a lack of
working capital interferes with smooth
activity. Short-term financing solutions
are best when your customers are late to
pay the accounts or when your suppliers
offer an attractive price for the product
you need right now.
Long-term financing may be required
when a company starts to plan development, acquisition of real estate, or purchase of commercial equipment.
If you have the answers to all the questions above, your enterprise is transparent
and open, has sorted out its priorities, and
seeks sustainable growth, which means
that you and we can work together.
Šarūnas
Sakalauskas
Deputy Vice-Rector of Mykolas Romeris University
Success Is Not a Result;
It Is a Process
Success is a notion that can be perceived in a number of individual ways.
For instance, with reference to fledgling businesses, Sir Winston Churchill's
insight speaks for itself: 'success is the
ability to move from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm.' Measuring success becomes clearer when we
agree on the criteria. When assessing
success for fledgling business, I would
like to single out one of the criteria as
the most important one. It is the ability
to be modern, i.e. the ability to capture
and manage global trends and universal
pulse in a culturally meaningful way. I
am personally attracted to peer-to-peer
(P2P) businesses, in which intermediaries are no longer necessary, and resource
exchange takes place directly between
consumers. It has now become very
interesting to observe changes related
to this aspect in the financial services
sector and music industry. I think that
timely awareness of the P2P principles
may be a fairly good start for success of
any business. For success is not a result;
it is a process.
7
State support
State support
Investment and Business
Guarantees (INVEGA) UAB
Portfolio guaranties
Currently Offers Loan
Funding and Subsidies for Startups
or Business Development
INVEGA invites to learn more
about business funding
possibilities in Lithuania and
venture to launch and develop your own businesses.
More information on the
measures administrated by
INVEGA is available at
www.invega.lt.
10
I. Soft Loans for
Startups and
Business Development
Microloans
FOR WHAT: startups or business development, investment or operating capital needs.
HOW MUCH: up to LTL 86,000 from
the Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund
(VSF).
WHO CAN APPLY:
small and micro enterprises (up to 1
year)
social businesses
self-employed natural persons under
a business certificate or carrying out individual activity under a business certificate and seeking to launch or develop
their business.
EXTRA BENEFITS: a recipient of a VSF
loan can not only benefit from INVEGA guarantee of up to 80 percent
of the loan amount and recover as
much as 95 percent of the paid interest but also receive compensation
for the share of remuneration of its
employees. The recovered funds can
be further invested in business development; therefore, such instruments
this way facilitate the initial stage of
a startup and help to safely develop
a new business. Microloan lending
comes with free training and consultations for startups and assistance in
drafting and implementing business
plans.
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM IT: those planning to launch their business can apply for microloans to the Lithuanian
Central Credit Union or the nearest
credit union by June 30, 2014 or make
a toll-free call at 8 800 11 211. More
information is available at www.lku.lt.
Financial instruments
Soft loans and credit lines from the
Open Credit Fund (AKF)
FOR WHAT: for business development,
both for operating capital needs and
new investment.
HOW MUCH: one AKF credit can reach
up to LTL 1.5 mln.
WHO CAN APPLY: an SME entity. The
banks Medicinos bankas, AB Citadele
bankas and AB bankas Finasta are the
Fund’s lenders for small businesses.
HOW DOES IT WORK: The selected
banks that take part in the implementation of this instrument must add at
least 25 percent of their own funds to
the AKF funds. As a result, the total loan
amount of the instrument can reach LTL
2 million. Bank interest for both loans
and credit lines usually ranges from 5
to 6 percent. When borrowed from the
AFK, the banks currently can offer approximately 3.5 percent interest.
Shared risk loans
FOR WHAT: for investment and operating capital needs if the SME activities
expand due to such funding.
HOW MUCH: loans of up to LTL 16.5
mln.
WHO CAN APPLY: an SME entity.
HOW DOES IT WORK: the banks must
add at least 50 percent of their own
funds when issuing this type of loan.
If the project and enterprise satisfy
the requirements, the enterprises can
take advantage of INVEGA guarantees
and partial interest claim when taking
out loans. The loans are granted by
AB Šiaulių bankas, AB SEB bankas and
Swedbank. More information is available at www.sb.lt, www.seb.lt, www.
swedbank.lt.
FOR WHAT: to credit small and medium
enterprises.
HOW MUCH: 80 percent of the loan
amount is guaranteed, this way reducing the obstacles for SME entities to
receive funding when there is a lack of
collateral.
HOW DOES IT WORK: the selected
banks apply more favourable collateral
requirements and lower interest rates
to the recipients of guaranteed loans.
The instrument is implemented by Nordea Bank Finland Plc Lithuania Branch
and AB Šiaulių bankas. More information is provided by the banks implementing the instrument at www.sb.lt
and www.nordea.lt.
II. Guarantees for
Reduction of Risk and
Collateral Requirements
Individual guarantee
for business success
FOR WHAT: to solve the problem of unattractive or insufficient collateral.
HOW MUCH: the repayment of the
first tranche to the credit institution is
guaranteed of up to 80 percent of the
loan amount. The credit institution ensures the repayment of the remaining
non-guaranteed tranche through the
collateral offered by the SME entity by
pledging the assets acquired for the loan
funds.
paid interest.
WHO CAN APPLY: SME entities that
have been granted an INVEGA loan
with guarantee or without.
Guaranteed
INVEGA loans
Non-guaranteed
INVEGA loans
The purpose of the
loan
Investment
and operating
capital needs
Investment in
Investment and
production and
operating capital
equipment (by 31 needs
12 2013)
The maximum loan
amount
Up to
LTL 2.5 mln
Compensated share
Up to
50 percent
Up to 50 percent
95 percent
Compensation period
By 30 09 2015
By 30 09 2015
By 30 09 2015
Support for youth employment (Support for the first
job)
FOR WHAT: to be used by employers
who have hired employees without
work experience, i.e. for the calculated
wage of a young person (up to the age
of 29 years) who has his or her first job.
HOW MUCH: compensation covers
23.3 percent of the calculated wage but
not exceeding LTL 1,700. Wage is compensated for no longer than 12 months.
WHO CAN APPLY: private and public
legal persons (except for budgetary
institutions), foreign branches of companies and agencies in Lithuania, which
have hired a young employee, can apply for the instrument.
VSF loans
Up to LTL 86,000
and those above 50 years old) or to LTL
25,000 if the applicant is from the priority group.
WHO CAN APPLY: recipients of a VSF
loan (except for social businesses) if:
the loan is used op (factual spending
of the loan funds under the loan agreement with a credit institution).
the employee(s) are hired under an
employment contract.
the calculated monthly wage of
the employee(s) is not smaller than a
monthly minimum wage.
the wage of the employee(s) is not
compensated through other programmes.
Applications to INVEGA must be submitted by May 31, 2014.
Applications to INVEGA must be submitted by September 30, 2015.
Support for preservation
of created jobs
III. Non-Repayable
Business Aid
Partial compensation
of interest
FOR WHAT: to reduce business funding
costs.
HOW MUCH: as much as 95 percent of
interest of the VSF loans. Loans with INVEGA guarantee or without are subject
to up to 50 percent compensation of the
FOR WHAT: to be used from the end of
August 2013 by business starters who
have used or will use a soft VSF loan for
startups or business development. Under the instrument Entrepreneurship
Promotion Subsidies, their employees
will be subject to partial wage cost
compensation.
HOW MUCH: the maximum aid
amounts to LTL 20,000 if the applicant
does not fall into the priority group
(young people up to the age of 29
years, the unemployed, the disabled
11
Free services
State support
Technostartas
Support for
technology
business
startups
For who: everybody who has ideas
about creating an innovative business
based on latest technologies. Natural
persons seeking support for their new
startup businesses are welcome to
take part in the project Technostartas
to be selected among 45 best ones
who will get assistance in establishing their technology companies.
Startups will receive a fixed size 12
month service package for startup
incubation. The package will contain
the rent of premises at science and
(or) technology parks, running costs
and acceleration services based on
pre-defined business development
plan by the mentor.
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM IT? Ideas
for the evaluation should be submitted by March 1, 2014 by filling out
a simplified application at MITA
website at
http://idejubankas.mita.lt/.
12
For who: given to all of those who
just started or are wishing to launch
an innovative business (for domestic
or international market, with a great
development potential and based on
high tech). Basket holders are entitled to counseling of professionals.
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM IT? http://
www.verslilietuva.lt/lt/paslaugos/
paslaugos-pradedantiems-versla/
inovatyvaus-verslo-pradzios-krepseliai/
First
business
year
baskets
FOR WHO: given to people under
30 years old wishing to go into a
traditional business. A basket holder
who establishes a company within 6
months from the receipt of the basket can get 50 hours of consultation
time and 24 hours of training time.
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM IT?
http://www.verslilietuva.lt/lt/paslaugos/paslaugos-pradedantiemsversla/verslo-pradzios-krepseliai/
For Those
Who Already
Have One
Startup
Lithuania
events
For who: a series of free educational events for startups or those
interested in the field. Events will
present basics of teambuilding, business plan drafting, employment of
virtual tools, conducting marketing
analysis, image formation and idea
selling, etc.
www.startupLithuania.com
Hackathons
Silicon
Valley Comes
to the
Baltics
FOR WHO: the largest 2-day conference in the Baltic States for promotion of youth entrepreneurship and
motivation. Conference speeches
will be given by successful Silicon
Valley entrepreneurs, the event will
be attended by representatives of
foreign startups.
http://svc2baltics.startuplithuania.lt/
For who: 48-72 hour events
intended to team up enthusiasts who
in several dozens of hours produce an
innovative product idea and develop
a prototype.
www.startup
Lithuania.com
Startup
Lithuania
Roadshow
Expert
counseling and
ideas for
implementation
For who: small and medium enterprises (SME). Participants are invited to check the feasibility of their
ideas and estimate market potential.
Businesses often face the problem
of limited financial capabilities to
embody their ideas; as a result, they
are left unimplemented or postponed
for the future. Approved ideas will
be forwarded to two experts. Their
conclusions will be delivered within
30 working days from the day of the
receipt of the application. A SME
entity can offer up to 10 ideas. All
enterprises that will have benefited
from expert consultations on the
idea implementation will be entitled
to a free of charge market analysis
in Lithuania and two chosen foreign
countries.
It only takes registering your
idea at http://idejubankas.
mita.lt/ by January 31, 2014.
a project designed to attract international investors’ attention to
Lithuania’s startups. Selected and
trained teams of the best Lithuanian
startups go on roadshows to foreign
cities where they present their ideas
to investors as well as take part in
various international technology
conferences.
http://www.startuplithuania.lt/en/
startup-roadshow
Startup
Nitro
Academy
a series of free educational events,
during which startups can have a
round table discussion with foreign
professionals in their field, ask questions and get answers, as well as
benefit from business consultations.
http://www.verslilietuva.lt/
13
Photo: Flickr.com
For Those
Planning Their
Own
Business
Startup
baskets
Startup
Nitro
State support
VALSTYBĖS
State
support
PARAMA
For who: EU support instrument InnoVouchers LT are available to aspiring innovative micro, small or medium
enterprises, entrepreneurs, or other legal persons that meet the definition of
a SME entity. The applicant must be
operational for a minimum of 6 months
with a turnover of no less than LTL
10,000. The applicant must be a legal
person that has been operational for a
minimum of 6 months.
BENEFIT: innovation voucher is quick
money for business as it is subject to
simplified procedures of support allocation. Support in the form of innovation
vouchers is given for applied research
and experimental development projects
which aim at creating and improving
technologies, products and services:
to conduct a feasibility study and develop product layout, prototypes, industrial and other type of design, etc. .
Entrepreneurs have a list of over 1,200
academic and research institutions to
choose from for the services to be rendered. The maximum project cost (fixed
amount) is LTL 20,000. Funding intensity of MITA is up to 80 percent of the
amount requested. The funding is allocated as de minimis aid.
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM IT? Invitations are published at http://www.mita.
lt/.
InnoVouchers LT
statistics for 2013 (2nd call)
Scientific institutions have offered as
many as 1,251 services for business
A total of 228 applications have been
submitted
178 applications have
been awarded funding
Allocated financial support
amounts to LTL 2.5 mln.
14
Photo: Flickr.com
Innovation
Vouchers
For Those
Who Already
Have One
Success
Stories
Coffee Inn
(Keturi kambariai UAB)
and Kaunas University
of Technology (KTU)
What problem is tackled?
Coffee grounds go into municipal waste
and are disposed of in landfills. It has
been estimated that dry coffee grounds
contain around 15 percent oil. This kind
of waste could be used in a more productive way by extracting added-value oil.
Coffee grounds after extraction become
highly valuable raw material for compost
producers. The decision on the investment in the production of oil from coffee grounds requires data on the costeffectiveness of production process.
Result achieved: methodology of
oil production from coffee grounds has
been prepared.
E-Verslo Klasteris UAB
and KTU
Ecococon UAB
and KTU
What problem
is tackled?
Increasingly more people choose ecofriendly and energy efficient houses.
The company is producing straw bale
panels which meet all of the ecological
criteria, yet, they fail to satisfy requirements for low-energy buildings. Building a straw bale panel house mostly involves almost natural materials, such as
wood, straw, and clay. The technology
of straw bales insertion into panels is
unique. It requires conducting research
into the concordance of physical properties of straw bale panels and low-energy buildings.
Result achieved: optimisation of the
structure of stuffed straw by achieving
the highest possible thermal insulation
and the lowest possible thickness of a
panel. Optimal strength of plaster adhesion has been determined, in addition to
density and water vapor permeability in
straw.
What problem is tackled?
How to make payments without a confirmation from the central e-wallet server, this way ensuring a faster payment
for services. It requires a security module in the service provider’s terminal
and an algorithm for secure data recording on the card, also ensuring information synchronisation with the central ewallet server later.
Result achieved: a prototype has
been created which allows a secure and
direct payment by e-wallet without having to use its central server.
15
Business Guide
Business Guide
2
For Those
Who Seek Quick
Success
Is being ambitious a positive or negative personality
trait? I am convinced that it
would be difficult to find a
thriving entrepreneur who
would be lacking in ambition. For there is a driving
force in ambition that keeps
you moving forward. On
the other hand, it is an unreasonable ambition that
young entrepreneurs often
stumble upon. According to
Algimantas Variakojis, partner at Business Angels Fund
I, one of the chief mistakes
that entrepreneur beginners make is that they seek
to get everything fast. “Rush
rarely helps; it most often
hinders”, the finance expert
says.
