Vilnius TechFusion together with Startup Lithuania, capped of the year with an all-out party in the underground offices of a prominent local startup and Tech Zity community member Kilo.Health, wrapping up the year with a review of the latest statistics.

Vilnius celebrated another record-breaking year, despite declining enthusiasm for startups and big-tech in Silicon Valley. According to data, startups paid 45% more taxes in the first three quarters of 2022 than in the same period in 2021. Additionally, average investments increased from EUR 6.5 to 8.2 million, and total investment attracted increased by 57%. Overall, Lithuania became the CEE country with the highest growth of startup ecosystem value in 2022. (16.6 times to EUR 10B).

“There are two important things about this night. First, it’s a celebration of community – from biotech and laser technologies, to ICT and Fintech, we are all Vilnius TechFusion and we are all connected in a special way that creates value, not just the good vibe of belonging. Second, the results and potential we are showing. Most of our startups use their own revenue to grow and it shows how our resilience to uncertainty creates valuable investment opportunities,” said Inga Romanovskiene, Head of Go Vilnius, the city’s development agency behind the Vilnius TechFusion ecosystem.

During the biggest startup ecosystem event of the year, six awards were given to the most distinguished startups. Four were voted by a jury (Newcomer of the Year, Best Emerging Tech, Rising Star Award and Ecosystem Hero); one was awarded based on a public vote (Public’s Favourite); and the highlight of the night – the Startup of the Year award – was voted on by the 14 most prominent startups showcased in the city’s startup museum, as well as previous winners of the award.-

The winners were:

• Ecosystem Hero – Mantas Mikuckas, Co-Founder of Vinted, the first Lithuanian unicorn, who is currently developing a startup space in a former industrial area of the city and is an active mentor and angel investor into the startup ecosystem.
• Newcomer of the Year – FloHealth, a startup with more than 250 users of their app Flo, the first AI-powered technology to track women’s health. FloHealth also has offices in Amsterdam, San Fransico and London. Their office in Vilnius opened two years ago and the company currently employs more than 200 people here.
• Best Emerging Tech – Litilit, an up-and-coming laser tech company using a newly developed technology to drastically decrease both the price and time it takes to develop sophisticated laboratory quality lasers. The startup recently received a EUR 3.5 million investment from a Taiwanese fund.
• Rising Star – PVCase, a startup developing tools for solar parks in more than 60 countries around the world. The company plans, engineers and maintains projects, enabling data-driven decisions and continuous optimization.
• Public’s Favourite – Walk15, a startup promoting healthy lifestyles through daily step counting challenges for communities and companies, with product discounts exchanged for steps accrued.
• Startup of the Year – Omnisend, one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world, with 80,000 clients in 130 countries. 2022 was especially successful for Omnisend – it was nominated as one of the fastest-growing tech companies in Europe by Deloitte and Financial Times, and won the Bronze Award at the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.