From Sock Factory to Unicorn Country: Computer Weekly on Vilnius’s Startup Story

Computer Weekly, the UK technology publication, travels to Vilnius to find out how a small country became a startup nation – and finds the answer in a former textile factory, a scarcity of venture capital and a stubborn refusal to take no for an answer.

Computer Weekly’s investigations editor Bill Goodwin begins his feature in Vilnius’s Cyber City, built on the site of a factory that once turned out millions of socks. Traces of the textile design still show in the decoration of the buildings, which now house technology professionals and high-tech companies. From there, the story widens to a country that has reinvented itself since regaining independence, with household names such as Vinted and Nord Security, and a technology sector whose value has grown several times over in just a few years.

The explanation Goodwin finds is as much about mindset as money. After 1990, Lithuania had to rebuild its market economy from scratch, and venture capital was scarce for years. Founders learned to guard their cash and reinvest profit, a habit companies such as Nord Security still credit for their steady growth. Fintech took a more deliberate path: after Brexit, the government and the central bank created a fast-track licensing route, and Revolut made Vilnius the hub of its European business.

Vytautas Savickas, CEO of Oxylabs, which became Lithuania’s latest unicorn in July, describes the temperament behind it all. Lithuanian founders treat setbacks as part of the job, and with a small home market they think of the US and other big markets from day one. As his company puts it, they prefer results to hype. Goodwin closes on a confident note: Gintarė Verbickaitė of Unicorns Lithuania expects ten Lithuanian unicorns by 2029, with AI helping young companies scale faster than ever.