16
Photo: BFL / Butautas barauskas
By Karolina Kondratjevaitė
Success is not about
breaking the rules; it
is about having the
courage to discover
new, alternative ways
Algimantas Variakojis
1
Ask Yourself Questions
You must admit that when doing even the
simplest of the jobs in a rush, you make
mistakes. We notice and correct some
of them at once, but the other ones may
take their toll on us. “I’m not suggesting
procrastination; however, before starting
a business you should think twice about
what you are going to do and with what
resources,” says Variakojis. “Ask yourself questions: are there other ways to
what I’m going to do? do I have alternatives?” The expert advises that you never
limit yourself to plan A.
Don’t Rush
to Buy Furniture
“Some young entrepreneurs rush to register their enterprise, purchase furniture,
computers and other facilities, hire employees, pay out big salaries and only
after this do they start thinking about
what they are really going to do,” Variakojis says, pointing this out as the critical mistake that entrepreneur beginners
make.
akojis has another observation to share.
“Young people lack in communication
experience. They have a hard time paying attention to another person, hearing others’ opinions and ideas. Many
of them go to extremes to advocate for
their truths. One should keep in mind
that the aim of the interview is to attract
investments, but not to prove that you
are a smarter negotiator and can vanquish your investor,” smiled the expert.
3
Find Out What
Can Be Improved
“Ideas don’t breed in the air. You need
to look around and observe who does
what and how, spot the drawbacks and
ask yourself in what way it can be done
better,” says Variakojis. “If one has the
opportunity, I recommend that they
travel more and spend some time working abroad.” In his opinion, knowing
the foreign markets is of great use.
Get Experience
Algimantas Variakojis is convinced that
before starting your own business it is
useful to spend some time working in
a similar industry: a finance specialist
should try a bank, an IT professional an
information technology company, etc.
“This way you will find out about different drifts in a certain business, about
employee recruiting and – even more
important – firing procedures, about
different types of employment contracts
and in which cases and for what reasons
they are made as well as about how one
should advertise their business and sell
their ideas,” says Variakojis.
6
7
Don’t Be Afraid
To Share
“It has been already said a lot about the
situation when a person has a good idea,
but is afraid of sharing it with others,”
says Variakojis. “I would advise these
people to remember one thing: an idea
that you haven’t begun to realise equals
to an idea that hasn’t been realised at all.
Sometimes you need to take a risk.”
8
Don’t Be A Jack
Of All Trades
“One faces yet another problem when
the business is run by the ‘I’ll do it all
myself’ principle,” says Algimantas
Variakojis. “This is when small but indispensable tasks such as book-keeping
and report writing swallow up the greater
part of the entrepreneur’s time and effort.
When there is no work sharing, the product created by the entrepreneur is not
fully accomplished or is intended just
for a small target audience. You need to
ask yourself: am I the one who can do
the work best? And be honest with yourself,” the expert advises.
9
Discover Your
Truths And Rules
“People wish to get well-defined instructions on what they have to do in order
to get or achieve something. Blind obedience to rules is a mistake. However,
don’t get me wrong – success is not
about breaking the rules; it is about having the courage to discover new, alternative ways,” the finance expert believes.
As an old saying goes, haste makes
waste; my interviewee nods his head
in agreement. “Correcting mistakes
made in haste will only delay success.
Therefore, be patient,” says Algimantas
Variakojis.
4
Be Prepared As The First Five
Minutes May Be Crucial
“Similar things can be pointed out about
the presentation of a business plan.
Young people come to an interview with
potential investors or partners completely unprepared,” continues to share his
insights Variakojis. “You must be aware
of how important the first impression can
be. Most often the decision to invest or
not to invest is made during the first five
minutes. Remember that there can be no
second time. Therefore, do your best to
prepare: make a presentation, answer
(first of all, yourself) all possible and
impossible, clever and stupid questions,
look for criticism,” advises the expert.
5
Learn To Hear
Another Person
With reference to the presentation of
ideas to investors, Algimantas Vari-
17
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
STARTUPS IN LITHUANIA
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
STARTUPS IN LITHUANIA
Startup
Communities
Mobile Applications
Laboratory App Camp
FOR WHO: university students who
have ideas and, with the help of scholars and professionals, want to put their
knowledge into practice by creating innovative solutions and contribute to the
building of mobile app ecosystem and
finding solutions to the problems dominating the market.
WHERE:
http://appcamp.lt
Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Vilnius University; Innovation
and Entrepreneurship Centre of Kaunas
University of Technology; second laboratory pavilion of Vilnius Gediminas
Technical University; Faculty of Technologies of Klaipėda State College
Startup Lithuania
Hub Vilnius
FOR WHO: for all of those who have an
innovative business idea or have been
developing an innovative business.
WHERE:
http://www.startuplithuania.lt
FOR WHO: anyone (no age limit) who
wants and uses a computer rather than a
telephone for their work.
WHERE: http://hubvilnius.lt
Verslauk.lt
FOR WHO: for those planning to set up
their business or those who already own
one. No age limit set, yet, the focus is
on younger people. Members due to
their different experience have certain
limitations in communicating. Verslauk
Management Club unites only those
who have their own business or are managing it as well as winners of previous
competitions. Usually all participants of
the Verslauk competition are welcome
to join the community.
WHERE: http://verslauk.lt
KTU StartupSpace
FOR WHO: young entrepreneurs, businesspersons, hackers, designers, and all
of those who want to change the world.
WHERE: http://startupspace.org
Kaunas University of Technology, Studentų st. 67, Kaunas
Northtown Hub
FOR WHO: developers, app creators,
young entrepreneurs, and all those who
have big ideas and are looking for the
right place to realise them at.
WHERE: http://www.smtp.lt/
Science, Studies and
Business Valleys
Financial Instruments for
Investment Attraction in Private
Equity of Young Businesses
in Lithuania:
Early stage venture
capital funds:
Business Angels Fund I,
http://www.versloangelai.eu
Science and Technology Parks
is an intensive 3 month mentoring
programme and a financial instrument
for startups. It presents an opportunity
for young people who lack useful social
contacts and experience to get valuable information and help in order to
develop their business idea. However,
only the best selected candidates enjoy
investments from the
accelerator.
Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park
http://www.sunrisevalley.lt/
Kaunas High-Tech and Information
Technology Park
http://www.techpark.lt/
Northtown Technology Park
http://www.smtp.lt/
Klaipeda Science and
Technology Park
http://www.kmtp.lt/
Venture, http://www.venture.lt
Visoriai Information
Technology Park
http://www.vitp.lt/
BaltCap, http://www.baltcap.com
Practica Capital, http://www.practica.lt
Business angel
LitCapital Asset Management,
http://www.litcapital.lt
is a private individual who invests in
young companies personally or through
his or her company. Normally they are
capable of funding smaller and bigger
projects whose costs range from EUR
25,000 to EUR 500,000.
Agricultural Science and Technology
Park at the Lithuanian University of
Agriculture
http://www.lzuu.lt/mtp/
Science and Technology Park
TECHNOPOLIS
http://www.technopolis.lt/
Accelerators:
Baltic Valley
http://balticvalley.lt/
StartupHigway, http://startuphighway.com
Nemunas Valley
http://www.slenis-nemunas.lt/
Startup.lt, http://www.startup.lt
Santara Valley
http://www.santariskes.eu/index.php?340964278
Accelerator
Panevėžys Science and
Technology Park
http://www.pmtp.lt/
Venture capital fund
KTU Regional Science Park
http://www.ktc.lt/main.html
is a financial instrument for entrepreneurs. The fund makes capital investment directly or acquires operational
enterprises. The highest value of the
venture capital fund lies in their useful
contacts and experience.
Science and Technology Park of
Institute of Physics
http://www.fimtp.lt/
Liepiskes Technology Park
http://www.litepa.lt/
Santakos Valley
http://www.santakosslenis.lt/
Sunrise Valley
http://www.sunrisevalley.lt/
!
Flickr.com nuotr.
IMPORTANT:
to attract venture capital funds’ investment, a company should be marked
off by rapid growth. More information
available at www.mesinvest.lt/uploads/
files/dir8/1_0.php
18
19
WIKI 2014
TOP
93
Most Challenging
Lithuania-Based Startups
Startup
Technology Startup
Statup ommigrant
Startup Franchise
Startup 40 +
Pupil Startup
Student Startup
Spinn off Startup
Startup is a project implemented by a
young company or a company/person/
group of persons in any business field
and for not longer than 3 years. Startup
is distinguished by a new business model and uniqueness.
All Startups can be found at:
http://bznstart.lt/startup
1. BizRecommends
Start up
By Juliana Miliut
www.BizRecommends.com
Founder: Kęstutis Gečas | Age: 39 | Vilnius
Education: Journalism | Vilnius University
Startup investment: approx. LTL 50,000
“Recommendation is the best and
most reliable currency in business”
Photo: © BFL / Andrius Ufartas
Kęstutis:
“The service is primarily meant for small and medium-sized
businesses, namely for less known enterprises which are doing a great job, and their products or services have earned
a good reputation with customers and partners. Market entrants or small businesses do not have resources to advertise
and make their success known for a wider circle of potential
customers. This is what we are going to do: by sharing recommendations from existing and former business partners
of these enterprises, we will witness to others that these are
trustworthy and reliable entrepreneurs to deal with. The
strength of the website is transparency; its guarantee is the
website community who provide and receive recommendations.”
Looking for investors and partners to make growth possible and to improve the product.
2. BZN start
By Juliana Miliut
www.bznstart.lt
Founder: Živilė Glaveckaitė | Age: 37 | Vilnius
Education: Master of International Business,
current postgraduate external studies of Social
Sciences at Vilnius University
Startup investment: LTL 100,000
Investments in total: LTL 300,000
“We are hungry and ideas
drive us forward”
22
Živilė:
“Our team undertakes to realise projects that
provoke market participants and make them ask:
why weren’t we the first to do it? We implement
what has never been done before; we do what our
audience wishes for. Being the first is the goal of
our BZN Start team. Creativity and team spirit
enable us to achieve uniqueness. We are really
HUNGRY, believe us!”
Looking for a team member who would accept
the ideas, a partner ready to work together, or an
investor who could contribute to further growth.
23
Start up
5. Decolte
www.decolte.com
By Dario Malinowski
Founders: Rūta Banytė | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Laura Šiugždinienė | Age: 34 | Šiauliai
Education: Laura – Master’s degree in History of Culture
from Vilnius University
Rūta – Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design
from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
www.chimpinn.lt
Įkūrėjas: Artūras Meškelė | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Education: Business Management at Vilnius Gediminas Technical
University
“Try first, pay later!”
3. Dailidesign
By Rasa Petrauskaitė
“To help beginning designers gain foothold
in the market”
Artūras:
“The cute little chimp (the image is used in the logo of this startup
– Aut.) can help you choose the best service provider so that when
purchasing the service you wouldn’t have to rely on advertising
and hearsay alone. Besides, it can help you discover new activities,
which you might not have had the courage to try out. We believe that
it is possible and even obligatory to sell the service rather than the
price. This is what a lot of our clients are doing with success. If you
want to improve the customer flow even more, you’d just better get
to work and not stop... For it’s not with words, but with actions that
entrepreneurs love their Motherland.”
Looking for investors and mentors.
Rūta:
“We help young, unknown designers find their way to the client. At Decolte we
provide pricing, marketing and PR advice to designers, help them to organise
outreach events for new brands and work closely together to promote the new
designer’s name in Lithuania and beyond.”
Laura:
“Decolte is more than stores; it is a team that assists a new creator with no experience in business to gain a foothold in the market.”
Looking for an investor who could start and promote an online sale for Lithuanian designers’ clothing as well as launch an annual fashion event combining
fashion show with fashion sale and education.
http://dailidesign.com
Founders: Viktoras Dailidėnas | Age: 34 | Panevėžys
Laura Dailidėnienė | Age: 34 | Jurbarkas
Education: Laura – Kaunas College J. Vienožinskis Art
Faculty | Master’s degree from Vilnius Academy of Arts
Viktoras – Glass Art studies at Kaunas College J.
Vienožinskis Art Faculty | MA in Stained Glass from Vilnius
Academy of Arts
24
Founders: Paulius Valatkevičius | Age: 27 | Alytus
Mantas Živačevskis | Age: 26 | Alytus
Education: Paulius – Vilnius University
Mantas – Computer Programming studies at Alytus
College, further training in Finland
Investments attracted: from Ilja Laurs’ Business
Angels Fund (amount n/a)
“Dalinuosi.lt allows you to get
some money back”
Photo: © BFL / Butautas Barauskas
Laura and Viktoras:
“Dailidesign is a Lithuanian trademark enjoying ten-years’
experience in the design and fashion industry. A clear, lucid
concept of the object and European quality are the key features that make Dailidesign stand out in the market. Laura
Dailidėnienė, an acclaimed designer, creates glass and jewelry collections. The Dailidesign incorporates clothing design, accessories, jewelry, and interior décor. This year the
company entered the Japanese and the United States markets and is planning development in other countries.”
Looking for a project manager – an active, loyal, and reliable person who would meet the Dailidesign criteria and
have an undying motivation to explore new perspectives;
trading partners.
6. Dalinuosi.lt
www.dalinuosi.lt
Photo: © BFL / Vygintas Skaraitis
“Fashion is as fragile as glass and as
unstoppable as time!”
By Juliana Miliut
4. Chimp Inn
Start up
Paulius:
“Dalinuosi.lt allows you to get back part of the money, which earlier would have been spent irrevocably.
Besides, tenants can rent or borrow items that they
need only sometimes closer to their home and for a
lower price.”
Mantas:
“On the other hand, some people can now acquire
items that they couldn’t afford to maintain by themselves. Renting those things to others generates some
money to cover part of the maintenance costs. Fancy
what great opportunities you get to use various expensive items, especially tech gadgets, which have
so far been affordable only to a narrow circle of people.”
Looking for investors to enable development in
Lithuania and abroad.
