FIRSTPICK

FIRSTPICK is a first-check venture capital fund that primarily backs Baltic founders at the inception and pre-seed stages. While maintaining a generalist approach, the firm places a strong emphasis on AI-first software companies. They typically deploy initial investments ranging from €100k to €500k, with the capacity for follow-on investments up to €1M. The firm is known for its high-speed investment process and its commitment to supporting early-stage tech startups across the Baltics.

The fund was launched in 2022, with its capital stemming from a combination of private investors, the founding team, and an investment from the Lithuanian state-financed ILTE fund, which is part of the Accelerator 2 program, funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU. The firm's leadership team brings extensive experience from various sectors, including management consulting, startup acceleration, and entrepreneurship, contributing to a robust support system for their portfolio companies.

FIRSTPICK has rapidly built a diverse portfolio of 43 companies since its inception. Notable investments include Copla, which raised a €6M Series A to support EU regulatory compliance, Samphire Neuroscience, which secured $5M in seed funding for its neurotech wearable targeting menstrual pain, and Handwave, a Latvian startup providing a European alternative to Amazon’s palm payments, which raised a $4.2 million seed round. Other portfolio companies mentioned include Skarbe, Tingit, and Algori. Beyond capital, FIRSTPICK offers its portfolio companies access to a platform comprising over 100 experienced operators, a network of 250+ founders, and battle-tested early-stage know-how.

The leadership team at FIRSTPICK includes General Partners Jonė Vaitulevičiūtė, Dmitrij Sosunov, Andra Bagdonaitė, and Marijus Andrijauskas, alongside Nikodemas Valiušaitis (Finance and Compliance Associate), Rūta Sičiūnaitė (Investment Analyst), and Tadas Gud, who leads the platform. Their collective expertise spans fundraising, strategy, metrics, product-market fit, sales, business development, and operations, providing comprehensive mentorship and support to their portfolio companies from idea validation through growth stages.