Martinas Eitmonas, the founder of two Proptech start-ups, was elected President of the Association.
The Chairperson of the Board, D. Dargis, acknowledged the achievement of striking a balance between the interests of start-ups and real estate market players, in addition to the successful endeavours in pursuing a shared goal for Lithuania to become an international hub for real estate innovation.
According to M. Eitmonas, the rapid growth of the Association, with 38 companies joining within the first year, is strong evidence of the increasing interest in innovations and the vibrant emergence of the Proptech ecosystem.
The start-ups of the Proptech Lithuania community engage in various fields, such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, WEB3, digital twins, sustainability, data analytics, digital identity, financing and many more.
Notable and active start-ups within the Proptech Lithuania community include NUMAI, CityNow, Speiz, Profitus, Flanco, Strato Group, Viridis Sustainability, Discontract, Hoo Controls. They operate not only in Lithuania, but also in foreign countries, such as Latvia, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Norway, and others. This shows which start-ups have the greatest potential to become the first Proptech unicorns in Lithuania.
"Lithuania has a huge innovation potential not only in the real estate market, but also on a global scale. Our community members have the necessary qualifications to drive innovation breakthroughs. The founders of these start-ups have reached the pinnacle of their careers in companies such as IBM, Facebook, Citi Group, and have been recognised in the prestigious ‘Forbes 30 under 30’ list,” says Viktorija Čijunskytė, Board member of the Association's and founder of Profitus.
Kęstutis Sasnauskas, CEO at Eastnine, emphasised the challenge that large real estate companies face in generating internal innovation; therefore, partnering with start-ups represents a logical step. "Technological progress can be a key factor in gaining and maintaining a competitive edge. As one of the largest office building operators in Lithuania, we will offer members of the Proptech ecosystem the opportunity to test their products in our buildings, and foster innovation through hackathons and accelerators," added K. Sasnauskas.
According to Sustainable Future Ventures, a venture capital fund, the Proptech industry holds a total addressable market worth €22,5 trillion.
Proptech Lithuania has set ambitious goals to foster growth and attract 300 Proptech start-ups to Lithuania. Achieving this goal would result in these start-ups contributing €1 billion in taxes to the Lithuanian budget over a decade.