Baltic startup funding grew in 2025, reaching €607 million as both early-stage and larger rounds gained momentum and more experienced founders attracted investor support. The rise in international participation and the dominance of AI and defense investments point to a maturing, more focused regional ecosystem.
February 4th, 2026. Baltic startup funding rose in 2025, with total venture capital deployed in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia startups reaching €607 million, up from €505 million in 2024.
The details of this trend are unpacked in the newly released annual Baltic Startup Funding Report, prepared by Baltic funds FIRSTPICK and Practica Capital. This report draws on both market research and original data from interviews with founders, offering an up-to-date, inside view of investment flows and changing funding patterns across the Baltic region.
The report’s findings confirm the structural maturing of the Baltic startup ecosystem in 2025, as investors in the region prioritized quality over volume, with more capital going to experienced founders. Overall, investments concentrated in fields such as artificial intelligence, defense, and energy.
Regional leaders and standout deals in 2025
In 2025, startups across the Baltics attracted more capital at every stage, from pre-seed to growth. Average round sizes increased, as early-stage companies secured larger investments even while the total number of deals stayed about the same. Notable rounds included Sort A Brick from Lithuania raising €1.5 million at pre-seed, the Latvian AI platform Trace.Space securing a €4 million seed round, and Estonia’s defense tech Wayren closing a €7.9 million seed round.
Large funding rounds across all stages signaled an overall focus on quality investments. While Series A rounds in 2025 were fewer compared to previous years, total capital raised was higher than in 2024. For example, Lithuania saw Cast AI attract a €98 million Series A led by G2, Latvia’s Aerones closed a €53.1 million round with Activate Capital, and Estonia’s agentic AI platform Pactum secured a €47.3 million Series A round.
“2025 was a fantastic year for Baltic startups: companies raised more capital than the year before, with funding growth visible across all stages. What’s especially encouraging is the rising participation of tier-one international VCs, signalling growing confidence in the region’s ability to produce globally relevant companies. With roughly €300m of fresh dry powder now available from newly raised Baltic-focused funds, the market enters 2026 with solid momentum and real capacity to back the next wave of growth,” said Andra Bagdonaitė, Partner at FIRSTPICK.
Experienced founders and investment flows
One unique aspect of the report is its insight on founders’ profiles, based on research conducted for the first time this year. In 2025, the founders who raised capital were typically experienced professionals with backgrounds closely tied to their startups. Data from the report shows that half of the funded founders had previously launched a startup, while 78% had prior work experience directly linked to the companies they now lead. In addition, 77% of funded founders held team leadership positions before starting their most recent ventures.
“Capital in the Baltics is consolidating around fewer but larger checks, backing teams with operational excellence, usually led by domain experts or serial founders,” notes Donatas Keras, Partner at Practica Capital. “While AI remains the primary investment focus, there is a strong momentum in defence, energy, and infrastructure. We believe the most interesting opportunities in the future will emerge from unexpected corners: new sectors, unique founder profiles, and regional hubs.”
This insight is reflected in the report’s data, which shows that AI attracted the most venture capital in the Baltics in 2025, accounting for 46% of all capital raised, compared to 35.5% in Europe and 65.4% in the US. Other important sectors drawing investment were hardware at 21%, cloud at 10%, fintech at 9%, energy at 7%, and defense at 5%.
Rise of community-driven growth
Alongside traditional support, the report finds a notable effort to strengthen the Baltic startup ecosystem through community-driven growth. This is evident in the higher frequency of hackathons and the rise of “hacker houses,” like basedspace_ in Vilnius, ruum in Tallinn, and Shipyard in Riga. These community spaces enable new teams to quickly test and develop startup ideas, early products. About 70 startups have already come out of these spaces, with 8 securing their first investments in 2025.
“Hacker houses are opening up entrepreneurship to more people by helping creators and operators move faster from concept to company,” says Bagdonaitė. “This shows how grassroots communities are making the Baltic ecosystem more dynamic and accessible, setting the stage for even broader participation and fresh momentum in the years ahead.”
About FIRSTPICK
FIRSTPICK is a first-check venture capital fund backing Baltic founders at inception and pre-seed. The fund is a generalist early-stage investor with a strong focus on AI, SaaS, and Fintech. FIRSTPICK typically invests €100K to €500K as an initial check, with follow-on capacity up to €1M. In addition to capital, portfolio companies gain access to a platform of a 250+ founder community, experienced operators, and practical early-stage know-how.
Link to report: https://firstpick.vc/baltic-startup-funding-report/