FIRSTPICK, a Vilnius-based first-check enterprise capital fund, has launched a brand new €25 million fund to spend money on early-stage Baltic startups. It focuses on founders who don’t match the everyday VC mould and are open to entrepreneurs with no FAANG background or an Ivy League diploma.
In keeping with the VC fund, this strategy entails figuring out and nurturing undervalued expertise, offering native groups a real likelihood earlier than the remainder of the market catches on.
The fund was backed by native entrepreneurs, angel traders, and founders of corporations similar to Tesonet, Oberlo, and Kilo Well being. It focuses on high-potential areas in AI-first software program and focuses on the earliest phases of recent startups throughout the Baltics. That is FIRSTPICK’s second early-stage fund; its first was a €20 million fund launched in 2022. The fund can also be backed by Lithuania’s Ministry of Financial system and Innovation and the Lithuanian state-financed ILTE fund.
Tadas Gudaitis, Member of the Board at ILTE and Head of Enterprise Growth unit, stated, “We’re persevering with our collaboration with FirstPick, having witnessed their sturdy capacity to professionally choose and nurture early-stage corporations.
“As a strategic investor with a €9 million dedication, our function just isn’t solely to offer capital, but in addition to encourage the involvement of personal traders. We consider that this partnership will assist guarantee a constant funding pipeline for high-growth-potential startups — from acceleration to later phases of improvement — and can strengthen Lithuania’s innovation ecosystem in the long run.”
Based in 2022, FIRSTPICK is a first-check VC fund backing Baltic founders at inception and pre-seed. It’s a generalist early-stage investor with a powerful concentrate on AI-enabled software program.
Explaining the concept behind the brand new fund, the VC fund defined, “Robust founders typically comply with unconventional paths. Drawing on seven years of expertise investing in almost 100 Baltic startups, FIRSTPICK has seen the market constantly underestimate the form of expertise they’re in search of. When overseas traders arrive in rising markets with mounted checklists, they danger overlooking founders who don’t appear like the usual guess. So as an alternative of counting on recognisable CVs or earlier high-profile expertise, FIRSTPICK will again individuals whose grit and concepts stand out properly earlier than the business takes discover.”
It usually invests €100k to €500k as an preliminary verify, with follow-on capability as much as €1 million. FIRSTPICK additionally notes that, past capital, portfolio corporations acquire entry to a platform with a group of over 250 founders, skilled operators, and sensible early-stage experience.
“It’s not so totally different from the fairy godmother who knew Cinderella earlier than the ball. Everybody desires to again success as soon as it’s seen and on the largest stage, however we desire to fulfill founders whereas they’re nonetheless hustling under the radar. It’s about recognising the actual work and character behind the scenes,” stated Andra Bagdonaitė, a accomplice at FIRSTPICK.
The VC fund claims to have a file of discovering potential exterior what the mainstream expects. One instance is its funding in Emile Radyte, who based Samphire Neuroscience in 2023. The startup affords science-backed help for interval ache, low temper, and mind fog. FIRSTPICK invested whereas the product was nonetheless below improvement. At the moment, the corporate is promoting merchandise with 1000’s of purchasers in Europe and the US and has additionally just lately raised a €4.3 million ($5 million) Seed spherical led by Inventure.
One other instance is Copla, a cybersecurity compliance firm led by serial entrepreneur Aurimas Bakas. FIRSTPICK was the primary investor in Copla’s €650,000 pre-Seed spherical. Copla has since closed a €6 million Collection A spherical.
“We see our investments as the beginning of a wider affect. When the Baltic tech sector grows, your complete financial system turns into stronger. Our aim is to assist the very best individuals kickstart their concepts proper right here, and construct resilient companies that profit the entire area,” stated Dmitrij Sosunov, managing accomplice at FIRSTPICK.
