Change Ventures and FIRSTPICK have released their latest Baltic Startup Funding Report, revealing that pre-seed funding in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia has stabilized after a period of decline. AI and deep tech startups continue to attract high valuations, while seed-stage funding has rebounded, with median round sizes reaching €2M. Despite investor caution, Lithuania and Latvia have surpassed Estonia in pre-seed valuations, signaling a competitive shift in the region. Growth-stage funding, however, remains at its lowest since 2019, reflecting continued market hesitancy.
The latest report provides a comprehensive look at the region’s investment landscape in the second half of 2024. Covering Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the report analyzes data from 564 pre-seed and seed rounds over the past six years, capturing over 60% of early-stage deals in the region.
Despite a challenging investment climate, the volume of pre-seed rounds has stabilized following a decline that began in early 2023. Seed-stage funding, while slightly down in number, has shifted toward larger deal sizes, indicating a healthier pipeline of startups advancing through the funding cycle. Growth-stage investment, however, remains cautious, with total funding at its lowest since 2019.
“While overall funding volumes have decreased, we see investors prioritizing stronger, more capital-efficient companies, especially at the seed stage. Notably, AI startups and those led by experienced, serial founders are securing larger pre-seed rounds at higher valuations, signaling investor confidence in high-potential teams and the wave of AI. The fact that pre-seed valuations remain high with the best securing capital at even higher valuations than before underscores that investors remain eager to back the most promising startups, even in a more selective market,” says Andra Bagdonaite, Partner at FIRSTPICK.
The report highlights a growing gap between top-tier and lower-tier startup valuations, with the median pre-seed round size now at €400K and valuations stabilizing around €3.85M. While overall pre-seed funding has declined from its peak in early 2024, AI and deep tech startups continue to attract investor interest, with top-tier startups securing capital at record valuations.
A key finding of the report is the resurgence of full seed rounds, with the median round size rebounding to €2M, up from €1.5M in H1 2024. Seed-stage valuations have also climbed back to just below €10M, though the widening gap between upper and lower quartiles suggests that well-established teams are absorbing most of the available capital.
The report underscores the continued difficulty of securing funding without traction. Many pre-seed startups raised rounds with little to no revenue, while seed-stage startups needed a median revenue of €38.5K to attract investment. The trend reflects increasing investor expectations for startups to demonstrate traction before securing funding.
While Estonia remains the dominant force in Series A and growth-stage funding, Lithuania and Latvia are emerging as serious contenders in the early-stage ecosystem. Both countries have surpassed Estonia in median valuations for pre-seed rounds, with valuations approximately 30% higher, signaling a more competitive regional landscape.
“Once again, we are humbled that founders willingly share their confidential data on funding rounds with us—all for the good of the community. The most recent data shows that funding is still tough for founders to access, though the stomach ache of the post-boom pullback seems to be passing,” says Andris Berzins, Partner at Change Ventures.
For a deeper dive into the data, the full Baltic Startup Funding Report for H2 2024 is available at FIRSTPICK’s website. The next edition, covering H1 2025, is expected in Q3 2025, providing further insights into the evolving Baltic startup ecosystem.
Click here to read more community news.
Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/baltic-startup-funding-report-h2-2024/