25
Start up
www.ekorenta.lt
Founder: Vytautas Miškinis | Age: 29 | Alytus
Education: Bachelor of Marketing from Vilnius College of Management (now – Kazimieras Simonavičius
University)
Investments in total: approx. LTL 50,000, out of
which approx. LTL 2,000 was received from Alytus
District Municipality
9. GetHouse.Lt
www.gethouse.lt
Founder: Marijus Surdokas | Age: 27 | Alytus
Education: Master’s degree in Architecture from Vilnius
Gediminas Technical University
“Our aim is to make people see that it’s
not only some ‘nesting-box’ where
they can live in”
“We are and will be for every
individual who cares for a
healthy home environment”
Marijus:
“GetHouse.Lt consolidates all housing market actors and
offers the customer an exclusive quality service – in minimum time we design a unique house for an optimal price.
We invest all our feelings, thoughts, and ideas in what we
do, which allows us to create the blue ocean. Our aim is to
make people see that it’s not only some ‘nesting-box’ where
they can live in; that you can have more than a rectangular
solid built cheaply; that your life quality does not depend
at all on how many square meters is your home; that a high
quality house doesn’t have to be made of bricks; and that
it is not the price of brick blocks that makes a house economic. Finally, we want people to understand that they are
worth having a freer, healthier, more comfortable and more
sensible life...”
Looking for investors for project development.
Vytautas:
“I understand a healthy environment and ecology as
materials with 100% natural composition. Recycled,
reused or unused products should serve as raw materials in production whereas waste should be easily
recovered. Unfortunately, the greater part of building
materials does not normally meet any of the abovementioned standards. This is what led us to offer a
range of products to cater for the needs of consumers
who care for a healthy environment as well as their
own health and life quality.”
Looking for investors for further development.
8. Donorox
By Povilas Sabaliauskas
www.donorox.lt
Founders: Donatas Kadžiulis | Age: 28 | Vilnius
Robertas Stauskas | Age: 31 | Vilnius
Education: Donatas – Tourism and Hotel Management
Robertas – Mathematics and Informatics from Vilnius University
“When they hear that something is offered
for free, most people expect that ‘but’…
What is the way to show that ‘but’ does not
have to be there?”
Donatas:
“This is exactly what we want to prove with this project – there is
no ‘but’. That ‘but’ in people’s minds may be reminiscent of the old
approach: the only free cheese is in the mousetrap. We are going to
turn to well-known people and reputable companies. Their reputation will help us; their ads on our website will help them. When you
are a new entrant in the market, even if your idea is brilliant and
you are convinced that you are doing good to all, not everyone will
believe this at once. And yet we will attempt to change this attitude
by giving joy and gifts to others!”
Looking for investors to empower development in foreign markets
and a team member who would be a sort of sales guru.
26
10. Eskimi
By Juliana Miliut
http://eskimi.com
Founder: Vytautas Paukštys | Age: 32 | Šiauliai
Education: Master of Information Management from
Vilnius University
“How to create a website more visited
than Google or Yahoo in Nigeria?”
Vytautas:
“Eskimi is the second most visited website in Nigeria,
outdoing Yahoo and Google. Now that everyone looks at
the world through the screen of a smartphone, Eskimi has
turned to those people who are only starting to discover the
internet and are using old phones even though they want
to interact, explore, and browse the net just as much. We
provide slow internet users with the opportunity for unlimited interaction and convenient navigation using all kinds of
phones. Even Google employees have acknowledged at a
conference that it isn’t wise to completely ignore such users.
We at Eskimi know this.”
Poto: from personal archive
7. Ekorenta
Start up
27
Start up
Start up
11. Gifty
www. www.giftybaltics.com
Founders: Ilja Polivanovas | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Mantas Rauckis | Age: 32 | Biržai
Sergejus Opara | Age: 31 | Vilnius
Education: Ilja and Mantas – International Business at International Business School Vilnius University
Sergejus – Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Startup investment: EUR 50,000
Investments in total: over EUR 200,000
www.Gyviau.lt
Founder: Mantvydas Leknickas | Age: 24 | Kaunas
Education: Bachelor of Political Science from
Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas
“Like a gust of fresh air”
12. Gyviau.lt
Ilja:
“Since ancient times little presents have been helping to
build relationships not only in business, but also with friends,
acquaintances, and family members. We facilitate remote gift
giving. We cater for individuals as well as for organisations
whose clients are dispersed all over the region or country. Our
arrangements and infrastructure make it possible to send someone a cup of coffee, cinema tickets, a pizza, or a dessert by
electronic means (e.g. sms or email) from the country’s major
networks. All what your organisation needs to do is to decide
what and for how much you want to send to your clients and
give an instruction to make a gift to as many as 100,000 people if you like. Not so long ago it would have been simply
impossible.”
Looking for a partner.
Poto: from personal archive
“Not so long ago it would have been
simply impossible”
Mantvydas:
“Lithuanians are said to be lacking in a positive attitude. I decided to contribute to building up positive energy and started the
Gyviau.lt portal ('gyviau' means ‘more lively’). It is a site which
features no political intrigues and crime incidents, but encourages a lively debate and expressing your own opinion. To get the
attention of young and progressive people, the portal examines a
great variety of topics and offers unique features that lead to selfdiscovery, introduce young people who make Lithuania known
all over the world as well as provide opportunities to hear music
never heard before, see films never seen before, and get acquainted with other arts, which major news websites don’t have the
courage to write about.”
Looking for team members to write articles and create advertising strategies as well as investors who could support the development of the project.
13. Jauku Design
www.jaukudesign.com
Founder: Dmitrij Juvko | Age: 27 | Šalčininkai
Education: Transport Engineering at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
“Being completely here and now
alone makes it possible to
face challenges!”
Dmitrij:
“Take Over the World In 100 Days – a project that has
become an adventure – has paved the way for the sale
of our products all over the world without any material
investments whatsoever. We managed this after learning
a series of lessons that your team is the greatest value,
and that what really matters is support for each other and
the ability to hear and accept criticism in order to look
for solutions to whatever is going wrong. This is how
you grow as a personality and as a team. You need to be
completely here and now. It doesn’t matter how many
times you fall down; what matters is how quickly you get
up and how happy you are to do this.”
Looking for investors and people who want to turn
their work into a hobby and leave a trace in the world’s
history.
14. iqRides
By Juliana Miliut
www.iqrides.com
Founder: Šarūnas Janickas | Age: 27 | Vilnius
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Management and Business Administration from Vilnius University | Master’s degree in Sustainable Tourism
Management from ESCEM Business School, France | Master’s degree in International Sustainable Tourism from London Metropolitan University, UK
Investments in total: approx. LTL 10,000
“How do you find out about the places to visit
while travelling?”
Šarūnas:
“Unlike other successful and rapidly developing, yet still limited holiday
ride share and car share projects in the world, iqRides presents a new
concept of holiday ride sharing and creates an opportunity for travellers
to meet and travel in a car together in any place all over the world. Each
traveller has some knowledge of the location and can suggest the mustsee places there. The more travellers with different experience meet via
iqRides, the more exciting and remarkable the itinerary can be planned.”
Looking for an investor who could develop the project in the online
environment and beyond.
29
Start up
Start up
15. Lempampuk
By Juliana Miliut
17. Llamas’ Valley
www.lempampuk.com
Founders: Žana Rastonytė | Age: 36 | Pasvalys
Akvilina Morkūnaitė | Age: 20 | Pasvalys
Education: Žana – Economics at Vilnius University | Costume Design at Klaipėda Faculty Vilnius Academy of Arts
Akvilina – Bachelor studies of Creative Industries at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
“Why is it worth hiring the entire team
to look for a gift?”
www.llamasvalley.com
Founders: Algė Ramanauskienė | Age: 33 | Klaipėda
Eligijus Ramanauskas | Age: 35 | Vilnius
Education: Algė – Bachelor of Journalism from Vilnius University | Master of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy from Vilnius Academy of
Arts
Eligijus – Bachelor of History from Vilnius Pedagogical University (now
Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences)
Investments attracted: LTL 50,000
Accelerator: StartupHighway
Žana:
“We will save you time and make you stand out with a unique present. It is very simple to hire a team – just give us a call, drop an
email or message on Facebook and share your concern with us.”
Akvilina:
“We represent creators whose works are singular or crafted in very
small quantities; therefore, each art item is assigned an ID number,
which is included in the artwork’s certificate of authenticity. The
latter includes all the other information related to the work of art:
the author(s), measurements, techniques or material, etc.”
Looking for investors and mentors.
“The idea that makes us free”
18. Lėkštė.lt
www.lekste.lt
www.karalienesmortosmokykla.lt
Founders: Tomas Vonžodas | Age: 25 | Kaunas
Gytis Bendikas | Age: 24 | Tauragė
Romualdas Urbonas | Age: 24 | Vilnius
Education: Tomas and Romualdas – Global
Management and Manufacturing at Aarhus University, Denmark
Gytis – International Communication and Multimedia at Aarhus University, Denmark
Founder: Austėja Landsbergienė | Age: 36 | Klaipėda
Education: BA in Norwegian Philology from Vilnius University | PhD in
Educology
“A student is not an empty vessel”
30
“Speed, time, and variety –
all in one place”
Austėja:
“A school teacher is a mentor, and a student is not an empty vessel to be filled
with as much knowledge as possible. Now we know that not only knowledge and
IQ, but also abilities and emotional intelligence are vital for success. In a society
where facts and information are easily accessible, it is becoming more important
to know how to access that knowledge and assess its value as well as be able to
solve problems creatively. Thus the aim of the teacher should be to inspire the
child for lifelong learning and teach her/ him to study. As long as she/ he is unafraid of change, has a creative and critical mind and is aware of her/ his rights and
duties, the child will be fully equipped to meet the challenges of this age.”
Looking for investors and team members.
“We have some dreams, by realising which we could improve the process of
(self-) education: a town garden, a library in the hall, a young travellers’ zone, etc.
We are looking for teachers as there cannot be too many good teachers. A good
teacher means a good school where everyday is like a holiday!”
By Justina Ūsaitė
Algė:
“We want to live without any attachments to place or time. Starting Llamas
Valley has been our craziest idea ever.”
Eligijus:
“We sometimes joke that we know all of our several thousand readers personally. It is a very curious feeling, which stems from interaction in social
networks. We do our best to stay close to our readers, which is extremely
important.”
Looking for Series B investors.
16. Karalienė Morta School
By Agnė Adomaitytė
Tomas:
“Our website allows the user to select food from
a variety of restaurants and have everything in
one place. At present it boasts the largest assortment of home or office delivered food in Lithuania. It is timesaving, offers a wide range of food,
and allows the user to create an account which
will let you order your favourite meals next time
even faster.”
Looking for investors.
31
19. Made in Vilnius
Made in Kaunas
Made in Klaipėda
Start up
www.madeinvilnius.com
“Enough of rubbish and mud”
Evaldas:
“Lithuanian mass media focus on negative news submerging
everything that is worth reading. To my mind, a blind pursuit of
cheap popularity is at odds with responsibilities to the readers.
One of the most exciting things I do during the day is reading the
headlines of the major web portals. I hope very much that awards
for the editors of the dumbest headlines will be established one
day. Why do we post only positive news? Because we naively
hope that positive things help to live life. Enough of rubbish and
mud – we want to share important and beautiful things.”
By Dario Malinowski
www.mylap.se
“No age limits In starting a business”
32
Founders: Reda Štarė | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Audronė Pakalnytė | Age: 29 | Kaunas
Adomas Jazdauskas | Age: 25 | Panevėžys
Saulius Grigaliūnas | Age: 26 | Vilnius
Education: Reda – Bachelor of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics and Master of Banking from Vilnius
University | Chartered Financial Analyst Level 2
Audronė – Bachelor’s degree in English Philology and
Business Administration from Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas
Saulius – Bachelor of Informatics from Vilnius University
Adomas – Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Vilnius
“A place for fine food fans”
Reda:
“Travelling in India and Southeast Asia, staying with
local families, and savouring home-cooked meals
made me realise that it is a most wonderful experience embracing traditional food, cultural acquaintance,
and interaction. This is how the Plate Culture idea was
born.”
Audronė:
“When we started Plate Culture, our central target was
foreign visitors as we had a visitor experience ourselves. However, now local people longing for some
exciting experiences can find Plate Culture interesting
too. It is not only for tasting dishes from various cuisines (you can go to a restaurant for this); Plate Culture
has become a place that attracts fans of fine food.”
Looking for investors.
Founders: Andrius Rimkūnas | Age: 35 | Raseiniai
Aurimas Petrevičius | Age: 36 | Panevėžys
Education: : Andrius – Kaunas Faculty of Humanities Vilnius
University
Aurimas – Master’s degree from Faculty of Informatics Kaunas
University of Technology
Investments attracted: EUR 8,000 from StartupHighway
Andrius:
“There are no age limits at all in starting your own business. If
we didn’t believe this, we wouldn’t be answering these questions
now. We hope very much that our 18 years’ experience is a benefit
rather than a disadvantage. True that it is not that easy to be a
startup when you have family commitments; however, it’s not the
first day that we have been doing business, so we are used to it.”
Aurimas:
“To achieve success in business, you need to interact a lot – with
your clients, partners, suppliers, investors, reporters, mothers,
street cleaners, sellers, and taxi drivers. All depends on people and
their experience only. Our project entitled Mylap.se allows you to
share photos without any restrictions, directly, in private, automatically, and above all – on any platform.”
Looking for people who would like to use our tool; investors.
By Juliana Miliut
https://plateculture.com
Founders: Evaldas Činga | Age: 37 | Kupiškis
Donatas Padvelskis | Age: 30 | Birštonas
Education: Evaldas – Radio-Electronics
Donatas – Information Systems Analysis at Vytautas Magnus
University Kaunas
20. Mylap.se
21. Plate Culture
Start up
22. Noriunoriunoriu.lt
By Justina Ūsaitė
www.noriunoriunoriu.lt
Founders: Diana Šubelko | Age: 25 | Šalčininkai
Paulius Rimavičius | Age: 32 | Kaunas
Education: Diana – Bachelor of Tourism and Business
Administration from Vilniaus Kolegija (University of
Applied Sciences Vilnius) | Master of Electronic Business
from Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius
Paulius – Faculty of Informatics Vilnius University
“Lithuanians want a great but
cheap holiday!”
Diana:
“Lithuanians want a great but cheap holiday! This is what
we do: we work with the country’s best hotels and are able to
offer our clients a holiday for the lowest price in the market!
You can hardly imagine how happy we are when a client of
ours emails or calls us to say this: ‘It was superb. We had a
great time! We are looking forward to using your services
again and we’ll recommend you to our friends.’ This is what
inspires us to move forward and work even better!”
