Over the H1 2023, the number of investments in the Baltic region decreased in comparison to the same period of time in 2022: 55 were made during January 2023-June 2023, and 87 — in 2022. According to the recent Baltic Startup Funding Report published by Change Ventures and FIRSTPICK, in H2 2022 the funding market downturn was observed, and continued to have an impact on the ecosystem in H1 2023. Nevertheless, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian VCs have been investing actively, launching new funds, acceleration programs, and scaling.
AIN.Capital has created a fresh ranking of the most active Baltic VC funds in H1 2023. The ranking includes 19 VC firms from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: FIRSTPICK, Metaplanet Holding, Change Ventures, Lemonade Stand, Practica Capital, BaltCap, Coinvest Capital, Tera Ventures, Trind VC, Iron Wolf Capital, Superangel, Karma Ventures, Overkill Ventures, ZGI Kapital, Livonia Partners, FlyCap, Expansion Capital, Open Circle Capital, Contrarian Ventures.
| Name | Managing partners | Average ticket size | Total investments | In H1 2023 / Follow-ons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Firstpick | Jone Vaituleviciute | €0.05-€0.25M | 19 | 15/6 |
| 2 | Metaplanet Holdings | Rauno Miljand | $10M-$20M | 181 | 6 |
| 3 | Change Ventures | Andris K. Berzins | €0.1-€0.25M | 34 | 5/1 |
| 4 | Practica Capital | Donatas Keras | €1M | 65 | 4/3 |
| 5 | Lemonade Stand | Siim Teller | €0.025-€0.3k | 39 | 4 |
| 6 | BaltCap | Peeter Saks, Martin Kõdar, Dagnis Dreimanis | €5M-€20M | 100+ | 3 |
| 7 | Coinvest Capital | Andrius Barstys | €0.1-up to €1.6M | 39 | 3/1 |
| 8 | Tera Ventures | Andrus Oks, Stanislav Ivanov | €0.72M | 20 | 2/10 |
| 9 | Trind VC | Joel Aasmae | €0.1-€0.5M | 45 | 2 |
| 10 | Iron Wolf Capital | Kasparas Jurgelionis, Zygimantas Susnys | €0.25-€2M | 22 | 2 |
| 11 | Superangel | Marek Kiisa, Veljo Otsason, Rain Rannu | €0.05-€0.5M | 60 | 1 |
| 12 | ZGI Capital | Normunds Igolnieks | €0.5M-€5M | 46 | 1 |
| 13 | Overkill Ventures | Peter Marculans | Up to €0.22M | 39 | 1 |
| 14 | Karma Ventures | Margus Uudam, Tommi Uhari, Kristjan Laanemaa | Up to €3M | 35 | 1 |
| 15 | Expansion Capital | Zigmars Reklaitis | €0.15M-€2.7M | 30 | 1 |
| 16 | FlyCap | Janis Skutelis, Janis Liepins, Ģirts Milgrāvis | Up to €3.2M | 21 | 1 |
| 17 | Open Circle Capital | Audrius Milukas | €0.1M-€0.5M | 21 | 1 |
| 18 | Contrarian Ventures | Rokas Peciulaitis | €0.5M | 21 | 1 |
| 19 | Livonia Partners | Kristīne Bērziņa, Mindaugas Utkevičius | Up to €25M | 7 | 1 |
FIRSTPICK, Metaplanet Holding, and Change Ventures, topped the list by closing 26 new deals.
FIRSTPICK made 15 new investments in H1 2023
One of the most active Lithuanian VC fund FIRSTPICK has made 15 new investments, including $1 million round for Indonesian fintech Finfra, $1 million pre-seed round for Lithuanian regtech AMLYZE, and €250,000 for Lithuanian game-based edtech Three Cubes.
FIRSTPICK was launched in November 2022 by team members of Lithuanian Estonian accelerator Startup Wise Guys: Andra Bagdonaite, Jone Vaituleviciute, Marijus Andrijauskas, and Dmitrii Sosunov.
Metaplanet Holding added 6 new startups to its portfolio
Metaplanet Holding made 6 investments in H1 of 2023. Among them are €3.8 million round for Estonian Vok Bikes, €4.5 million Series A round for Lithuanian biotech Atrandi Biosciences. Metaplanet together with Change Ventures is also participated in $30 million round for Latvian robotics startup Aerones.
Metaplanet is an early-stage investment firm owned by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn. The fund is industry agnostic, but seeks to invest in artificial intelligence, biotech, cryptocurrency, healthcare, and transportation tech sectors.
Change Ventures also closed 5 new deals in the first half of 2023
In H1 of 2023, Change Ventures added 5 new startups to its portfolio. Change Ventures is a pre-seed/seed venture capital fund with completed investments in all three Baltic states. The firm focuses on helping founders make quick investment decisions, supporting further investments and business expertise.
In May 2023, Change Ventures secured €20 million to launch its third fund. Since 2017, the firm has backed 34 startups, which keeps demonstrating an ability to generate outsize startup success stories relative to the population and size of the regional economy. The third fund continues its focus on founders from the Baltic states or Baltic diaspora.
