"This is how you do it"

Newsfeed: to help you track what’s happening in Baltic tech and global tech that matters to builders here.

No algorithms. Not AI-curated feed. Just people who build things, following other people who build things, and surfacing what’s worth your attention.

Tech Philomaths – Baltic Tech Feed

work in progress

Shopify. Tobi Lutke retweets Erikas’ post – he brings impressive Kaching Appz experience to help Zalgiris (now as investor, too). As written before, we are tracking multiple tools being built for e-commerce in AI era, like Ace Waves, now Tautvydas with botjar.io, Order Crab, Chargemont, Callsy AI (new hire).

Fresh builders. Kristijonas automating logistics ops with Notea AI launch; Kajus is help us automate that lunch decision we all make.

Deep tech, an escape for VCs? They don't entirely agree, but Hugo has a point:

"deep tech" doesn't mean anything. software was deep tech 20 years ago. robotics was 5 years ago. biotech is right now. when a space commoditizes, defensibility shifts from raw technical difficulty to IP, brand, and network effects - like in content or fashion. the crackest technical founders feel this before anyone else. they move toward where building something is still the hard part.

and because pre-seed venture is structurally about following the crackest founders - many of us are spending more and more time at the frontier. not by design. we just followed the maniacs.

While deeptech startups are harder to track, casual reminder to keep an eye on Astrolight, Sentante, Biomatter, Spike Technologies, Atrandi Biosciences, Vugene, AISPECO, and many others.

Photonics. New report coming on European deeptech, and I can't unsee this slide. Most spin-offs in photonics? We might have underinvested in commercialization in this field. However — Light Converstion is likely around EUR 150M revenue last year, doubling it from 2021 (70M). Altechna is on a growth path (inc M&A), and we've been impressed so far with Optoman, Litilit, Femtika hiring ahead, and others.

In defense, RSI Europe promising 3-4x higher revenues this year, compared to EUR 15M they closed 2025. Video on UDS testing and developing their plaform and drones. Nimbosa made the first sale. Laelaps AI are cooking smth, too.

sponsors

Cloudvisor [now offering stress-free migration from any cloud to AWS]
Hostinger [online presence accessible to everyone worldwide, hiring]
Google For Startups [cloud credits up to $350K, faster growth]
Oxylabs [Step into the world of web data gathering]
VIALET [Business accounts for growth, hiring]
Ace Waves [Enterprise ready AI agents for CS, hiring]
Surfshark [Top 50 among fastest growing in EU, hiring]
15MIN Group [all the news you need to know]
Eldorado.gg [world’s largest in-game trading marketplace, hiring]
Saily [eSIM data for international travel, hiring]

rounds and capital

Skeleton from Estonia signed a strategic investment partnership with Taiwania Capital to strengthen sovereign, resilient AI infrastructure across Europe, Taiwan, and beyond. Plans an initial public offering in the US next year after its latest funding round.

SkySelect has raised $9M, co-led by RockCreek and Verb Ventures with participation from existing investors. The platform helps airlines and MROs reduce costly aircraft-on-ground delays and excess inventory

WhiteBridge AI raised €2.6M seed for its AI-powered people research engine, round was led by FIRSTPICK VC, with participation from First Degree, NGL.VC, Scalewolf.VC, BADideas.fund, Nectolabs, Plug and Play, and several experienced angel investors.

Wonderful. Not a Baltic startup, but with local team and Tesonet prior investment: Wonderful raised $150M Series B at a $2B valuation. How many unicors at Teso portfolio?? Nord Security (inc Surfshark), Hostinger, Cast AI, Lovable, Wonderful…

Artea. Also Tesonet: increasing its ownership in Artea Bank to up to 31.68%

roleplay

brand + design

w/ rokas from achoo

Brand Age. As industries mature, competition shifts toward cultural identity. As makers, we start by solving the functional problem. Over time the work moves up the ladder of human needs. This is where design often differentiates.

People instead of users. A true brand meets your attention with intention: storytelling, emotion, and an obsession to detail. It is defined by small, expensive, invisible decisions made along the way.

founder's guide

Why You Should Do Less, Not More (with AI)

further insights

Travis Kalanick is back — had to leave Uber in 2017 if you recall. He launched CloudKitchens (some engineers in LT there), a ghost kitchen company renting delivery-only kitchen spaces to restaurants. Today, Kalanick killed the CloudKitchens brand. The company is now called Atoms. Three divisions: Atoms Food (ghost kitchens), Atoms Mining (autonomous mining vehicles), and Atoms Transport (what he calls a "wheelbase for robots").

ecosystem

Data. State of Britain - beautifully made data site

AI adoption seem to be happening in… Lithuania. From A16Z