Looking for investors to enable development in Poland
(first steps have already been made www.chcechcechce.pl)
and other markets.
33
Start up
www.pocketfilms.lt
Founder: Simonas Gylys | Age: 29 | Šiauliai
Education: MA in Filmmaking from Arts University Bournemouth, UK
24. Sarkozy
www.simplehomes.lt
Founder: Indrė Šeibokienė | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Education: Bachelor of Real Estate Management
from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
“Extravagant and purposeless
buying is becoming a sign
of bad taste”
25. SkyDater
https://www.facebook.com/SarkozyBaras
Founders: Mantas Titas Urbonas | Age: 33 | Vilnius
Tomas Urbonas | Age: 36 | Vilnius
Education: Mantas and Tomas – Vilnius University and University
of Kent, UK
Support: Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund (Verslumo skatinimo
fondas) instrument utilized
Founders: Kęstutis Tirkšliūnas | Age: 28 | Šiauliai
Dainius Kontrimas | Age: 28 | Telšiai
Education: Kęstutis and Dainius – Informatics at Vilnius University
“The distinguishing feature of SkyDater is
greater objectivity in the users' profiles,
so that after meeting each other, people
wouldn't get disappointed”
Mantas:
“We are entirely francophone, however, with a focus on Normandy. I
am fond of Albert Camus’ books, his ideas, and the spirit of existentialism. When you are doing something nice or something unpleasant,
think of how you would see this moment if there was just a very short
time left for you to live. When in a hurry, we don’t reflect on this;
and yet when you realise that everything happens just once, your
mind brightens up. This is how we came to open Sarkozy – the first
and only appletery in the Baltic-Nordic region, which offers natural,
authentic homemade cider, calvados, pommeau, and other apple products coming right from the farms of Normandy.”
Looking for investors for further development.
By Justina Ūsaitė
www.skydater.com
“Albert Camus makes you realise that
you need to make your best; that’s why
everything has to be authentic,
meaningful, and delicious”
34
Indrė:
“Simple Homes is a dishes and home decor store, which will be characterised by a distinctive
interior design, completely offbeat store props,
exquisite Scandinavian products, and a unique
presentation of goods in the actual store and in
its e-version. People are getting more interested
in their living environment and want to turn their
home into a cozy oasis. It is gradually becoming
a fashion to buy a high quality item instead of
buying anything. Extravagant and purposeless
buying is becoming a sign of bad taste.”
Looking for a like-minded team member.
SImonas:
“Overseas it has been popular for a while now to present
goods or services in a witty, unconventional way using
mixed media techniques: photos, animation, computer
graphics, and videos. In Lithuania, on the other hand, there
was no enterprise to fill the niche. As the internet is taking
up more and more of the advertising platform each day, in
response to the changing world, we decided to establish a
video and animation studio, which will focus on explainer
and demo videos. Such a video is a perfect alternative to
companies which find traditional image advertising too
expensive.”
Looking for team members – animators, designers, sound
directors, screenwriters, and other specialists to create
pocket films together.
“In future every business will give up
boring Word docs and presentations”
26. Simple Homes
Kęstutis:
“Our app and website are principally designed for smartphone
users. What is particular about SkyDater is that it has the quick
Skype contacts. We try to put various ideas into practice and see
what people like. We will attempt as much objectivity as possible
in user profiles so that after meeting each other people would not
get disappointed seeing that profile information mismatches reality.
We are going to focus more on a person’s character and attitude rather than physical qualities alone. We invite you to contribute with
your ideas and feedback to the enhancement of the app. It is you
who will determine what it will look like in the future.”
Looking for future team members and investors for further development; want to establish contacts in advance.
23. Pocket Films
Start up
Start up
28. Stylegrid
By Juliana Miliut
www.stylegrid.co
Founder: Mantas Eigirdas | Age: 29 | Šiauliai
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering
from Kaunas University of Technology | Master’s degree in
Advanced Computing from University of Bristol, UK
Investments in total: USD 45,000 (from US investors)
and LTL 10,000 (personal funds)
Accelerator: StartupMonthly (Silicon Valley, USA)
“Why is it worth visualising your
wardrobe?”
27. TrackDuck
Mantas:
“We developed a social mobile app for creating a virtual
wardrobe from the photos of your clothes, so you never forget what you own, can browse your wardrobe easily, and
make up your daily outfits quickly. What is more, you can
have other people choose the right style for you. Finally, we
want to integrate our product into online shops, so before
each purchase you can mix and match the clothes you own
and those on display at a shop.”
Looking for investors who could grant bigger funding for
project development as well as a team member and partners
in the fields of software development, design, and business.
www.trackduck.com
Founders: Edmundas-Eddy Balčikonis | Age: 26 | Vilnius
Yauhen Ivaskevic | Age: 28 | Belarus
Anton Sevcenko | Age: 27 | Belarus
Education: Edmundas – Bachelor of Business Management and Administration from ISM University of Management and Economics
Yauhen – Bachelor of Radiophysics and Electronics from
Belarus State University
Anton – Bachelor of Computer-Aided Design from Belarus
National Technical University
Accelerator: successful participation in Startup Sauna
Finland whereby the first investor was attracted; the team
members met at the Garage 48 Developers’ Competition in
Estonia.
Edmundas:
TrackDuck is a way for prompt feedback from website visitors and clients, when you don't have to take snapshots,
open additional programmes, and write tedious emails. Everything takes place right on the website: with one click a
visitor marks an issue, which may be a technical, design,
or content error. We mark this place right on the website,
automatically save it as it looked for the visitor, and enter
the key technical details: browser version, operating system,
etc. Ducks are quick to fish out all kind of bugs from the
pool. That's why we are called TrackDuck helping you to
track and fix all bugs.”
Looking for investors who could invest EUR 300,000,
partners in other network development platforms and a
team member – developer with experience in Node.js and
Angular.js
36
“Our solution saves web developers a
lot of time when communicating with
their clients”
37
Start up
32. Trumpam.lt
30. TransportRent.lt
Founders: Antonas Vjalcinas | Age: 28 | Vilnius
Igoris Petrenko | Age: 28 | Vilnius
Education: Antonas – Bachelor of Information Technology and Master of Business Administration from Vilnius
Igoris – Bachelor of Economics and Business Fundamentals from Vilnius Pedagogical University (now Lithuanian
University of Educational Sciences)
Founders: Ernestas Kuprinskas | Age: 32 | Panevėžys
Vaidotas Kuzminskas | Age: 27 | Šilutė
Education: Ernestas – Master of Information Systems from
Kaunas University of Technology
Vaidotas – student at Faculty of Electronics Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
“Unique are all things comfortable
and simple”
31. Verskis.lt
“When you know where to start off, you’ll find the
right direction; when you find the right direction,
you won’t be able to tell Mondays and other
weekdays apart”
Aleksejus:
“It upsets me that a Monday morning is a horrible time. People are
grouchy and sullen. You need a lot of coffee to start the day. These are
just the symptoms that people are not doing the right job. My own experience proves that things can be different. I am convinced that Talent
Generation (Talentų Karta) is a pathway to feeling happy and valued
at work. Appreciation comes not from what you do, but from how you
do it.”
Saulius:
“The realization that the period until they are in their thirties is critical
for most people gave me a kick in the butt. It is the time when you can
make the most important decisions and find a firm footing. However, if
you don’t know where to start off… When you know where to start off,
you’ll find the right direction; when you find the right direction, you
won’t be able to tell Mondays and other weekdays apart.”
Darius:
“I don’t think you can get to know yourself completely. But what we
can do is to understand our potential better, our strengths and weaknesses. Our behavior is determined by certain inner reasons, which we
are often unaware of. That’s why by understanding those reasons you
get to know yourself.”
Looking for investors to enable creating the infrastructure and developing further processes as well as a team member who would meet the
key requirement to believe in the idea and have initiative.
www.verskis.lt
Founder: Vitalijus Dubietis | Age: 28 |
Vilnius
Education: Mathematics and Informatics
at Vilnius University
“Open an online store in five
minutes”
Vitalijus:
“The growing popularity of online stores
over the past few years has spurred us on
to look for innovative, more convenient and
improved solutions for electronic trading.
The team of Verskis.lt creates electronic business solutions to satisfy the needs for small
and large businesses alike. The development
of our own platform is a great advantage as
it makes us flexible and allows us to meet
individual needs of each client.”
Looking for investors to enable further
international development or a partner who
could facilitate outreach to foreign consumers.
Founders: Aleksejus Žaltkovskis | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Darius Pietaris | Age: 47 | Vilnius
Saulius Alksnevičius | Age: 26 | Vilnius
Education: Aleksejus – incomplete studies at Faculty
of Economics Vilnius University
Saulius – Master’s degree from Maastricht University,
The Netherlands
Darius – Business Management at Vilnius Gediminas
Technical University
Antonas:
“We have introduced a series of real innovations, first of
all – the new visual representation of rental apartments. We
are doing this in a completely different way. Part of the information is presented visually in pictograms. All the details
need to be classified and in their proper places. We stand out
primarily for our modern design and simple, user-friendly
presentation of information. Filtering and user-friendly navigation are very important too. Finally, you need to give it
all a lovely finish. This is exactly what our portal for shortterm housing in Lithuania is like.”
Looking for investments to further the project in Lithuania,
the Baltic states, and other markets.
Ernestas:
“If there is need – we are ready to get hold of and offer you
tanks, submarines, race cars, or other exotics. We are also thinking of space tourism. We are currently doing our homework
on this, so let’s keep the details in secret for a while.”
Vaidotas:
“Our aim is to give transport rent a modern perspective whereby the client could find the necessary transport without getting
lost in a myriad of classifieds and service providers.”
Looking for a team member – a dynamic personality, eager
to learn and willing to contribute to the development of TransportRent.lt.
“Travel by plane, train, or car – all-round
supply for the modern customer”
www.talentukarta.lt
www.trumpam.lt
By Dario Malinowski
http://transportrent.lt
29. Talentų Karta | Talent Generation
Start up
39 39
Start up
33. Versliukai.lt
By Justina Ūsaitė
http://versliukai.lt
Founder: Daumantas Kirkutis | Age: 26 |
Klaipėda
Education: Bussiness Administration at
LCC International University
Startup investment: approx. LTL
100,000
“We are happy to have a
Lithuanian name for our
enterprise and that it points
out directly what we promote”
Daumantas:
“The Lithuanian word verslas (‘business’)
means ‘everything we do for a living’ and
encompasses all fields of human activity.
We focus on small business advertising. We
are happy to have a Lithuanian name for our
enterprise and that it point out directly what
we promote.”
Looking for partners who would be interested in placing advertisements in this system and would be willing to contribute to
developing the system and promoting small
business in Lithuania.
34. Vardo etiketė | Name Label
By Juliana Miliut
www.vardoetikete.lt
Founders: Andrius Bigenis | Age: 33 | Kaunas
Skirmantė Bigenienė | Age: 34 | Kaunas
Education: Andrius – university of life
Skirmantė – Bachelor of Management and Business Administration at
Skirmantė:
We facilitate finding lost things and distinguishing clothes and other items in
schools and kindergartens. Most people order name tags while others prefer to
add a telephone number; we have also had a request to include the customer’s
blood group too. What distinguishes us from our competitors in Europe is the
technological solution for our online store, which allows you to design your
own label and see what it will look like."
Andrius:
“We‘ll keep on moving forward and are going to enter European markets
by developing our DIY production and offering the end user a possibility of
self-designing labels and name tags for business, home, or exciting festivals."
Looking for a partner or investor who would be willing to contribute to a
faster development of the project.
“How can marking help to keep
your stuff safe?”
41
35. Zalos24.lt
Start up
Start up
By Dario Malinowski
http://zalos24.lt
Founder: Tauras Mičiuda | Age: 30 | Vilnius
Education: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
“Our concern is to help you
restore property without
incurring financial loss”
Tauras:
“The business idea sprang from my work experience gained in a variety of insurance companies where I learned about the specificity of
insurance companies’ activity as well as the
specific needs and expectations of their clients
firsthand. In the meantime we focus on the Lithuanian market. Having started just a year ago,
we are now operating all over Lithuania. We
have plans to expand to neighbouring countries
in future.”
Looking for partners working with immovable
property and in the car industry.
36. V&V Boutique
www.viktorijos.lt
Founder: Viktorija Vaičiulienė | Age: 28 | Panevėžys
Education: LLM from Mykolas Romeris University
Vilnius
“I get the greatest satisfaction when
my client says that at last she has
something nice to put on”
42 42
Viktorija:
“The V&V concept is not defined by mass production,
which is why we consciously stop ourselves from making a clothes collection after attaining a definite number of items for each design. We seek to save individuality and singularity for our clients. We want them to
have a limited number of clothes that would mix and
match perfectly together. This is why we use only two
colours in each new collection. This makes it look discreet and organised.”
“We currently feel a great need for offering our product
to a foreign market. Therefore, we would be very happy
to find business partners in other European countries.”
43
Start up
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
www.aciety.com
40. AUTOkuponai.lt
Įkūrėjai: Aismantas Bulanavičius | Age: 22 | Kaunas
Dovydas Bulanavičius | Age: 27 | Kaunas
Tomas Pagirys | Age: 27 | Kaunas
Education: Aismantas and Tomas – Bachelor’s degree from Stockholm School of Economics Riga, Latvia
Dovydas – Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from
www. autokuponai.lt
Founder: Vidmantas Sterneckas | Age: 25 | Vilnius
Education: Advertising Management studies and Bachelor of Management and Business Administration at the
International School of Law and Business Vilnius
Startup investment: n/a
Aismantas:
“Aciety deals with the issue of IT projects development and shortage of developers. Our platform encourages flexibility of companies’
IT staff and makes it possible to reduce the risk that projects face
when hiring new employees.”
Tomas:
“Until recently we have sought crowdfunding. It really works - we
have more than 30 investors now!”
Dovydas:
“My biggest discovery was that Lithuania is a really startup-friendly
place as compared to many other places in the world.”
Tomas:
“Such kind of business is also fascinating in that we can work together from any place around the world where there is an internet
connection. Who knows, in five years you may find me in Bora Bora
Island, for example, trying to breed a new banana variety. We want
to create a Lithuanian Skype-like story of success.”
