Startup Fair Vilnius 2025: A Day of Vision, Voices, and Momentum!

Smarti’s Full-Circle Coverage of Lithuania’s Biggest Startup Event

On October 9, 2025, the LITEXPO Exhibition Center in Vilnius hosted the 13th edition of Startup Fair — Lithuania’s flagship startup conference and one of the most influential tech gatherings in the Baltic region.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., hundreds of founders, investors, accelerators, and innovation leaders filled the halls of LITEXPO to discuss the future of technology, venture capital, and entrepreneurship in the new AI-driven era.

The event was organized by Startup Lithuania, Innovation Agency Lithuania, and the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, reaffirming Vilnius’s role as one of Northern Europe’s most dynamic innovation hubs.

Watch the 74-second Smarti Recap Video
Smarti produced a short cinematic recap capturing the atmosphere of Startup Fair 2025 — from the opening session to the final award celebration.

From Opening to the Final Pitch — A One-Day Marathon of Ideas

Smarti was the only multilingual independent media outlet to cover every main-stage discussion of the event — from the morning keynotes to the final pitch battle.
Across 13 in-depth articles, we documented the conversations, insights, and human moments that defined Startup Fair 2025.

1- Opening of Startup Fair 2025 — A Family of Innovators Reunited

The conference opened with welcoming remarks from Edvinas Grikšas, Minister of the Economy and Innovation, and Karolina Urbonaitė, Head of Startup Lithuania.
Hosted by Matt Smith, a former venture capitalist turned entrepreneur, the opening ceremony set an upbeat tone that carried through the day.
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2- Can Europe Rival Silicon Valley?

A packed main-stage debate tackled one of Europe’s biggest questions — can it truly compete with Silicon Valley?
Moderated by Peter Vesterbacka (Slush founder), the panel featured Gintarė Verbickaitė (Unicorns Lithuania), Kateryna Kruk (Meta), and Michael McGrath (European Commission).
The discussion ranged from EU regulation to startup culture, with Vesterbacka concluding: “Europe must stop imitating and start creating.”
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3- From Traffic Jams to Unicorns — Uri Levine’s Startup Journey

When Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze and Moovit, took the stage, every seat was filled.
In his keynote “Building Unicorns: The Path to Hypergrowth”, Levine shared hard-earned lessons from failure to billion-dollar exits, encouraging founders to “fall in love with the problem, not the solution.”
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4- Money Talks: Global Trends You Can’t Ignore

Investors from the UK, Nordics, Asia, and the Baltics joined forces to decode the latest shifts in the global venture landscape.
They explored the move from “growth at all costs” to sustainable scaling, and how AI is reshaping the economics of startup investment.
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5- Accelerators vs. Angels vs. VCs — Choosing Your First Partner

Held on the Hive Stage, this highly practical session tackled one of the most common founder dilemmas: who should be your first partner?
Panelists compared accelerators, angels, and VC funds through real case studies, showing how early choices shape long-term success.
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6- All the Way to Series A — Lessons from Founders Who Made It

Two Lithuanian founders shared their stories of surviving, evolving, and eventually earning investor trust.
Their candid discussion revealed that scaling isn’t a sprint but an endurance race — one built on process, persistence, and people.
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7- Exit, Fame, or Funding — What Are You Chasing?

A lively Core Stage discussion moderated by Jennifer Sieg (The Fact Studio) brought together CAST AI, Pulsetto, and Ebury Partners.
The three panelists shared what truly drives founders — from chasing exits to building brands that last — concluding that “impact outlives valuation.”
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8- AI-First Generation — How Young Lithuanian Founders Are Rewriting the Playbook

Moderated by Arvydas Bložė (Practica Capital), this energetic session featured three under-25 founders — Kristijonas “Chris” Šidlauskas (Sintra.ai), Jonas Bartašius (Based Space), and Augustė Brukštutė (Alcemi).
They described how the AI-native generation moves fast, learns in public, and treats company culture like a product — always shipping, always improving.
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9- Never Waste a Crisis — How Startups and Innovation Are Rebuilding Ukraine

One of the most emotional discussions of the day, moderated by Andrius Milinavičius (BSV Ventures), explored how Ukrainian founders keep building during wartime.
Panelists from UTU, 3DUtool, and the Ukrainian Startup Fund showed how resilience and collaboration can turn crisis into creation.
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10- Can One Person Build a Billion-Dollar Startup?

Could AI make it possible for one person to build a billion-dollar company?
Experts from 500 Global, Neurali, and ByFounders explored this futuristic yet tangible scenario — concluding that small teams with the right tools will redefine entrepreneurship.
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11- From Startup to Investor — Lithuanian Operators Turn to the Other Side

Andra Bagdonaitė (FIRSTPICK) led a frank discussion with Kilo Health, Vinted Ventures, and Tesonet leaders who now invest as well as operate.
The takeaway: moving from founder to investor isn’t a retirement — it’s a responsibility to shape the next generation.
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12- Silicon Valley Secrets — How Lithuanian Startups Can 10X Their Growth

In the final fireside chat, Philippe Bouzaglou and Goda Go of Startup Wise Guys shared lessons from Silicon Valley’s playbook.
They discussed how European founders can scale faster by embracing experimentation, transparency, and AI-driven thinking — without losing their humanity.
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13- Startup Fair 2025: From 12 Pitches to 7 Winners and a €17.3M Investment Wave

The grand finale — 12 startups, 7 winners, and a total investment pool of €17.3 million.
Each founder had just three minutes to pitch and two to defend, in front of an investor jury representing CoInvest Capital, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, Scale Wolf, Plug and Play Ventures, NLE Capital, LITBAN, and LATBAN.
The day closed with energy, applause, and the sense that Lithuanian startups are ready to scale far beyond their borders.
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Key Themes That Defined Startup Fair 2025

Across all 13 sessions, three clear themes emerged:

1. AI at the Core of Everything — not just as a technology, but as a mindset shaping funding, operations, and creativity.

2. A New Generation of Founders — young, fearless, and moving faster than traditional ecosystems can keep up.

3. Regional Collaboration — Baltic and European unity is becoming Lithuania’s strongest growth engine.

Smarti — Where Media Meets Innovation

Through this full-day coverage, Smarti proved that the future of journalism in innovation lies at the intersection of human insight and artificial intelligence.
All 13 reports from Startup Fair 2025 have been published in seven European languages as part of the Smarti Media Network, connecting audiences and ecosystems across the continent.