Tallinn-based fintech startup Cino has secured €3.5 million in a seed funding round led by London-based venture capital firm Balderton Capital. The funding will be used to support the company’s expansion into the United Kingdom and further develop its product. Founded in 2023 by Elena Churilova and Lina Saleh, Cino provides a shared payment solution through a virtual card that splits costs at the point of purchase. The platform allows multiple users to contribute their share of a payment directly from their bank accounts or digital wallets, removing the need for one individual to cover the cost upfront and seek…

myTU, a Lithuania-based digital bank that utilises AI and cloud-based infrastructure, has secured €10 million in a Series A funding round, surpassing its initial target of €9 million. The oversubscribed round was completed by existing shareholders increasing their stakes and two new strategic investors, both long-term business partners of myTU. The latest funding values the company at over €35 million. myTU has opted to continue without venture capital backing, prioritising sustainable growth. In Europe, more than 13 million adults do not have access to basic banking services, while many small businesses face high costs and limited financial service options. The…

Clar, a global digital brokerage firm based in Sweden, has acquired Fiizy, an Estonia-based fintech platform specialising in real-time financial product matching. The acquisition strengthens Clar’s position in the digital financial brokerage sector and expands its presence in Europe and Latin America. Clar operates across four continents, including Poland, Spain, Portugal, France, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Brazil. Fiizy, founded in 2015, is active in Poland, Spain, Mexico, and Colombia, with a network of over 250 financial partners. “The merger of Fiizy into Clar aligns with our strategy to strengthen our leadership as a global digital broker while…

Lietuvos Bankas, the central bank of Lithuania and the financial supervisory authority, in a statement on February 25 reminded crypto-asset service providers and consumers of the restrictions associated with the transitional period under the MiCA Regulation. The regulatory framework imposes specific requirements on service providers and the issuance of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs). Under the MiCA transitional period, crypto-asset service providers registered under a national regulatory framework may operate only within their country of registration. Registration in one EU Member State does not grant the right to provide services in other EU countries. Providers seeking to…

In 2024, fintech became the most funded startup sector in Lithuania, reclaiming its leadership after an underwhelming year 2023, new data released by Dealroom show. Fintech startups in Lithuania secured EUR 48.8 million in funding in 2024, representing 38% of the total EUR 128 million raised by startups across all verticals. Top industries by VC investment volume in 2024, Source: The Lithuanian Startup Ecosystem 2024, Dealroom, Jan 2025 The figure marks a significant recovery from 2023, when fintech startups attracted a mere EUR 7.2 million, according to Dealroom data. The sum ranked fintech sixth in funding in 2023, a far…

TransferGo, a fintech company originally founded in Lithuania and now headquartered in London, has introduced a multi-currency business account for enterprises based in the UK and the EU. This new service enables businesses to hold, exchange, send, and receive multiple currencies, addressing common challenges in international transactions. While companies are increasingly operating on a global scale, cross-border payments remain complex. Businesses often encounter high fees, slow processing times, and difficulties in currency exchange, particularly when dealing with emerging markets. TransferGo aims to simplify this process by offering a reliable platform with competitive rates and a smoother international payment experience. “We…

The Baltic and the Nordic regions have emerged as key hubs for fintech innovation, driven by strong tech ecosystems, supportive regulatory environments, and a strong emphasis on digital innovation. Estonia stands out as one of the most advanced nations in terms of fintech and digital innovation, recognized as a global leader in e-government, blockchain technology and digital identity. Lithuania has gained a reputation for being particularly welcoming to fintech startups, offering fast and efficient licensing processes for financial companies and attracting global fintech companies with its welcoming regulatory framework. Latvia, though home to a smaller fintech scene compared to Estonia…

The Estonian Startup Awards recognised the country’s top startups, founders, and investors across 11 categories. Startups now contribute nearly 4% of Estonia’s GDP, up from 1.5% in recent years. Prime Minister Kristen Michal remarked, “Such growth highlights the importance of the sector to Estonia’s economy and its people, both locally and internationally. Estonian startups have not only weathered the storm but have emerged stronger, contributing to our economy in ways that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago.” Key Winners Estonian Startup Awards 2024: Founder of the Year 2024: Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer (Lightyear) Lightyear,…

Ebury, a UK-based company, specialising in international trade solutions for SMEs, has announced its agreement to acquire Lithuania-based ArcaPay, a provider of B2B cross-border payment solutions. The acquisition, pending regulatory approval, aims to expand Ebury’s presence in the Baltics and enhance its international payments capabilities. Juan Lobato, Founder and CEO of Ebury, stated: “The addition of ArcaPay will allow us to deliver our strategic priorities of leveraging targeted acquisitions, serving our existing clients more successfully, and expanding into new attractive markets.” Marius Bausys, Founder of ArcaPay, commented: “We are thrilled to join Ebury and bring its tailored offering to the…

Estonian funds have grown significantly, now managing around a billion euros for new investments, with many expanding internationally. A panel of venture capital and angel investors, and entrepreneurs from the Estonian startup sector discussing the results the industry has achieved have agreed that the sector has stabilised since peaking in 2021 – and despite 2024 proving to be a challenging year for founders and investors alike, there is as much interest as ever in putting money into the sector, and capital is available. The market itself, meanwhile, has become more aware. Kaari Kink, the chairman of the Estonian Private Equity…

