Vilnius expands as startup hub with second Lithuanian Unicorn, cybersecurity leader Nord Security

Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is rapidly expanding as a European startup hub. High-profile Lithuanian and foreign startups like TransferGo, Ondato, Biomatter Designs, and Wargaming, among others, attracted record-breaking 420M Euro in investments last year, boosting Lithuania’s startup ecosystem 17 times, in comparison to 2016.

Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius and Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas co-founders of Nord Security

The latest achievement of the Lithuanian startup scene – Nord Security, a Lithuanian cybersecurity startup, has raised 100M dollars in the investment round led by investors such as Novator Ventures, Burda Principal Investments, General Catalysts, and a number of business angels. Valued at 1.6B dollars, the startup has become the second official unicorn in Lithuania.

This important milestone has been recognized by Remigijus Šimašius, Mayor of Vilnius. “Vilnius is proud of being the city where great ideas are born, materialized, and grown into successful global businesses. We have the talent, the ecosystem, and the inspiration for that,” said Mr. Šimašius.

The Mayor presented the founders of the startup with a Wolficorn—a symbol of Vilnius’ startup ecosystem. The award, created by the artist Eglė Žvirblytė, blends a wolf, the symbol of Vilnius city, and a unicorn, therefore recognizing the startups’ large input in propelling Vilnius’ tech scene.

According to Tomas Okmanas, a co-founder of Nord Security, Vilnius is the right city for unicorns.

“Our capital’s dynamic startup ecosystem gave us the motivation to grow, excel, and attain generous investments. We hope that our accomplishment inspires other startups to add their own success stories to Vilnius’ startup scene,” commented Mr. Okmanas.

Nord Security joined the first Lithuanian unicorn Vinted, an e-commerce startup offering a peer-to-peer marketplace for selling second-hand clothing. Vinted continues to grow successfully and is now valued at over 4.5B dollars.

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