Small but mighty European tech hubs

Small but mighty European tech hubs

Following the European technology industry often takes us off the beaten path. The beauty of the ecosystem we're operating in is that a country doesn't have to be rich or big to house a vibrant and extremely exciting startup ecosystem. 

A case in point: Lithuania. The country with a population of 2.8 million people houses some 900 startups, is building Europe's largest tech campus, and has seen a seven-fold growth in enterprise value between 2018 and 2023. 

An important part of this growth has been what's called a 'reverse brain drain,' which is a trend of more people returning to their home country than moving away. Some 20,000 people repatriated to Lithuania in 2022, making it the third consecutive year of achieving the 'positive saldo' on migration. 

These days, the country is home to at least three unicorns, and many more thriving startups and scale-ups representing a wide range of verticals, from fintech to lasers and from healthcare to gamedev. 

Our reporter Ioanna Lykiardopoulou went to Vilnius recently to experience the ecosystem firsthand — join her in a deep dive to learn more about what makes Lithuania's startup scene unique

🇱🇹 Why Lithuania is a hidden gem of Europe’s startup ecosystem 


What else we’re writing about

🎙️ In this week's podcast, Linnea and Andrii talk about the availability of AI compute, Getir’s imminent departure from Europe, cash flow for German game developers, and more. The guest of the show is Alexandra Balkova, general partner and head of portfolio at Startup Wise Guys.

🏥 Paris-based Klineo raised €2mn for its AI platform that facilitates access to cancer clinical trials. The platform connects doctors and patients directly with relevant clinical trials.

🚘 Polestar has successfully charged its upcoming EV model in just 10 minutes. The Swedish car maker achieved the feat using a “silicon-dominant” battery built by Israeli startup StoreDot.

💂 Under the UK’s new cybersecurity law, consumer smart devices can no longer allow the use of weak, easy-to-guess passwords, such as “admin” or “12345.”

🗞️ OpenAI will use the Financial Time’s content to train its generative AI models. The deal is the latest in a string of new partnerships between OpenAI and global news publishers.


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