Vilnius Blockchain Week: Startup Lighthouse & Soft-Landing gather blockchain startups and ecosystem builders in Lithuania

Vilnius Blockchain Week is over – what a blast! Two Startup Europe projects brought it to life: Soft-Landing and Startup Lighthouse!

The initiative brought around 40 participants to deep-dive into the city’s startup ecosystem with the main focus on understanding what part blockchain plays in it and build connections with blockchain leaders in Lithuania.

Article by Startup Division

Here is what we did:

• Got an insightful overview of Lithuania’s startup ecosystem from Mantas Kondratavičius (Startup Lithuania) and Paulius Petrašiūnas (Vinpra)
• Got to know Lithuania’s government support for blockchain startups and the LBChain case presented by Jekaterina Govina (Bank of Lithuania)
• Were introduced to blockchain regulation and taxation system in Lithuania by Lukas Pultaražinskasand Evaldas Petraitis (Cobalt)
• Heard Lithuanian startups success stories including Oberlo, Simplex, CGTrader and blockchain startups BitDegree, Debitum Network
• Had the Bitcoin journey presented by Rokas Šalaševičius (Civitta)
• Visited key startup hubs and met their representatives – Gediminas Dilertas (Vilnius Tech Park), Mariano Andrade Gonzales (Rise Vilnius), Žygimantas Zabieta and Ian Kane (Blockchain Centre Vilnius)
• Got a chance to hear Danielius Stasiulis (BitDegree), Miko Matsumura (Gumi Cryptos), Lewis Tuff (Blockchain) and Sigitas Mitkus (Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania) sharing their insights on blockchain regulation
• Threw exquisite networking parties hosted by TransferGo (with a 360 degrees panoramic view from the rooftop!) and Blockchain Centre Vilnius where we met some of the Startup Europe Block Forum speakers
• Had a blockchain community BBQ at Vilnius Tech Park and ended the week at a renowned Vilnius bar Bardakas
• Participated in the most exclusive crypto conference in Northern Europe – Startup Europe Block Forum

Startup Europe Block Forum

Startup Europe Block Forum gathered the global crypto community for a 2-day conference with over 30 speakers and 350 participants. We met, shook hands and took selfies with some of the biggest names in the crypto world:

• Michael Suppo (Suppoman) – the most viewed Crypto Advisor on Youtube, Cryptocurrency Investor and Evangelist
• Chris J. Snook – Founder and Chairman of World Tokenomic Forum
• Jeff Burton – Serial Entrepreneur and Viking of Silicon Valley, Co-founder of Electronic Arts
• Isidro Laso Ballesteros – Head of Startup Europe at the European Commission

…and many more!

As it was loudly announced on stage during the TOP 20 ICOs pitch competition, “BLOCKCHAIN AND ROCK N’ ROLL, BABY!!!” These 6 words sum up our feelings after the Startup Europe Block Forum pretty accurately.

In addition to that, 3 selected blockchain startups that participated in the Soft-Landing Stay had one extra day for mentorship. They pitched their business models to a high-level mentor panel and later on had a round of one-on-one mentoring sessions during which they got insightful feedback from the mentors.

Can such a tiny country be actually rocking the blockchain world? Well…

• Lithuania is ranking TOP in the world of ICOs thanks to extremely active and smart ICO experts.
• A manageable size of the tight-knit blockchain community in Lithuania allows efficient experience and knowledge sharing among the members.
• Blockchain Centre Vilnius is the Europe’s blockchain gateway to the world offering a 4000+ network and access to markets in Europe, Asia and Australia. It also organizes weekly Talk&Trade community meetups to share experience and build connections.
• Bank of Lithuania set up a dedicated regulatory sandbox for blockchain startups and expresses exceptional support for blockchain technology.

Looking at what is happening right now, Lithuania truly aims to create a convenient regulatory and economic environment to foster the growing blockchain and ICO ecosystem.

– Tristan Guy, Founder at Founded Innovation Support

 

Besides building a leading blockchain environment in Europe, Vilnius is full of life and fun. Whether you are a dance floor rock-star, Michelin-Star level foodie or a fan of architecture – Vilnius is ready for you. Are you?

Hungry for more?

Follow the news about the upcoming Soft-Landing Missions, within and outside Europe: www.soft-landing.eu – you can join too! And on Twitter you can check the #SoftLandingEU missions as well.

The Startup Lighthouse Deep Dive Weeks can be seen at http://startuplighthouse.eu/ – new open calls for Lisbon and Berlin!

Get in touch with Startup Division if you want to to get your startup in the Baltics!

Why are you pitching investors when you can blockchain? Article by participant of the Vilnius Blockchain Week: Tristan Guy