BalticVC

Estonian car rental company Planet42 is selling off its South African car rental fleet to repay debts to institutional investors. In addition, Planet42 co-founders Eerik Oja and Marten Orgna have resigned from the board of directors under pressure from the investors.

Estonian accelerator and fund Startup Wise Guys has become the lead investor in the €440K seed round of Italian startup Vado , which has developed an automated delivery solution. Milan-based VC Angels4Impact also participated in the deal. €394K was raised in equity from private investors and €50K in a loan from Italian bank Banca Sella.

Lithuanian renewable energy developer Green Genius has raised €100M from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which will become a minority shareholder in the company. This is the first external equity investment for Green Genius. 

Plural, co-founded by Estonian entrepreneurs Sten Tamkivi and Taavet Hinrikus, has invested in LLM technology developer Oriole Networks . Other investors in this £17,5M Series A were not disclosed. As part of the deal, Plural partner Ian Hogarth has been appointed a director of the company.

Former Deputy Minister of Digital Development of Estonia Lukas Ilves will advise the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, working in a team led by Mykhailo Fedorov (Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine). In his new position, Ilves will focus on artificial intelligence and continue to contribute to Ukraine's digital transformation. In his previous position, Ilves worked with Ukrainian colleagues for the past two years. The new advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation served as Estonia's Deputy Minister of Digital Development from January 2022 to February 2024. He was responsible for IT in the public sector, the development of the digital state, cybersecurity, and communications. After that, he continued to work in the ministry as an advisor to the Сhancellor. Until 2022, Ilves worked as the head of strategy and research at the Estonian cybersecurity company Guardtime

Lithuanian regtech AMLYZE has raised €2.35M in seed funding from Vilnius-based lead investor Practica Capital , with participation from Lithuanian FIRSTPICK, Coinvest Capital, which invested with CEO of Dokobit Gintas Balčiūnas, CEO and Chairman of DOJUS Group Donatas Dailide, and European Advanzia Bank. A syndicate of 33 business angels NGL also participated in the deal.

Lithuanian real estate technology platform Flanco has raised investment from a co-founder of a mobility platform Trafi Martynas Gudonavičius. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. According to the investor, he has joined Flanco as a significant shareholder. The size of the investment exceeds his average ticket size, which is about €30K- €50K.