Looking for (crowdfunding) investors and team members – IT
specialists who would be willing to contribute to the development
of the platform in exchange for wages and stocks; partners – IT
companies which would like to get extra orders and have an easy
access to new developers.
“AUTOkuponai.lt saves drivers’ money”
38. AdDuplex
Vidmantas:
“AUTOkuponai.lt saves drivers’ money and offers them to
pay less for daily services. The customer no longer needs to
worry searching for more economic car repair or car wash
services. The website provides all relevant discounts on car
maintenance. For sellers of automotive products and services it serves as a tool facilitating the development of their
business. AUTOkuponai.lt can answer your questions on
how and for how much to sell.”
Looking for a team member willing to join in the activity
of the portal.
Photo: © BFL / ANdrius Ufartas
“We want to create a Lithuanian Skype-like
story of success”
www.adduplex.com
Founder: Alan Mendelevič | Age: 38 | Vilnius
Education: Bachelor of Computer Science from Vilnius
University
Investments attracted: LTL 1,380,000 from Practica
Capital
“App developers very often imagine
that after creating a good product,
success will follow”
44
Alan:
“Having been a .NET developer myself, I have noticed that
developers face problems promoting their Windows Phone
apps. I have been an active member of the global Windows
Phone developers’ community from the start, which let me
give the project a boost with no budget for marketing whatsoever. I launched the AdDuplex platform in just 2 months
after the world debut of Windows Phone, even if it was a
one man’s project. We are the largest ad exchange network
in the world for Windows Phone and Windows 8 apps; more
than 5 thousand apps world-wide use our platform.”
Looking for a team member – .NET web developer.
39. CGTrader
By Juliana Miliut
www.cgtrader.com
Founder: Marius Kalytis | Age: 34 | Vilnius
Education: BSc in Financial and Actuarial Mathematics from Vilnius
University
Accelerator: Startup.lt
37. Aciety
“Why is CGTrader a fair business environment?”
Marius:
“CGTrader is not only an online store that makes an opportunity for
authors to sell their products for the lowest fee in the market, but also a
place where designers and 3D computer graphics enthusiasts can learn
useful information, participate in peer-to-peer discussion, find partners
for various projects, showcase their creation and get feedback on it. Direct interaction between sellers and customers is promoted, which makes
it easier to bargain and reach a compromise when selling and buying 3D
models.”
Looking for investors to enable further development of the CGTrader
online store and a team member willing to contribute to the activity.
45
Start up
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
42. DevMotion
www.devmotion.eu
Founder: Andrius Juvko | Age: 30 | Vilnius
Education: Social Sciences at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Investments: Startup investments in total make up the
amount that equals the average cost of a new German medium car.
Andrius:
“Could I count today how many times I have answered the
question what virtual rehabilitation is? I don’t think I could,
which makes me happy. Every idea that has changed the
world had entailed a lot of questions. I believe that DevMotion is like that. Thanks to our solution, rehabilitation of a
patient can be transferred to her/ his home. The DevMotion platform enables the patient to perform rehabilitation
exercises with the use of video games while the therapist
automatically receives feedback on the exercises performed.
This way precious therapists’ time as well as patients’ money is saved and accessibility of rehabilitation for the public
is considerably increased.”
Looking for investors, a team member or a partner.
41. Dirt Rally
“A revolutionary solution”
www.dirtrally.net
Founder: Giedrius Rimkus | Age: 28 | Šiauliai
Education: Bachelor of Informatics (Software Systems)
from Šiauliai University
43. Dragdis
“A game that helps you climb into
another person’s skin”
46
www.dragdis.com
Giedrius:
„As children, we all dreamt of what we’d become when we
grew up and played various role games, which are, to my
mind, somewhat related to our wish to feel what it’s like to
be in another person’s skin. The Dirt Rally game is meant
for autosport fans - someone who would like, but may not
have the opportunity to become a rally team manager.”
Looking for investors for further development and improvement of the product; team members who would be able to
bring something new, and partners who would be willing to
contribute to the project in one or another way.
By Juliana Miliut
Founders: Domas Sabockis | Age: 23 |
Tauragė
Eugenijus Jusas | Age: 28 | Alytus
Karolis Malcevičius | Age: 20 | Jonava
Education: Domas – Advertising Management at Vilniaus Kolegija (University of
Applied Sciences Vilnius)
Eugenijus – Computer Engineering at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University |
Master of Electronic Business Management
from Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius
Karolis – student of Software Systems at
Vilniaus Kolegija (University of Applied
Sciences Vilnius)
Startup investment: EUR 14,000 from
StartupHighway
Investments in total: EUR 214,000
“How simplicity leads to productivity”
Domas:
“There is no simple way to collect the content found online. To do this, you normally have to perform multiple actions, which is why you don’t do it at all. Thus
you end up in a mess in your bookmarks bar, on your desktop or anywhere else,
which makes it even more difficult to find anything there in the future.”
Eugenijus:
“Dragdis deals with all! Instead of performing countless actions, you just need
to drag and drop. One action only! Dragdis remarkably shortens the collection
process.”
Karolis:
“Information collection will become faster and more efficient. The simpleness of
Dragdis speaks for itself. Try it yourself.”
Looking for a team member with expertise in advertising networks, information
analysis experts, developers, and investors.
47
46. Roommate Wanted
44. Form Schema
www.formschema.com
Founder: Domantas Jovaišas | Age: 31 | Varniai
Education: Bachelor of Informatics from Kaunas
University of Technology
TECHNOLOGY
By Juliana Miliut
http://gyviau.lt/ieskau-kambarioko
Founder: Laurynas Bareikis | Age: 23 |
Šiauliai
Education: Computer Linguistics at
Investments in total: practically none
as we cooperate with Gyviau.lt, a youthoriented project, on a voluntary basis with
the purpose of acquiring practical experience.
“A solution to give a boost to a project”
45. Friday Lab
By Dario Malinowski
www.fridaylab.com
Laurynas:
“The idea of the project is straightforward.
The main objective is to make it possible
for the users to find a roommate or home
easily. The website is primarily intended
for young people and those in search of a
new home. As I have needed to look for a
new home a few times myself, I perfectly
understand how important it is.”
Looking for investors who could enable
the growth of the portal as well as increase in portal traffic and popularity; partners
to join up, giving a boost to the number of
ads and contributing to a successful future
for the portal.
Founders: Aurelijus Liubinas | Age: 29 | Šiauliai
Rolandas Sereika | Age: 29 | Kėdainiai
Education: Aurelijus – Kaunas University of Technology
Rolandas – Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
47. Gmarketing.lt
“Can smart fish biting be real and a
Lithuanian product well-known in
the world?”
Rolandas:
“Yes, it can. The smart sonar developed by our company is
a perfect example of this. As little as 100 grams weighing
Deeper can easily fit in your fishing tackle box or your pocket and can be used at any fishing location any time. All the
information a fisher might need is contained in a smartphone
app developed by the company.”
Aurelijus:
“With the help of our partners, Deeper is produced, assembled, and tested exclusively in Lithuania even though not all
of the parts for the appliance can be produced here. Yet we
are happy that the dream we have been firmly pursuing is
becoming a reality.”
Looking for investors willing to invest in the production
equipment and personnel of the enterprise and its territorial
development.
By Veronika Bielinytė
www.gmarketing.lt
Founder: Vilius Gudonis | Age: 25 | Vilnius
Education: Bachelor of Business Management from ISM University of Management and
Economics
Startup investment: LTL 1
“How can small enterprises attract new customers
via the internet?”
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
“In what way are you
different from other home
rentals websites?”
Domantas:
“With Form Schema users will have more flexibility in building an app.
They will be able to choose a necessary input format, apply validation rules,
and link with the existing systems. Registered users can not only enter data
through the control panel, but also get instruction and guidance on how to
link with other apps and systems easily. I hope that Form Schema will considerably shorten the duration of small and medium size projects.”
Looking for investors to enable software rental model and a team member
with expertise in apps (&gt, 5m IT web/mobile, NoSQL, MS ASP .NET
MVC, ServiceStack).
48
Start up
Vilius:
“The majority of buyers look up information on goods or services in the internet, more specifically – using Google search engine. 72 percent of city-dwellers in Lithuania have access
to the internet, which means that 7 out of 10 potential customers can be reached by internet.
Therefore, small enterprises should attempt to be easily found in search engine results. This
can be achieved by SEO (search engine optimisation) when a company’s website is moved to
the top position in Google provided list of search results. This is an investment in advertising
that pays off the most in the long run.”
Looking for team members – SEO specialists, affiliate specialists and social
network specialists.
Start up
49. Integrated Optics
TECHNOLOGY
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
www.integratedoptics.eu
51. YPlan
48. ImpressPages
By Juliana Miliut
www.impresspages.org
Founders: Audrius Jankauskas | Age: 28 | Kaunas
Mangirdas Skripka | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Mindaugas Stankaitis | Age: 31 | Šakiai
Education: Audrius – Master of Management and Business
Administration from Kaunas University of Technology
Mangirdas – Master of Software Systems from Vilnius University
Mindaugas – Bachelor studies in Photography and Visual Art at
Vilnius Academy of Arts
http://yplanapp.com/app
“The longer we work with lasers, the more
fascinated we get about them”
Evaldas:
“All laser appliances serve a very special function – laser emits
photons, i.e. tiny particles of light. When they hit something on
their way – be it a potato or a banana – photons may behave in a
variety of ways: some simply bounce off, others penetrate inside,
get absorbed, and later the material spits them back out while the
remaining get absorbed and turn into thermal particles. By identifying these transformed photons properly, it is possible to tell
what exactly they had hit on their way – a ripe or unripe banana,
high-starch potato, etc.”
Jonas:
“The longer we work with lasers, the more fascinated we get with
them. It is now more difficult to specify what lasers cannot do
rather than what you can do with them.”
Looking for investors to expand production in the 2nd half of
2014 and implement the company’s sensor project.
50. IQ Polls
“Best ideas come from daily activities”
Rytis:
“IQ Polls direct voting tool emerged from the wish to get back the
audience’s attention in lectures, seminars, and conferences.”
Artūras:
“I have been a university teacher for more than twelve years. I had
noticed that over the past five years my colleagues and I had been
losing our audiences to their smart devices. We used the same smart
equipments to get back the attention – it is like using the jiu-jitsu in
a certain way.”
Rytis:
“As soon as we started creating the tool, we noticed that it suits
ideally to connect the readership of publications with the audience
online.”
Artūras:
“I notice that we frequently stumble upon the very best ideas during
our daily activities. For instance, while talking to an acquaintance
lawyer, it dawned on me that the IQ Polls tool could be used to
assess the clients’ satisfaction whereas the idea of the Happy Barometer emerged after a cup of coffee in the afternoon following an
insomniac night.”
Looking for investors and a partner to advance the use of the tool
internationally.
Founders: Viktoras Jucikas | Age: 32 | Birštonas
Rytis Vitkauskas | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Education: Viktoras – Bachelor of Computer Science from
Kaunas University of Technology and Master of Computational Science from Jacobs University Bremen, Germany
Rytis – Bachelor of Integrated Social Sciences (Economics)
| Master’s cum laude in Business Administration from Harvard Business School
Investments in total: approx. LTL 35 mln.
Investments attracted: investors have allocated a total
of USD 13.7 mln. in support of the app business development; BaltCap, a venture capital investor, has invested in
the project too.
“ How to create a product that could
captivate such a hollywood celebrity
like Ashton Kutcher?”
Rytis:
“YPlan app makes it possible for you to purchase last-minute tickets to events paying with a credit card. This is what
the name of the app comes from – YPlan.”
Viktoras:
“When talking about Ashton, it takes a lot of work… Only
this makes things happen. As Ashton Kutcher has said, with
YPlan you can find best events and book them in a sec. It’s a
mobile answer to the question: What’s my plan for today?”
Looking for a team members http://yplan.theresumator.com
Founders: Artūras Jonkus | Age: 46 | Skuodas County
Rytis Laurinavičius | Age: 30 | Vilnius
Education: Artūras – Philology studies at Vilnius University
Rytis – Political Science at the Institute of International Relations
and Political Science Vilnius University
Investments attracted: from Oxygen Venture Capital OU
50
https://iqpolls.com
“How to rock the global CMS market?”
Audrius:
“We have put together an exceptional team to create what people
need and value. ImpressPages is a tool for professional web developers, which empowers them to create better and nicer websites, do it faster and as a result, attract more customers and earn
more money.”
Mangirdas:
“Drag&Drop makes the development and administration of
websites easier and up to several times faster. It is so simple and
natural for everyone – even those with no technical skills.”
Mindaugas:
“ImpressPages allows you to create an attractive, modern, mobile-friendly website able to meet everyone’s unique wishes and
do it in a super simple and easy way.”
Looking for Series A investors for project development. ImpressPages website currently has 45,000 users and has been
translated into 33 languages.
By Juliana Miliut
Founders: Jonas Jonuška | Age: 30 | Klaipėda
Evaldas Pabrėža | Age: 28 | Telšiai
Education: Jonas – Bachelor of Telecommunication Physics
and Electronics and Master of Laser Physics and Optic Technology from Vilnius University
Evaldas – Bachelor of Modern Technology Physics and Management and Master of Laser Technology from Vilnius University
Investments attracted: from Business Angels Fund I to
equip the labs and accomplish the development of the first
products
51
TECHNOLOGY
52. KickerPicker.com
Start up
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
54. KurGyvenu.lt
www.kurgyvenu.lt
Founders: Andrius Gintalas | Age: 30 | Telšiai
Jokūbas Nečiūnas | Age: 26 | Ukmergė
Education: Andrius – LLM from Vilnius University
Jokūbas – Software Systems Engineering studies at Vilnius University, temporarily suspended due to hectic business activity
Accelerator: StartupHigway
Startup investment: founders’ time
Investments in total: StartupHigway (June 2012) and Practica Capital (October 2013)
By Juliana Miliut
https://kickerpicker.com
Marius:
“KickerPicker.com is a unique global platform for people who need something, are
looking for something to buy, want something to sell or swap, or want to share
with their friends about the best thing
they’ve seen today provided it is related to
material objects, promotions in shops, etc.”
Arūnas:
“You can comment on the stuff you’ve
seen, discuss about it, like or dislike, share
items over all social networks world-wide,
and get in touch with sellers promptly via
the intranet.”
