EBAN Congress comes to Vilnius for the first time, spotlighting one of Europe’s fastest growing startup and fintech ecosystems

The European angel investment community will gather in Vilnius on June 1–2, 2026, as the EBAN Congress is hosted in Lithuania for the first time. The 26th edition of the congress will bring together business angels, startup founders, corporates, policymakers, and innovation ecosystem stakeholders from across Europe.

This year’s programme will focus on Europe’s Resilience – strategic industries and technological autonomy, with emphasis on Space & Defence Tech, BioTech, CleanTech, and enabling deep technologies. The agenda reflects a growing investor focus on technologies tied to long-term resilience and competitiveness.

Each year, the EBAN Congress convenes in leading European innovation hubs, serving as a meeting point for early-stage investors and founders to connect capital with companies at tlhe earliest stages of development.

The selection of Vilnius highlights the city’s emergence as Europe's fastest-scaling startup hub, particularly in early-stage and regulated digital sectors. Lithuania is home to more than 1,100 startups, with activity heavily concentrated in the capital, and a strong base of early-stage founders and angel investors. The country has produced five unicorns – a standout achievement on a per capita basis in a country of just 2.8 million people.

Vilnius has also developed a notable fintech and regulated innovation sector, with approximately 300 fintech companies and more than 130 licensed electronic money and payment institutions operating in the country.

The ecosystem is supported by a coordinated framework of public and private actors, including the Bank of Lithuania, Startup Lithuania, Innovation Agency, Unicorns Lithuania, LT VCA, Lithuanian Business Angels Network LitBAN, and Go Vilnius, alongside an active base of Venture Capital funds, accelerators, business angels and reinvested founder capital from Baltic tech companies.

For the LitBAN, the congress marks an important milestone for the local ecosystem. “We are very happy and proud to bring the EBAN Congress to Lithuania and Vilnius for the first time. This is an important recognition for the LitBAN community and for the Lithuanian startup ecosystem as a whole,” – says LitBAN Director Roberta Rudokienė.

She adds: “Business angels are a key part of a healthy and growing innovation ecosystem – they not only provide capital to early-stage companies, but also share their experience, networks, and knowledge, helping startups grow into global businesses.” Rudokienė notes that the event is expected to gather more than 500 participants from across Europe, including investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders, and adds that the goal is to further increase Lithuania’s visibility as a destination for private capital.

Mangirdas Šapranauskas, Head of Business Department at Go Vilnius, official city’s tourism and business development agency, says Vilnius has developed into a tightly integrated entry point to the European market, where companies building their products locally are inherently geared toward global markets due to the limited domestic base – a dynamic that has fostered strong regulatory experience, clarity, and institutional alignment, accelerating company formation and scaling.

He adds that the strength of the ecosystem lies not only in the number of companies choosing Vilnius, but in the predictability and speed of market entry, which makes the city increasingly attractive for international founders building in regulated and deep-tech sectors.

The congress is expected to further strengthen Lithuania’s position as a high-efficiency entry point into the EU innovation and financial markets, particularly for early-stage investors seeking scalable cross-border opportunities.

For more information, visit https://www.ebancongress.com.