Lithuania’s recently launched Startup Visa program is an opportunity for startups from neighboring countries, including Ukraine, to open the door to the European Union and broader Western markets.
An event will be held in Kiev (Kyiv) on April 19 to present the program to the Ukrainian startup community and invite them to the soon-coming LOGIN Startup Fair in Vilnius.
Ukrainian startups have a chance to win free air tickets to attend this major startup event in the Baltics, which will be held in its 5th edition in Vilnius on May 24-26.
LOGIN is expected to attract more than 100 selected startups and 50 local and international VC investors. The program includes keynote speeches, workshops, startup pitches, B2B meetings and a variety of networking opportunities, as well as a ‘Hardware District.’
Participants will also enjoy startup BBQs on the grass, startup indie bands, sports activities, food trucks in the park and many other pleasant features.
Building the next startup sweet spot in the region
Adopted in 2016 and launched in January this year, Lithuania’s Startup Visa program is designed for entrepreneurs who wish to establish or develop their startup on the Baltic Sea shore inside the European Union.
These entrepreneurs no longer need to fulfill certain capital or employment requirements to obtain a residence permit, should their business idea be deemed suitable by a panel of experts.
There are already several hundred startups in operation in Lithuania. Some that are gaining traction include secondhand clothing marketplace Vinted, image-editing app Pixelmator, and mobile gaming company Game Insight, VentureBeat noted recently.
The country’s new visa program aims to bring the country’s innovation ecosystem to a new level, building on the broader region’s track record of producing top tech talent.
“We see startups as an integral part of an innovative economy,” explained Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Lithuania’s minister of economy. “So we open our doors to talent that will both embrace and contribute to our 320-strong startup ecosystem.”
Over the past five years, LOGIN has asserted itself as one of the major startup events of Central and Eastern Europe
