Seven promising Lithuanian technology start-up companies have been given the exclusive opportunity to pitch to leading venture capital and private equity investors in London as part of the international entrepreneur and investors conference - “High tech innovation & investment: local to global", on 22nd June, 2010.  Organised by The Lithuanian Business Confederation | ICC Lithuania, the start-up contest seeks to showcase the most promising Lithuanian start-ups that have the potential to grow into the next generation of significant, powerful and meaningful businesses. 

Held by the World Lithuanian Economic Forum, the Conference attracted 350 participants from 35 countries last year. The Conference aims to unite Lithuanian entrepreneurs living abroad as well as provide an exclusive opportunity for local Lithuanian companies to attract interest from foreign investors in order to raise funds for business development and expansion in to international markets

“The results of the contest exceeded our expectations. We had planned to give three start-up companies the opportunity to present at the conference in London but ended up selecting seven due to the array of talent we saw during the contest”, commented Valdas Sutkus, the president of Lithuanian Business Confederation | ICC Lithuania.

“We have seen not only innovation and market potential within these companies but also extremely ambitious management teams with the desire to develop their businesses abroad. The fact that the selected start-ups operate in the spheres of Web 2.0, information, communication, MedTech and natural sciences demonstrates the diversity of the start-ups coming out of Lithuania”, said Daiva Naravaite, a member of the judging panel and Co-founder of “AlpinaSearch”.

The judging criteria included differentiation and competitive advantage, risk and financial viability, growth potential and strength of management team. The judging panel consisted of Ilja Laurs, Founder and Executive of GetJar, Mindaugas Glodas, General Manager of “Microsoft Lietuva“, Daiva Naravaite, Co-founder of AlpinaSearch, and Kornelijus Celutka, Investment Director of Baltcap, as well as several other independent judicators.

The seven selected companies will now have the opportunity to present their business model to world leading investors including Nordic Venture Partners, Angels Den and Qualcom Ventures Europe. The selected companies include: Minatech (producer of ultrasound transducers), Vittamed (non-invasive technologies designed for physiological monitoring of the human brain), MSC (systems for transport and work optimisation), Activesec (behind the mobile social network “Eskimi”), TOBEGPS (a locator device), “geogoer” (a transport network enabling users to find passengers or vehicles), 1clickfactory (an ERP update centre).

Daiva Naravaitė, Co-founder of AlpinaSearch, Kornelijus Celutka, Investment Director of Baltcap, law firm SORAINEN, Verslo angelų fondas I, Rainmaking and Viktorija Trimbel, Chairmen of the Board of Quantum Capital, will provide free training sessions for the selected participants in preparation of the Conference.

Lithuanian and foreign residents’ and elite technology businesses and innovators will meet at the conference.

The innovations and success stories of Lithuanian high-tech companies will be presented during the Conference by Andrius Kubilius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Dainius Kreivys, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as representatives from strategic investors including Barclays, IBM - and the most progressive, internationally successful Lithuanian companies such as Sicor Biotech, Get Jar and Baltic Solar Energy, will speak at the conference.

The conference in London is an ongoing event from the World Lithuanian Economic Forum held last year. Last year the forum attracted 350 participants of 35 countries. This year the forum brings together Lithuanian entrepreneurs living abroad. This will be an exclusive opportunity for local Lithuanian companies to raise funds for business development and to operate in international markets.
The ambassador for the event is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania – Andrius Kubilius.