LOGIN Startup Fair: The door to Europe for Russian startups (Vilnius, May 24-26)

Lithuania’s recently launched Startup Visa program is an opportunity for startups from neighboring countries, including Russia, to open the door to the European Union and broader Western markets.

Held in Vilnius on May 24-26, the LOGIN Startup Fair, a major startup event in the Baltics, will be focused on this visa program and expansion opportunitues to or from Lithuania.

This free event 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 and food trucks in the park.

Presentation events will be held in key Eastern European locations to inform the local startup communities about the visa program and invite them to LOGIN. Free flight tickets to Vilnius will be offered to the best startups.

These meetups will be held:

In Saint Petersburg on March 15, in partnership with Go Tech and Ingria Business Incubator;
In Minsk on April 3;
In Kiev (Kyiv) on April 19.

Building a new startup sweet spot

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.”