BalticVC

Details of the deal in the course of which Estonian fund Change Ventures acquired  7.4% of Latvian energy startup Engycell have become known. The startup has raised €420K, consisting of an initial investment of €250K from Change Ventures and €170K from European Union funds.

Latvian venture fund LongeVC  has invested in US medical startup SiPhox Health , which produces home blood test kits.

In the annual PitchBook 2024 Global League Tables ranking, Baltic venture funds FIRSTPICK , Coinvest Capital and Startup Wise Guys ranked  among the top three most active venture capital investors in CEE taking second and third place.

Estonian fund Change Ventures has acquired a 7.47% stake in an energy storage solution provider Engycell . Change Ventures has not responded to BalticVC's editorial request for details of the deal.

Riga-based theIntelligent VC has invested in American AI developer cloud Lambda . The fund participated in the Series D round of $480M, co-led by American company Andra Capital and SGW with participation from new investors internationally Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, and NVIDIA, among others, as well as strategic investment from Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron and Wiwynn.

Riga-based venture capital BADideas.fund said it has exited Swiss startup RoomPriceGenie , in which it invested €170K in 2023. This is the first exit for the Latvian fund, which came as a result of the startup raising $75M from an American company Five Elms Capital.

  As of today, bonds of Mapon , the largest provider of fleet management solutions in the Baltic States, are listed on the Baltic First North market on Nasdaq Riga .

Latvian company Mapon , part of the Draugiem Group, is expanding its Scandinavian business by acquiring 100% of shares in Interkom AB . 

  In the TechChill  startup and technology competition, Latvian startups received  investment offers for €610K.

Latvian AI startup Trace.Space has raised $4M in seed funding. German company Cherry Ventures led the round, joined by Riga-based Outlast Fund , as well as previous investors American Nebular, Austrian Fiedler and Estonian Change Ventures . 

In 2024, funding for startups in the Baltic countries decreased. However, the situation stabilized somewhat in the second half of the year. This is the conclusion reached by Change Ventures and FIRSTPICK in a new report on startup funding in the Baltic States for the second half of 2024. 

The University of Latvia hosted  the presentation of BioPhoT, a joint project of the Latvian state and the scientific community of the country, which will run until at least 2032.

Latvian developer of nano-coatings for green hydrogen systems Naco Technologies has raised €2.5M in the expanded pre-Series A from new investor Polish Radix Ventures and existing investors Hungarian Impact Ventures, Zurich-based Kendris Capital, and deep tech-focused fund The Untitled Ventures. Radix Ventures invested €1,5M.

Latvia will allocate €98.4M to entrepreneurs to create innovative products, including dual-use products. The money will come from European Union funds in the form of a state loan. €83.6M of this amount will come from the ERDF, and €14.8M will be allocated from the state budget. In addition, €71.4M will be provided by private investors.

UPD:  Gaming app Roam has raised less than $5M, according to founder Toms Černavskis. He declined to name the other investors or give details of the deal. Gaming app Roam , founded by 22-year-old Latvian Toms Černavskis, has raised $100K from Chinese Pico.com . The company was founded in autumn 2024 in San Francisco.

Latvian LongeVC  has invested in Canadian Proton Intelligence which develops non-invasive CKM for monitoring potassium levels in patients with kidney disease. The $6,95M round also included participation from Spanish We Venture Capital, Australian Tenmile and Trampoline Venture Partners, American SOSV and Exor Ventures, Japanese 15th Rock and others.

Latvian mobile app Dosty  which simplifies dog ownership by managing daily routines, providing expert advice and support on health and behaviour issues through a chat assistant, has received investment from Azerbaijan's Caucasus Ventures.

The founder of Riga-based theIntelligent VC Andrei Doktoroff has acquired an application for creating stores on Telegram Sellz . The investor plans to launch it as a startup next year with a new team. In the near future, the company will also focus on improving customer support, promoting the product, and raising an investment round.

Latvian Capitalia has invested in the Estonian VC  Siena Secondary Fund . The investment amount is undisclosed. The target size of Siena’s second fund is €50M.

Companies registered in Latvia will be able to use crypto assets to pay for their share capital, which is aligned with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. The decision was made by the Latvian Parliament.