The Baltic Finance Center of RTU Riga Business School has published a study “What Should Latvia’s Next National FinTech Strategy Look Like?”, which examines the situation in fintech industry in Latvia as well as recommendations for the development direction of Latvia’s fintech sector are provided. At the end of 2024, the Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the Bank of Latvia, the Ministry of Economy, representatives of the financial sector, and other interested parties, will begin work on the development of the new Latvian fintech strategy. The study was designed to support this process with independent, evidence-based analysis. The authors…

The central bank of Latvia, Latvijas Banka, has announced free pre-licensing consultations for crypto-asset service providers looking to pursue the EU MiCA license – the new EU-wide united license and legal framework for the crypto-asset industry. Latvijas Banka will begin accepting applications and issuing operating permits starting January 2025, when the MiCA license will go into effect. Latvijas Banka has developed both licensing and pre-licensing processes to provide the best possible support for innovators in the financial sector. The pre-licensing process offers individual consultations with Latvijas Banka experts, ensuring guidance on the viability of applications, regulatory compliance, and document readiness.…

In 2024, the Latvian fintech ecosystem continued to grow and evolve, driven by rapid technology advancements, new companies entering the sector, and strategic partnerships to boost growth, a new report by Venture Faculty, a business consultancy based in Riga, says. The Latvia Fintech Landscape 2024 report, produced in collaboration with Dealroom, provides an overview of the state of fintech in Latvia, exploring the trends and dynamics that emerged in 2024. According to the report, the Latvian fintech industry continued to evolve this year with promising early-stage companies gaining significant traction and receiving considerable financial backing. Jeff App, a financial marketplace…

In the last two years, some large banks have been hit with very public, lengthy – over 10 hours – disruption of their digital banking services. And that’s just the incidents we are aware of. Cases like these highlight the fears bankers may have in moving away from legacy systems in the name of innovation. Such unreliability erodes customer trust, impacts revenue, and perhaps most importantly, raises the ire of regulators. This fear factor also makes it harder for traditional banks to embrace going digital to fight neobanks and other digital-first financial institutions. Thus, many bankers and C-suites take a…

The Baltic region, comprising Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, has emerged as the home of a growing startup ecosystem, predominantly made up of early-stage ventures established in recent year. A significant proportion of these startups operate in the fintech industry, a reflection of the sector’s prominence across the region and the alignment with governmental initiatives, a new industry survey found. The Baltic Startup Survey 2024, produced by BalticVC, a media platform focusing on startups and venture investment in the region, provides insights into the state of the startup landscape in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, identifying current trends shaping the ecosystem. The…

Lithuania will become DriveWealth’s base of operations for its European brokerage partners with plans to expand the team based in Lithuania. DriveWealth, a leading financial technology platform providing Brokerage-as-a-Service, today announced that the Bank of Lithuania, the central bank of the Republic of Lithuania, granted it a brokerage license in Europe. This license accelerates DriveWealth’s international expansion and marks its third region with regulatory status, including the United States, Singapore, and now the European Economic Area. DriveWealth powers modern investing experiences, including 24-hour trading and fractional share ownership, for a community of global B2B partners. Securing this license supports DriveWealth’s ability to expand its platform to offer European securities as well as provide a “follow-the-sun” 24/7 service model continuously across time zones.…

German’s N26 announced the launch of Stocks and ETFs trading in 12 new markets. With the introduction of N26 Stocks and ETFs, customers in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia will be able to manage their investment portfolio directly within the N26 app. With its new Stocks and ETFs trading product, N26 allows its customers to invest in fractional shares of hundreds of the most popular European and US assets on global equity markets with as little as 1 EUR. The new product further strengthens N26’s premium offering, with N26 Metal customers benefiting…

Latitude59 is expanding by organizing its first satellite event in Singapore. Latitude59 is an international, impactful, and diverse startup and technology conference in the Baltic States and New Nordics and a global platform that connects startups, investors, and other startup ecosystem builders around the world. “I am happy and grateful that we have the opportunity to connect the Estonian and Singapore startup ecosystems and introduce them globally. In Singapore, we see ourselves acting as a bridge between Estonia’s highly digitized and successful startup environment and Singapore’s rapidly growing tech and innovation sectors,” said Latitude59’s CEO Liisi Org. Singapore’s startup ecosystem…

INDEXO Bank has officially launched operations in Latvia after obtaining a banking licence from the European Central Bank. It is said to be the first recipient of a banking licence in Latvia since its accession to the Eurozone. The bank has leveraged Mambu’s core banking platform, a cloud banking provider, to build its core technology infrastructure. This is further strengthened by Microsoft Azure, providing the cloud computing environment, and Fintecor, which enables seamless integration of various banking services. This modern infrastructure allows INDEXO to provide financial services like current and savings accounts, credit cards, term deposits, and instant payments. The…

Amlyze , a Lithuanian based RegTech company offering anti-financial crime solutions for banks, FinTechs and Virtual Assets Service Providers, announced  the successful closure of a €2.35 million seed funding round. This achievement marks the dawn of an growth phase, setting the stage for AMLYZE to extend its services to larger corporate and institutional clients. The seed round was led by Practica Capital, one of the leading venture capital firms in the Baltics. Firstpick, an early-stage venture capital fund and accelerator, Coinvest Capital, a sovereign VC fund with a group of accredited private co-investors, including Gintas Balčiūnas, CEO of Dokobit, Donatas…