Donatas:
“To get a trademark for KickerPicker.com
valid all over Europe, we needed a new
good idea, a business model to support it
with, a new approach to internet users’ behaviour, and a creative attitude to design,
functionality, and content interactivity.”
Looking for investors for project development.
52
53. Keenjar
Andrius:
“KurGyvenu.lt provides up-to-date, objective, and systemised
data such as market price, heating costs, air pollution level, crime
rates, distance to industrial objects, sights, educational institutions, downtown, etc. on the immovable property searched for as
well as tools for managing this information. Comparison of the
current situation at regional and national level is also available.”
Andrius:
“Data are collected from the sources that manage the information.
For example, information on heating costs is obtained from Vilniaus Energija heating systems operator. This ensures reliability
of the information provided on the website.”
Looking for a team member – sales manager.
www.keenjar.com
Founders: Domas Juškys | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Audrius Ringaila | Age: 28 | Tauragė
Education: Domas – Violin at Hanns Eisler Academy of
Music Berlin
Audrius – Master of Environmental Architecture from
Glasgow School of Art
Startup investment: USD 50,000
“What innovation does the internet bring
to the learning process?”
Domas:
“To begin with, learning becomes possible anytime, i.e.
students can learn in their individual pace. A person is not
attached to a geographic location. Let’s say you live in a
small village. Learning would not be very inspiring there,
but if you have an internet connection, information from all
over the world now becomes available to you. At Keenjar
we try to take the best things from both the real world and
the internet, i.e. human interaction from reality and consistent access to information provided by the internet.”
Audrius:
“Learning is much more than acquisition of knowledge.
It also includes networking and interaction, that is, all the
things that take place outside the classroom. With Keenjar
we seek to utilize this aspect as well.”
Looking for like-minded people seeking to change the
world and democratize learning.
“How to create a product
good enough to get a
european trademark?”
“How does KurGyvenu.lt facilitate search
for immovable properties?”
Founders: Donatas Juškus | Age: 35 | Vilnius
Marius Leiburas | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Arūnas Stankevičius | Age: 27 | Vilnius
Education: Donatas – Bachelor of Sociology from Vilnius University | Master of
International Trade from International Business School at Vilnius University
Marius – BA in Popular Music from Vilniaus Kolegija (University of Applied Sciences Vilnius)
Arūnas – Bachelor of Construction Engineering from Vilnius Gedimino Technical
University
Investments in total: USD 150,000
By Juliana Miliut
53
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
http://lifeismobile.eu/en
Founder: Andrius Butvilas | Age: 31 | Panevėžys
Artautas Jasinskas | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Paulius Jankevičius | Age: 26 | Pasvalys County
Laurynas Gavienas | Age: 33 | Vilnius
Education: Andrius – Master's degree in Banking
Artautas – Bachelor of Telecommunications from
Paulius – Master's degree in Computer Simulation
Models from Vilnius University
Laurynas – Computer Programming from Vilniaus
Kolegija (University of Applied Sciences Vilnius)
57. Mobile Worker
www.mworker.com
Founders: Ramunė Jančauskaitė-Augutė | Age: 31 | Šiauliai
Evaldas Augutis | Age: 36 | Šiauliai
Education: Ramunė – Bachelor of Business Management
and Administration from LCC International University | Master of Marketing Management from Klaipėda University
Evaldas – Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from Šiauliai
University
Investments in total: LTL 10,000 | in addition, investors
from Mosoft, a Norwegian company, who support us
“In what way has smart mobile
technology changed our lives?”
By Justina Ūsaitė
http://myday.lt
Founder: Armina Staniulienė | Age: 33 | Vilnius
Education: Bachelor of International Business and Master
of International Communication from Vilnius University |
Complementary studies at the Academy of Psychology
“Smart wedding”
Armina:
“I seek to create a high quality service and start new wedding
planning practices in Lithuania. Myday.lt makes planning of
a wedding simple and smart, so future newlyweds can do
it by themselves. The website provides relevant technical
solutions, data bases, and all the know-how to make the process smooth and stressless.”
Looking for a partner who would be willing to develop
this business idea together and could contribute with ideas,
finance, time, and support.
54
Ramunė:
“Mobile Worker is a solution targeting the growing market for
mobile workers. A mobile worker has no permanent workstation, which makes for the need to track mobile workers’ work
time and document the results of the work accomplished.”
Evaldas:
“Mobile Worker is targeted at foreign service-providing
enterprises. For instance, electricians, road hauliers, construction workers, and plumbers need to perform work in compliance with established requirements, carefully register time
used up for the project, and illustrate the result with snapshots
or additional documents.”
Looking for partners who could help introduce the product
to foreign markets and team members – enthusiastic, creative
people with an interest in technologies and a wish to excel.
58. Manodaktaras.lt
By Juliana Miliut
www.manodaktaras.lt
Founders: Robertas Sadovskis | Age: 28 | Vilnius
Mindaugas Galvanauskas | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Laimonas Misiūnas | Age: 28 | Vilnius
Education: Robertas – International Business at Vilnius
University
Mindaugas – E-Commerce at Vilniaus Kolegija (University of Applied Sciences Vilnius)
Laimonas – Business Management at ISM University of
Management and Economics
56. Myday.lt
“Mobile work time tracking device”
Andrius:
“Smartphones permeate our lives; they have become
our indispensable daily companions. They have replaced for most of us such accessories and devices as notebooks, maps, cameras, and even computers. The app
capacity has rapidly extended the scope of application
of smartphones. Life is Mobile helps one to expand trade and enables fast and inexpensive access to each individual client, which results in decreased trading costs
and reduced prices of products and services.”
Looking for investors to support further development
of the project in Lithuania and abroad.
By Juliana Miliut
“How did Manodaktaras.lt start?”
Photo: BFL / Vygintas Skaraitis
55. Life is Mobile
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
Mindaugas:
“Manodaktaras.lt is a web portal which assists patients
in finding, choosing, and making an appointment with a
private medical practitioner and helps doctors to get new
patients.”
Robertas:
“After returning to Lithuania from a foreign country, I needed a good specialised doctor and I saw that it wasn’t that
easy! I realised then what a complicated and time-consuming business it was.”
Laimonas:
“It turns out possible to find a good specialist with just
a few mouse clicks and make an appointment any time
during the day.”
Start up
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
www.synergycloud.lt/lt
Founders: Marijus Andrijauskas | Age: 31 | Kretinga
Tomas Vilmanas | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Education: Marijus – Bachelor of Informatics from
Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas
Tomas – Bachelor of Law and Management from
Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius
Startup investment: proceeds from other activities
www.tagofjoy.lt
Founders: Šarūnas Ledas | Age: 25 | Vilnius
Žilvinas Ledas | Age: 27 | Vilnius
Education: Šarūnas – Bachelor and Master of Software
Systems from Vilnius University
Žilvinas – Bachelor and Master of Software Systems, currently postgraduate student of Informatics at Vilnius University
Support: EUR 50,000 from AppCampus.fi Fund
Šarūnas:
“Monster Buster is a game in which a real-world environment is merged with a mobile game. Using a mobile phone
you can view otherworldly little monsters, quickly multiplying in a real-world environment; to rein them in, you
need to fight them. This makes our daily environment more
exciting while the time spent playing becomes an endless
process of discovery.”
Žilvinas:
“Besides, the game encourages you to take part in creating
an alternative world. Distinctive characters, a joy of discovery, and brief though compelling fights are something what
the majority will like. Our game is oriented to those who
enjoy going for a stroll, visiting other cities, or traveling somewhere far away.”
Looking for a team member – a gifted developer willing to
create games and interesting video applets. Proficiency and
experience in server or network programming is desirable,
but not mandatory.
“How important is it for an entrepreneur to
know the customer’s date of birth?”
“A new form of leisure”
By Juliana Miliut
60. MobilityBee
Marijus:
“Every entrepreneur seeks to build a long-term relationship with
her/ his customer and makes serious efforts to find a loyal customer.
After one has been found, the entrepreneur makes every attempt to
find another customer. However, then she/ he does not usually dedicate enough time and effort for the customer she/ he has found
before. Trivial as it may seem at first glance, knowing your customer’s date of birth, likes, and interests often appears of great value.
You can send your customer birthday greetings and present her/ him
with what she/ he likes; you can also keep the conversation going by
focusing on your customer’s interests.”
Looking for a partner with expertise in exporting software products, who could assist in furthering the activity in foreign markets.
Photo: from personal archiv
59. Monster Buster
61. Synergy Cloud
TECHNOLOGY
62. ReCredible
www.mobilitybee.com
www.recredible.com
Founders: Ernestas Žvaigdždinas | Age: 27 | Vilnius
Tadas Kleinauskas | Age: 25 | Kaunas
Education: Ernestas – Bachelor of Business
Management from Vilnius University
Tadas – Bachelor of Computer Programming
Technology from Kaunas University of Technology
Contributors: Laisvūnas Butkus (business angel) and Laurynas Kublickas
Founder: Vaidas Repečka | Age: 37 | Kaunas
Education: Economics at Vytautas Magnus University
Kaunas | Singularity University, Silicon Valley, USA
Place of business: Kaunas Hi-Tech and Information
Technologies Park
“Innovative system for information
search and elearning”
Ernestas:
“MobilityBee operates under one roof with our Pirmas Milijonas (The First Million) company, the name for which was given
when we were 3rd year students; it ideally reflects the positive
attitude and ambition we had at that time. Since several of our
startups went bankrupt, the ambition is what has remained. We
were the first in the Baltics to start developing technologies for
mobile commerce and have gained the most advanced position
in Europe over a few years. The MobilityBee platform extends
ecommerce enterprises on mobile devices.”
Tadas:
“We can see that mobile technologies tend to become more and
more popular in general; trade migration and mobile trading
apps are no exception.”
Looking for strategic investors and partners who could help
the product enter foreign markets; team members with an interest in mobile technologies, especially mobile commerce.
“Trade migration will soon be reality”
56
56
Vaidas:
“In a world managed through a touchscreen whereby Kinect and the progressive Leap Motion can sense your movements, smartphones can track your eyes, and various
devices can read your brain signals, information should be
presented in a different way. New technologies empower
us to learn anywhere and anytime; the most common form
of learning is informal learning, which is happening unconsciously while we are browsing in the internet. ReCredible is an innovative system that consists of mind maps in
the shape of interconnected variable size nodes, which allow you to find information quickly and by unfolding these
nodes into smaller ones, you can see how the concepts are
interlinked as well as acquire the knowledge effortlessly
and efficiently.”
Looking for investors with the purpose of installing online learning functions and consolidating the ReCredible
users’ community.
57
64. Smash Tennis Booking
www.semseye.com
Founder: Paulius Lengvenis | Age: 27 | Kaunas
Education: postgraduate student of Informatics Engineering at Kaunas University of Technology
Project: the idea evolved while implementing a R&D commercialisation project with Kaunas Unversity of Technology
“A unique product for people
flow counting”
Paulius:
“What is needed for foreigners to see Lithuania as a major IT center? Something relevant and essential, a different
approach, a solution of novel functionality or a life-changing
product. A technological breakthrough to say to the world:
'We are innovative and strong!' A mere signboard ‘Major IT
center' is not enough. Competence and earnest work will pull
us through.”
Looking for partners and potential buyers and distributors
of SemsEye.
Founders: Gabrielė Anušauskaitė | Age: 23 | Klaipėda
Romanas Drokovas | Age: 35 | Vilnius
Rūta Bylaitytė | Age: 24 | Klaipėda
Marius Padvilikis | Age: 31 | Kėdainiai
Education: Gabrielė – Bachelor of Cultural History and Anthropology (specialisation in Tourism) from Vilnius University
| Master of International Business and Law from International
Business School at Vilnius University
Romanas – Bachelor of International Business and Law from
International Business School at Vilnius University | Master of
Electronic Business from Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius
Rūta – Bachelor of Transport Engineering Economics and Management (specialisation in Logistics) and Master of Transport
Logistics from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Marius – Bachelor of Applied Mathematics from Kaunas University of Technology | Master of Applied Statistics from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Accelerator: StartupHighway in 2013
“At one stroke”
Gabrielė:
“The zaisktenisa.lt reservation system will allow you not only
to find and book tennis courts efficiently, but also to invite other
tennis players to test the power of their serves with you. Or you
can find yourself a coach here too.”
Romanas:
“It is an undoubtedly the best and easiest way to organise your
game.”
Rūta:
“After taking care of tennis-infected players, we thought we
should attend to beginners as well. This is why we launched
isbandyktenisa.lt. To introduce you to tennis, we offer coaching
sessions with every single detail planned carefully from a to z:
a coach, a tennis court, a group of players, racquets, and balls.
You can hardly find a smoother and easier landing right on a
tennis court all over Lithuania!”
Marius:
“AAll you need to do is to create your profile in our portal or
get in touch with us by contacts indicated on our website.”
Looking for investors for international development, local
partners in every foreign market, and team members – programmers and a designer.
65. Soundest Desk
By Justina Ūsaitė
www.soundest.com
Founder: Rytis Laurinavičius | Age: 30 | Vilnius
Education: Institute of International Relations
and Political Science Vilnius University
“It takes less than 10 minutes to
start using our platform”
Rytis:
“Email is a communication channel, which is why it can
communicate messages of various content. Our system is
specialised and is especially valuable for online stores. The
system has been (or will be in the nearest future) installed in
a total 10 of the world’s most popular ecommerce platforms.
It takes less than 10 minutes to start using our platform.”
Looking for investors and partners – enterprises engaged
in development and installation of ecommerce platforms
and eshops as well as results oriented marketing agencies,
which would be willing to cooperate in customising and
offering Soundest Desk system to their clients.
www.zaisktenisa.lt
TECHNOLOGY
63. SEMSeye
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
66. TransferGo
https://transfergo.com/en/home
Founders: Daumantas Dvilinskas | Age: 25 | Vilnius
Justinas Lasevičius | Age: 26 | Lazdijai
Edvinas Šeršniovas | Age: 24 | Utena
Arnas Lukoševičius | Age 33 | Kaunas
Education: Daumantas – BBus from Lancaster University Management School, UK
Justinas – Bachelor of Finance from Lancaster University Management School, UK
Edvinas – Business and Pharmacy at Kingston University, UK
Arnas – incomplete university studies
Investments attracted: EUR 350,000 from Practica Capital
Start up
“Our goal is to move forward!”
