“We usually hear about startups when they attract investments or become unicorns. However, behind these headlines lie many attempts, changed plans, and unexpected decisions. These lesser-known stories help to see how today’s globally known businesses were born and the path their creators took,” says Gintarė Verbickaitė, head of Unicorns Lithuania.
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1. From fast internet to Silicon Valley
The history of Lithuanian startups began about two decades ago. It is now less often remembered that its foundation was laid by very fast, well-developed, and cheaper internet than in other Western countries. Good internet infrastructure helped attract international companies such as Barclays, CSC, and Danske Bank. They established their branches here and hired Lithuanians who gained experience in creating and managing technological solutions for international markets.
It was soon used practically – the country began to develop not foreign but Lithuanian technology businesses. The story of Hostinger started in 2004, and GetJar became the first Lithuanian company to open an office in Silicon Valley. In 2008, Mano drabužiai launched – a platform now known worldwide as Vinted. Today, more than a thousand startups operate in Lithuania, and some of them already buy Silicon Valley companies themselves. For example, Lithuanian Oxylabs acquired Webshare Software Company, and Surfshark acquired Optery.
2. How many unicorns does Lithuania have?
Unicorns are startups whose value reaches at least one billion US dollars. However, it is not always easy to assign them to one country: founders may come from one country, the headquarters may be located in another, and the product development team may work in a third. Therefore, the number of unicorns associated with Lithuania varies – it depends on the calculation methodology.
Unicorns Lithuania assigns unicorns to Lithuania whose founders are Lithuanians or whose product development team works in our country. The association counts six companies that have reached unicorn status: Vinted, Nord Security, Baltic Classifieds Group, Flo Health, Cast AI, and Oxylabs. And in the 2024 Baltic Deep Tech Report, unicorns associated with Lithuania also include Wargaming, Kayak, Revolut, Mambu, and Unity.
3. Before global success – 34 business ideas
Unicorn creators often already have previous business development experience. An analysis published last year by Stanford University researchers showed that 60% of the studied US-based unicorn founding teams had at least one person who had previously created a business.
Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas, who founded Lithuania’s second unicorn Nord Security, also tried out more than one idea. While creating Tesonet, they tested as many as 34 business ideas – from computer games to website hosting. Eventually, one of their main business directions became cybersecurity. However, after creating a unicorn, the entrepreneurs did not stop: they help grow other technology companies and last year introduced a new artificial intelligence startup, nexos.ai.
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4. World celebrities – both investors and users
Lithuanian startups have also attracted the attention of world celebrities. For example, the app YPlan, created by two Lithuanians in 2012, which helped discover events and buy last-minute tickets, was used by actor Ashton Kutcher. After one concert he attended using the app, he himself contacted its creators and became an investor in the startup.
Vinted also attracted Hollywood attention. In 2024, actor Paul Mescal offered clothes he wore during the Gladiator II film premiere tour for sale on this platform.
5. Growing others and sharing financial success with employees
Lithuanian startups are changing the approach to employee compensation. They not only pay on average twice the country’s average salary but also often offer options – the right to purchase company shares under agreed conditions in the future. Hostinger employees received 11.8 million euros for sold shares, and current and former Vinted team members were able to sell theirs in a deal worth 880 million euros.
However, the impact of successful technology companies does not end there. Their employees, having gained experience in rapidly growing organizations, start creating businesses themselves. It is estimated that former Vinted employees have already founded more than 25 startups. Thus, the success of one company helps others to emerge.
More stories about the country’s startups can be found in the exhibition “Trajectory of the Future. The History of Lithuanian High Technologies” opened this month at the Stories House of the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius. The exhibition will run until June 6, 2027.
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