Baltic Startup Mafia

29/08/2025

🇪🇪 Estonian fintech Creem has secured €1.8M in pre-seed funding to build what it calls a "Stripe for AI" — a financial operating system designed specifically for fast-scaling AI startups.

FinTech startup Creem raises €1.8M to build 'Stripe for AI' — already hitting $1M ARR with no sales team. Why Estonia? Easier to build than anywhere else, says the founder.

28/08/2025

🇱🇻 Latvian sport-tech startup Tournated has successfully closed a $750,000 strategic funding round, marking a major step toward its mission of becoming the global leader in sports digitalisation.

👏 Tournated has developed a solution that allows any sports organisation, individual, or entity running a sports management business to launch their own sports management platform. The platform unifies sub-organisations and individuals, enabling them to manage, grow, and monetise their operations.

Latvian sport-tech startup Tournated has successfully closed a $750,000 strategic funding round, marking a major step toward its mission of becoming the global leader in sports digitalisation.

26/08/2025

🇪🇪 Stargate Hydrogen has received a strategic investment from Repsol’s Corporate Venture arm, which acquired a minority stake in the Tallinn-based company. The funding will support the scaleup of Stargate’s production capabilities—currently at 140 MW per year—and accelerate its R&D activities.

Stargate Hydrogen develops next-generation alkaline electrolysers for green hydrogen production, using a proprietary stack architecture and advanced ceramic catalysts to improve system efficiency and lower costs.

For Repsol, one of Spain’s largest hydrogen producers, the partnership contributes to its goal of reaching 600–700 MW of installed hydrogen capacity by 2030 and integrating emerging technologies into its decarbonization roadmap.

Stargate Hydrogen has received a strategic investment from Repsol’s Corporate Venture arm, which acquired a minority stake in the Tallinn-based company. The

19/08/2025

🇱🇹 Neuroscientist Prof. Urtė Neniškytė from Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) has secured the full €2 million available through the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant scheme for her research project ‘Sugars Maketh the Brain: Investigating the Role of Neuronal Glycocalyx in Shaping the Architecture of Emerging Circuits (GlycoCirc)’.

The project will explore how sugar structures known as glycocalyx, which are found on the surface of brain cells, contribute to the formation of neural networks, influence brain development, and may help explain what makes the human brain unique.

18/08/2025

🇪🇪 Tartu-based Better Medicine, a startup developing AI-powered diagnostic tools for radiology, has raised €1 million in a pre-Seed funding round to expand in Europe, prepare for U.S. entry, and pursue clinical and insurance partnerships.

Tartu-based Better Medicine, a startup developing AI-powered diagnostic tools for radiology, has raised €1 million in a pre-Seed funding round to expand

15/08/2025

🇱🇹 Lithuanian SaaS GREÏ has raised €650,000 in pre-seed funding to scale its AI-powered operational intelligence platform. Large-scale operations often struggle with fragmented visibility despite the use of hardware like CCTV, alarms, and IoT sensors. The challenge isn’t the lack of data; it’s interpreting it in real time. GREÏ’s solution is to layer artificial intelligence over existing infrastructure.

The company is moving beyond proof-of-concept to commercialise.

13/08/2025

🇪🇪 Tallin-based Bisly, a provider of scalable, smart building automation solutions, has raised a €4.3 million funding round to expand its operations across Central and Western Europe to deepen their presence in DACH and the UK, and to open a new office in Poland, one of the fastest-growing markets for smart building infrastructure.

Tallin-based Bisly, a provider of scalable, smart building automation solutions, has raised a €4.3 million funding round to expand its operations across

07/08/2025

🇱🇹 KELI Therapeutics, a biotech company developing regenerative cell therapies, has been awarded a €2.5 million grant funding by the European Innovation Council (EIC) as part of the highly competitive EIC Accelerator program.

KELI is focused on treating high-burden inflammatory conditions with cell/gene and exosome-based therapeutics. Pipeline includes mesenchymal stromal cells for systemic inflammation, chondrocyte-based products for cartilage repair, and exosome formulations for wellness and skincare markets.

KELI Therapeutics, a biotech company developing regenerative cell therapies, has been awarded a €2.5 million grant funding by the European Innovation Council (EIC) as part of the highly competitive EIC Accelerator program. The company has also received the prestigious Seal of Excellence, recognizi...

06/08/2025

🇱🇻 Biotech startup Cellbox Labs has secured €3.3 million in funding for the continued development of its product portfolio.

Cellbox Labs is developing organ-on-a-chip systems that can help pharmaceutical companies test new drugs more efficiently. The company aims to establish an organ-on-a-chip industry in Latvia and grow a high-tech business locally 👏

Biotech startup Cellbox Labs has secured €3.3 million in funding for continued development of its product portfolio. Part of this funding comes from state support under the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) initiative in the healthcare sector, known as "Tech4Cure", according t...

04/08/2025

🇪🇪 Tallinn-based ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risk management startup Esgrid has raised funding to expand into supplier management.

Their AI-powered SaaS platform automates supply chain ESG data collection, analytics, reporting and engagement, while reducing costs by up to 90 per cent.

Esgrid has just launched the first feature of their supplier management platform – an AI-based supplier evaluation template generator.

01/08/2025

🇱🇻 Handwave, a next-generation biometric startup founded in Latvia, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to launch its palm-based payment and identity platform in Europe and the US.

👋 Handwave turns your palm into a secure, contactless way to pay, prove your age, activate instant loyalties and check in – no cards, no phones, no apps, no facial scans. Just one gesture.

Handwave, a next-generation biometric startup founded in Latvia, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to launch its palm-based payment and identity platform in Europe and the US.

31/07/2025

🇪🇪 European investing app Lightyear has just announced that it’s raised $23 million in a funding round. Based in London, Lightyear develops an app that lets users invest in a range of over 5,000 stocks, exchange-traded funds and money market funds.

A host of Estonia's top tech entrepreneurs — including ride-hailing unicorn Bolt's CEO Markus Villig — are investing in European trading app Lightyear.