Daumantas:
“We have attempted to gradually change the world around us because we believed
and still believe that any business is first of all a process and only after that – money.”
Justinas:
“While studying and doing business in the UK, we would frequently face the money
transfer problem. Making money transfers between financial institutions in Lithuania
and UK was not only inconvenient, but also far too expensive. This is why we decided
to create a new convenient method of money transfer between different countries.”
Daumantas:
“Our dream is a financial tunnel to link America with the Old Continent. Our goal is
to move forward!”
Looking for Europe-based investors at global level, who would have business
network in the finance field. Investments would enable even more rapid development
in Europe and beyond.
59
Start up
Start up
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
70. Verslo rykliai
www.trustribe.com
Founders: Robertas Višinskis | Age: 33 | Vilnius
Arnoldas Žvinys | Age: 25 | Vilnius
Education: Robertas – Informatics at Kaunas University of Technology
Arnoldas – Economics at Vilnius University
Investments: from Practica Capital KŪB
Accelerator: Startup.lt
www.trafi.com
68. Watchar
“Transferrable reputation – what is this?”
Robertas:
“Our instruments allow people to accumulate their reputation capital in
different websites. We made it open-ended, i.e. reputation accumulated
in one portal can be utilized elsewhere. Bringing your reputation along to
another community, you prove your trustworthiness to the members of this
community.”
Arnoldas:
“In the future reputation will become a kind of currency that people will use
in the same way as they now use money or gift vouchers. It will have an
advantage over money as reputation is resistant to depreciation and can be
enhanced only by creating value to others.”
Looking for second-stage investors to enable improvement of the system
and development in foreign countries.
By Juliana Miliut
www.watcharound.me
Founders: Evaldas Venskutonis | Age: 30 | Ukmergė
Ignas Gudaitis | Age: 27 | Kaunas
Education: Evaldas – Bachelor of Advertising Management from Vilniaus Kolegija (University of Applied Sciences Vilnius) | Bachelor of Management and Business Administration from Vilnius University
Ignas – Freight Forwarding and Logistics at Kaunas School
of Applied Arts | Civil Engineering (incomplete studies) at
Investments in total: LTL 340,000 consisting of direct
investments and sweat equity – 11 months’ unpaid work
“Targeting the US market”
60
60
69. TRAFI
Evaldas:
“In the beginning we focus on the US market as this country
offers a solid, wide, cultivated, and economically sustainable market. Moreover, we are going to introduce our product to the US customers with the help of a team member
residing in the States, who has a profound knowledge of the
specificity of the local market and marketing techniques and
could give sound advice about how to introduce this type of
product in this economy.”
Ignas:
“As soon as it has gained a foothold in the big country’s
economy, our product will become noticeable and attractive
to businesses around the world. This is why our first target
is the USA market.”
Looking for investors. Approx. EUR 250,000 is required
to market the project, purchase computer equipment and
software and above all – finalize the project and launch it in
the US market as soon as possible.
Founder: Jurgis Pašukonis | Age: 30 | Vilnius
Martynas Gudonavičius | Age: 26 | Jonava
Mantas Vizbaras | Age: 30 | Vilnius
Algimantas Krasauskas | Age: 28 | Ylakiai
Education: Jurgis – Bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, USA | Master’s degree from Imperial College London, UK | PhD from Queen Mary University of London
Martynas – Bachelor’s degree from Kaunas University of Technology
Mantas – Bachelor and Master from Vilnius University
Algimantas – Bachelor’s degree from Vilnius University
Investments attracted: USD 500,000 from Practica Capital
“Get people going”
Jurgis:
“Trafi allows you to forget cars and brings back various commuting
alternatives such as taxi, cycling, or walking.”
Martynas:
“When using Trafi, all possible ways to commute from door to door
are provided. You choose what suits you best.”
Mantas:
“I drive a car nearly every day. I am not familiar with public transport
routes; I don’t even know the names of bus stops. In such cases Trafi
is indispensable – you just turn on the app and mark your destination
on the map or enter the address. In a few seconds you have your directions.”
Algimantas:
“Trafi is useful for cyclers too as it allows looking up Cyclocity bike
rental terminal locations in Vilnius and checking the availability of
bikes.”
Jurgis:
“With Trafi you can monitor the journey of the vehicle in real time –
whether it is going to arrive at your bus stop late or before time.”
Looking for team members – developers using iOS and Android mobile operating systems, the very best in Lithuania!
Founders: Eglė Zajankauskaitė | Age: 22 | Alytus
Šarūnas Nemura | Age: 22 | Kaunas
Gerda Rimeikaitė | Age: 22 | Joniškis
Education: Šarūnas and Eglė – students of Computer Linguistics at Kaunas University of Technology
Gerda – student of New Media Art at Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas
Investments: participated in the intracompany project of UAB
Open Planes, which enabled us to create a project without any
funds.
“Like any other art, folk art enriches
the human spirit”
Eglė:
“Our goal is to create a space where different craftspeople and
folk artists could display their works and find customers. We
long for authenticity. It’s great to be able to enjoy objects made
with infinite love, when each millimeter is permeated with the
creator’s heart and soul.”
Gerda:
“I suppose the biggest discovery in this project was the sincerity
of people making folklore articles, their dedication and faith in
what they are doing and most importantly – not for profit, which
was fairly unexpected to me.”
Šarūnas:
“We are looking for and awaiting everyone willing to join in and
hope that our folk artists’ community will keep growing.”
Looking for team members and partners willing to contribute
to the development of the project.
67. Trustribe
www.rykliai.lt
61
61
Start up
Start up
TECHNOLOGINIS
IMMIGRANT
72. Worapay
www.worapay.com
Founders: Aurimas Bakas | Age: 31 | Vilnius
Vaidas Adomauskas | Age: 29 | Marijampolė
Education: Aurimas – Bachelor’s degree in Business
Management and Master’s degree in Political Science from
Vilnius University
Vaidas – Master’s degree in Information Systems Engineering and Management from University of Gothenburg,
Sweden
71. withEvent.com
Vaidas:
“By installing POS (point of sale) software together with
core banking systems, we are creating a new category for
settlement – infrastructure for mobile wallets. We offer a
wide range of new products for traders to reduce their money
transfer costs and facilitate bigger sales and wider application
of their services.”
Aurimas:
“We are sometimes asked if we have anything in common
with spiders? Yes! Over the next few years, Worapay (Lith.
'voras' means 'spider') project is going to spiderweb a great
number of countries, where we intend to set our foot in.”
Vaidas:
“We believe that in five years each of us will have a mobile
wallet. It will save us a lot of time, which we now spend in
a queue or waiting for the bill at a restaurant. In the future,
it may be enough to nod your head in order to settle the payment – you won’t even need a phone.”
Looking for investors who could grant EUR 500,000 to
support the development of the project in 10 countries, for
which an easily extendable technical solution has been prepared.
By Juliana Miliut
http://withevent.com
Founders: Daugilas Kakaras | Age: 27 | Vilnius
Artūras Paleičikas | Age: 28 | Vilnius
Education: Daugilas – Technology Management
Artūras – Computer Programming
Investments received: EUR 11,000 from StartupHighway
“It may be enough to nod your head to
settle accounts in the future – you won’t
even need a phone.”
73. Bliu Bliu
http://bliubliu.com/en/
Founder: : Claudio Santori | Age: 36 | Jesi, Italy
Education: Bachelor of Economics from Roma Tre University,
Italy
Investments attracted: EUR 105,000 (EUR 5,000 from an Italian business angel and EUR 100,000 from a Lithuanian business
angel)
“In what ways do modern technologies change
the language learning process?”
62
62
“Moble apps for festivals
and conferences”
Daugilas:
“We had worked for a long time programming for
others. Having our own business had always seemed
interesting and appealing. This is how we came about
to create a product for festivals and conferences, which
is intended not for the end user, the visiting public, but
for the event organiser.”
Artūras:
“We’ve had backstage experience ourselves, so we are
aware of how complicated it is for a team consisting
of hardly a dozen people to satisfy thousands of visitors’ wishes and expectations. That’s why we attempt
to create a service which could make event organisers’
work easier, which is a great inspiration and driving
force for us.”
Claudio:
“Due to modern technologies our learning habits are undergoing quite considerable changes. We are moving away from classroom and
private classes, which are time-consuming and expensive methods,
and turn to online learning whereby the learner can get what she/ he
wants and whenever she/ he wants for a much lower price or sometimes totally for free. Now everyone can set up a blog or app and
start providing a service. The internet provides us with much wider
opportunities to shatter established norms for elearning and introduce new methods. This is just what Bliu Bliu offers you – a new way
of brushing up your foreign language skills online.”
Looking for Series A investors for a more rapid development of the
project and a partner.
63
Start up
Start up
www.mobofree.com
Founders: Tomas Martūnas | Age: 34 | Vilnius
Neringa Kudarauskienė | Age: 32 | Vilnius
Vytenis Darulis | Age: 26 | Vilnius
Wilfredas Tchasse | Age: 29 | Cameroon
Consultants and shareholders: Cristobal Alonso and Frank M. Saviane
Education: Tomas – Master’s degree in Finance from Vilnius University |
Master’s degree in Law and Management from Mykolas Romeris University
Vilnius
Vytenis – Bachelor’s studies in Software Systems Engineering at Vilnius
University
Neringa – Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Lithuanian University of
Educational Sciences | Master’s degree in EU Politics and Administration
from Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius | Bachelor of Psychology degree
Wilfred – Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of
Douala
Investments received: EUR 14,000 (from StartupHighway)
“At first we didn’t understand what, in what way and
for what reason is going on in Africa. Now we
know how business is made here”
Neringa:
“What inspires us most is that no common principles of business are valid
here. Some things that would be denounced by the business community in
any European country are acceptable in Africa. If you want to have something
in January, you’d better start planning for it in June the year before. In Africa
your appearance determines the way they treat you. We were shocked when
Wilfred (Cameroon native) would come to informal meetings dressed up in
a suit and perfectly polished shoes, while we would be wearing jeans and Tshirts. Our figures are impressive, and we have exactly the product the market
needs. We have survived while our competitors were forced to close as they
had been unable to perceive the greatest threat, i.e. false ads for which the
project had acquired bad reputation.”
Looking for an investor.
76. Yogis frozen yogurt
www.yogis.lt
Founders: Audra Žilėnaitė | Age: 27 | Vilnius
Vilma Žilėnaitė | Age: 29 | Vilnius
Education: Audra – Bachelor’s degree and current graduate
studies in Business Management and Administration at International Business School Vilnius University
Vilma – graduate student at ISM University of Management and
Economics
“We didn’t start a franchise as we decided
to make only natural yogurt”
75. Goodbuzz
Vilma:
“Yogis Frozen Yogurt is an idea spotted in Spain and realised in
Lithuania. We adapted the concept to the market of our country.
We didn’t start a franchise because at the time we could see no
strong brand by bringing which to Lithuania we could gain a
competitive advantage. When we undertook to create Yogis Frozen Yogurt there was no similar idea in Lithuanian business.”
Looking for investors to enable development in Lithuania and
other countries.
77. Lizarran Restaurant
https://www.facebook.com/LizarranVilnius
Founders: Osvaldas Aleksas | Age: 43 | Vilnius
Gediminas Jankus | Age: 25 | Kupiškis
Education: Osvaldas – Economics at University
of Münster, Germany
Gediminas – Agribusiness Management at Vilniaus Kolegija (University of Applied Sciences Vilnius)
www.goodbuzz.net
Founder: Mawuna Koutunin | Age: 40 | Togo
Education: Bachelor of Business Administration
from Lille University of Science and Technology |
Master of Philosophy from University of Burgundy,
France
“People say: ‘Gedas, you are nuts’, but
I believe in what I’m doing and know
that God hides in the details”
“How shall the advertiser reach the
target audience? What changes
should advertising undergo to attract
people’s attention?”
Mawuna:
“These are the reasons why we founded the enterprise. Modern forms of advertising such as banners
and auto-start videos are gradually becoming ignored
– people simply switch them off. With our play format, we utilize the power of games in the service of
advertising. People love games. They can spend hours
playing games. The new model could use such incentives as premiums, discounts, and points. This is our
goal. We want a new model which wouldn’t make people feel inferior than those on ad images. It is a new
approach, which as we can see, has already attracted
people’s attention.”
Looking for investors to enable project development
and partners – an advertising agency or network and a
B2C (Business to Consumer) enterprise.
64
By Justina Ūsaitė
74. MoboFree
FRANCHISE
Photo: © BFL / Tomas Lukšys
IMMIGRANT
Gediminas:
“It is all in food, customer service, and interior design. After
I realised what professional service is, I started to pay attention to details. I had worked as a coffee expert before. Curiously enough, but I had never let myself serve a bad cup of
coffee. I’d always say: ‘Don’t give away anything secondrate.’ What I found fascinating about the Lizarran franchise
was that a small unpretentious snack is spiked with a skewer. We have three hundred and fifty Spanish pinchos and
numerous variations of tapas, which you can pick up from
the food display at the bar or order from the menu and pay
later not for your snack but for the skewer. It’s simple, convenient, and unique. It’s trendy.”
Looking for a team member who could spread the word
about Lizarran in all Baltic countries.
65
78. Raskgreitai.lt
40 +
40 +
Start up
www.raskgreitai.lt
Founder: Daiva Gerulytė | Age: 50 | Vilnius
Education: Economic Cybernetics at Vilnius University
Accelerator: membership of Hub Vilnius
“The possibility of choice
is more appealing”
81. Zoombook
Daiva:
“There are only twenty-four hours in a day. Two thirds of the time
is for work and sleep. Obviously, there is a need to spend the remaining eight hours in a meaningful way, but routine devours us.
Let's say something has broken down. While the sequence of steps
looking for the right service provider is quite explicit (find the
contacts, obtain recommendations and find out about availability), the task occasionally is not that simple. What if someone else
would do the job? We have undertaken the task to turn the harrowing experience into a pleasure when you get the possibility of
choice rather than the possibility of asking for a favour.”
Looking for a team member and partner.
“We would like to find a designer to cooperate (and share ideas)
with on a permanent basis, who could later become a partner if
she/he wished. Besides, partners are welcome to complement the
team with their experience in the service industry.”
http://www.zoombook.lt,
http://www.zoombook.com, http://www.zoombook.ru
Founder: Artūras Karosas | Age: 42 | Kretinga
Education: Master’s degree from Vilnius Academy of Arts |
Master of Business Management from Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas
“An original photo book is a perfect
form of self-expression”
80. Vero Coffee House
By Dario Malinowski
www.truckviser.com
Founder: Laimonas Stončius | Age: 44 | Vilnius
Investments received: Venture capital has been attracted
for several projects developed in conjunction, but the amount
of investments for Truckviser is undefined as several projects
are being developed at the same time.
“In what way to ensure safe driving?”
66
Laimonas:
“Due to trailer accidents and other incidents on the road, people are killed every day while transport companies in Europe incur damages amounting to billions every year. Drivers
manage the greatest risk of traffic accidents; therefore, it is
vital to have an efficient channel with them for information,
training, help, motivation, and control. This is how we came
about with Truckviser, which teaches drivers how to make
use of modern solutions, enables enterprises to manage their
tablets remotely, monitors communication costs as well as
ensures safe driving policy and optimal sharing of benefits
arising from the use of mobile technologies.”
Looking for partners with an interest in developing optimum and efficient solutions for transport market such as: replacement, connection, and improvement of different trailer
units; installation of video cameras; driver task management
solutions; integration with telematics, business management,
road tax, and customs systems.
79. Truckviser
www.verocoffeehouse.lt
Founder: Darius Vėželis | Age: 40 | Elektrėnai |
Chairman of Specialty Coffee Association Lithuania
Education: Master of Business Management and
Organisation from Vytautas Magnus University
Artūras:
“We believe that holding a self-designed book to be given as a
gift to someone special or yourself leaves you with a beautiful
feeling that is worth sharing. We encourage creativity and are
convinced that every moment in life is worth a photo book. Anyone can design an original book of photos: photographers, designers, bakers or travellers, parents, children and grandparents,
poets, economists – anyone! We envisage great prospects for
this project. We have started the business in Lithuania and are
rapidly growing to enter the international market. Teeming with
ideas, we have prepared quite a few projects, which hopefully
will rock not only Lithuanian, but also global market.”
Looking for partners and investors to empower development
in the international market; team members – designers, illustrators, and developers.
“Coffee sellers should be
interested in the entire way of
coffee just as wine sellers are
interested in the wine way”
Darius:
“Lithuanians are really fond of coffee. However,
they cannot quite grasp yet what a long and complicated preparation it requires. Vero Coffee House
makes the opportunity to watch the unique coffee
making process and get acquainted with different
coffee brewing methods. There is also a separate
facility where we give tutorials about coffee and
how to prepare it correctly as well as hold coffee
tasting sessions. Coffee sellers should be interested
in the entire way of coffee just as wine sellers are
interested in the wine way: what farm the coffee
comes from, which year of picking, which variety
of arabica coffee, and most importantly – when and
how it was roasted.”
Looking for a team member who would care for
coffee and the subtleties of coffee making.
Start up
67
Start up
Start up
PUPIL
PUPIL
84. SearchNode
www.searchnode.net
https://www.facebook.com/DecoDrink?fref=ts
Founder: Donatas Vasiliauskas | Age: 26 | Alytus
Education: Bachelor of Economics from Vilnius Pedagogical University (now Lithuanian University of Educational
Sciences) | Master of Economics from Mykolas Romeris
University Vilnius
“Is there a place for unique items in
a world where mass production reigns?“
Donatas:
“Unique items always and indisputably have material value;
they cost more than factory-produced goods. Our survey
respondents were unanimous – drinking tea or coffee from
a singular cup, with the customer having conceived the idea
for it, is much more enjoyable than using a factory-produced
item. Mass production has taken away from customers the
joy of having singular, exclusive objects.”
Looking for partners to enter into a cooperation contract
with for steady supply of products.
83. Burning Ice
By Dario Malinowski
www.facebook.com/MmbBurningIce
Founder: Mantas Ražinskas | Age: 16 | Kaunas
Education: student of Kaunas Maironis Academic
Gymnasium
“You have to be innovative in business”
68
Mantas:
“When I undertook this activity, I knew that success
in business belonged to those capable of offering something new and unprecedented, such like our candles,
for example. The product we have created is not only
eco-friendly, but also innovative. We have developed a
production technology (using ice cubes and wax) that
is in no way like any other. Unlike traditional paraffin
candles, ice candles do no harm for our health as their
composition is completely natural. While they are burning, light passes through the entire candle.”
Looking for investors for development to enable implementation of innovative ideas and encourage people’s interest in them.
“SearchNode enables eshops to earn
more money and eshop visitors to
search for products easily and fast”
Antanas:
“Google has really spoilt us; we can now launch intuitive search without bothering too much about what
keywords to select, making mistakes, and searching by
various synonyms. Used to Google search engine, internet users expect the same when visiting e-commerce
websites and using their search fields to find products;
we help them to find what they are looking for. It feels
like using Google as you can make spelling mistakes
and write completely intuitively; after you get a variety of search results, they can be sorted and filtered by
relevant criteria.”
Looking for early-stage investors to enable further
improvement of the product and development in foreign markets; partners working in the field of electronic
trading.
82. DecoDrink
Founders: Antanas Bakšys | Age: 17 | Kaunas
Lukas Mikuckis | Age: 17 | Kaunas
Ringaudas Kalinauskas | Age: 18 | Kaunas
Education: Antanas and Lukas – 11th grade students
at Varpas Gymnasium Kaunas
Ringaudas – 12th grade student at Saulė Gymnasium
Kaunas
85. Fast Focus
By Dario Malinowski
https://www.facebook.com/FASTFOCUS
Founder: Juozapas Mikulėnas | Age: 17 | Vilnius
Education: 11th grade student at Jonas Basanavičius Gymnasium Vilnius
Fast Focus has entered the International Junior Achievement Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Competition
“Profitable business must go hand in hand
with good emotions!”
Juozapas:
“I believe that all you need for profitable business is a concept for a
product or service that would bring a smile to the customer’s face, and
turn the idea into reality. For the main purpose of life for all of us is
happiness. What brings about happiness? Good emotions! This is how
we came about to start Fast Focus. Our goal is to intrigue and cheer
people up with exceptional camera shots.”
Looking for a team member – an outgoing make-up intern, and partners who would be willing to cooperate in creating video ads and event
videos.
69
Start up
Start up
STUDENT
PUPIL
86. Unmute
89. Dalauta.lt
https://www.facebook.com/pages/UnmutedLT/592227207496625?fref=ts
www.dalauta.lt
Open your wings
“Toy cars break less frequently”
Rokas:
“A young person is like a little burgeoning
dream, which yearns to open the wings and fly
to the big world, but doesn’t always find the
way which would lead it to the realisation of
those aspirations. Unmute is the only enterprise in the city and county of Alytus which provides complete freedom for a young creator to
reveal her/ his talent on a big stage. We await
all those who want to realise themselves as we
live to realise our dreams. We will take care of
everything you may need, from the stage to a
guitar amplifier.”
Looking for an investor and partner. Investments are needed to acquire the audio system
and office equipment. Business partners are
needed to further the activities between cities.
Tomašas:
“Like any small boy, I was deep into toy cars in my childhood. Paradoxically enough, the toy cars were far more
durable than the vehicles I started to drive as a grown up.
Recurrent problems with my cars and long search for necessary parts led me to open an online store for auto parts. By
choosing our services, drivers can save not only money, but
also their time and nerve cells as they don’t have to visit tens
of car parts stores dispersed around and outside the city.”
Looking for a partner with expertise in cars to join the business.
87. Autoreklama
By Justina Ūsaitė
www.autoreklama.net
Founders: Laurynas Jokubaitis | Age: 21 | Šilutė
Justas Čalnaras | Age: 20 | Joniškis
Education: Laurynas and Justas – 3rd year students of Economics at ISM University of Management and Economics
Vilnius
“A glance of one person costs the
enterprise 0.016 litas”
Justas:
“Advertising on cars is cheap as it is moving all the time and
attracts attention in different places. We have calculated that a
glance of one person costs the enterprise on the average 0.016
litas. An ad on a car draws approximately 700–1000 people’s
glances a day, so it is one of the cheapest and most efficient
forms of advertising. To catch the attention of passersby in
today’s world teeming with advertising, you need to have something unique or present your ad in such a way that people
could no way miss it, which Autoreklama (Auto Ad) perfectly
combines.”
Looking for investors for development and self-advertising
as well as team members – young marketing and IT specialists.
By Justina Ūsaitė
http://wellness-travels.com
Founders: Gediminas Kondrackis | Age: 23 | Kaunas
Paulius Jurgutis | Age: 22 | Kaunas
Education: Gediminas – Economics and Business at
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and New
University of Lisbon, Portugal
Paulius – Economics and Business Administration at
Stockholm School of Economics Riga, Latvia, and
Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
“Lithuania will be the leader in the
medical tourism industry”
Gediminas:
“Lithuania is one of the countries that have the greatest
potential in medical tourism; and yet it is Czech Republic, Hungary, and Belgium that are Europe’s leaders in
the field. Due to sufficiently low prices and a high quality of services in Lithuania, the number of incoming
patients is likely to keep increasing.”
Paulius:
“While studying abroad, we were looking for ideas and
ways to realise them in Lithuania. We are happy to be
able to do what we enjoy in our home country and all
together create added value here.”
Looking for team members to work with CIS and
Western European countries.
Photo: © BFL / Butautas Barauskas © ©
STUDENT
88. Wellness Travels
Founder: Tomašas Adamovičius | Age: 22 | Vilnius
Education: Business Systems Creation and Management
student at Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius
Founder: Rokas Danevičius | Age: 17 | Alytus
Education: 11th-grade student at Putinų
Gymnasium Alytus
Start up
SPIN OFF
90. Eco Wheel Power
Start up
SPIN OFF
93. Ledigma
www.vidulus.lt
Founder: : Šarūnas Grigaliūnas | Age: 36 | Vilnius
Education: Telecommunications and Electronics at Kaunas University
of Technology | Business Management at Kolping University of Applied
Sciences | Information Technology Security at La Salle University
Investments attracted: approx. LTL 70,000
Accelerator: Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA)
in the frame of Commercialisation of R&D Results national programme
for 2013
www.ledigma.lt
Founders: Artūras Žukauskas | Age: 57 | Vilnius
Rimantas Vaicekauskas |Age: 49 | Užventis, Kelmė County
Pranciškus Vitta | Age: 31 | Vilnius
Andrius Petrulis | Age: 25 | Panevėžys
Arūnas Tuzikas | Age: 30 | Klaipėda
Education: Artūras – doctor habilitatus in Physical Science,
professor at Vilnius University, expert member of the Lithuanian
Academy of Sciences
Rimantas – doctor habilitatus in Informatics Vilnius University
Pranciškus – doctor habilitatus in Physics Vilnius University
Andrius and Arūnas – Master’s degree in Physics | currently
postgraduate students Vilnius University
Support: approx. LTL 70,000 from the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA)
Šarūnas:
“After spending 14 years in a wheelchair, I undertook a new initiative
for the formation of business practices. Standard manual wheelchairs are
still heavy and expensive appliances which require complicated maintenance. This determined the need to design an attachable device for the
standard wheelchair to enhance disabled person’s mobility. The device
is characterised by a lightweight and compact design, universality, low
electricity costs and an embedded solar power facility. Torque settings
can be programmed from a PC while the constant speed system ensures
that constant speed is held. Moreover, the automatic pilot enables automatic speed control while driving.”
Looking for team members and good marketing experts to increase sales and export.
92. Vytis invest
http://www.brolis-semicon.com
vytishop.lt/en/godaeco
Founders: Augustinas Vizbaras | Age: 29 | Panevėžys
Dominykas Vizbaras | Age: 33 | Panevėžys
Kristijonas Vizbaras | Age: 29 | Panevėžys
Education: Augustinas and Kristijonas – Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from
Vilnius University | Master of Physics from Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden |
current postgraduate studies in Physics at Munich Technical University | membership
at IEEE Photonics Society and SPIE (International Society for Optics and Photonics
Dominykas – Bachelor of Transport Engineering from Klaipėda University | Master
of Transport and Maritime Technology Management from University of Antwerp,
Belgium
Investments attracted: LTL 10 mln. from LitCapital and over LTL 11.4 mln. from
EU funds for the purchase of various lab equipment and R&TD of the products. Technology developed by the company is patentable (two international patent requests
submitted).
Founder: Vytis Šliažas | Age: 25 | Alytus
Education: 4th year student of Mathematics and Applied
Mathematics at Vilnius University
“This year’s goal is to collect and
process 10,000 wine bottles”
Photo: Invest Lithuania
“Company invents unique laser conquering
foreign markets at high speed”
Kristijonas:
“Our company was founded and the development of products has been taking place at
a pace strikingly fast not only for Lithuania, but also world-wide. We envisage fairly
bright prospects. Brolis Semiconductors aspires to become one of the major global
players in the field of long wavelength optoelectronics in near future.”
Looking for team members – talented and motivated people to complement the company’s team.
“The project would make Lithuania the first
attraction site for disabled people”
91. Brolis Semiconductors
Vytis:
“The idea to turn used wine bottles into various accessories sprang up while browsing the net for wine cooler
bags, which we needed in our wine accessories shop. This
is how I stumbled upon products made from processed
wine bottles. It is an environment-friendly product as no
new raw glass is used to produce it. This year’s goal is to
collect and process 10,000 wine bottles. Even in the world
at large there are very few enterprises which do the same,
so we have perfect opportunities for development. In the
meantime I process bottles manually. So I am a tramp in
a suit.”
Looking for investors who could help to acquire equipment for processing used bottles.
“Lighting technologies industry is based
on the mistaken presumption that
humans crave for the most natural
colour rendering possible”
Pranciškus:
“We founded a spin-off enterprise comprising a group of Vilnius
University scientists to commercialise many-years’ experience
and R&D results attained in the field of semiconductor LED lighting. For us, scientists, starting a business alone has been a discovery, which has made us think in a different way. We have noticed
that the majority of people, whom we let play with our luminaires
with controlled light parameters, chose colour-rich rather than natural-looking light. Their choice showed us that traditional lighting technologies industry is based on the mistaken presumption
that humans crave for the most natural colour rendering possible.”
Andrius:
“Our aim is to start producing unique equipment in cooperation
with a few major well-known and well-marketed lighting technologies companies.”
Looking for team members and international partners.
Start up
73
74

Most Challenging lithuania-Based startups

Transcription

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