The Lithuanian government on Wednesday authorized Economy and Innovation Minister Virginijus Sinkevicius to sign the agreement. It should be signed in May or June and startups at these incubators should start operating as early as this year.
Lithuania became an associated CERN member only a year ago but will become the tenth country where the CERN will establish business incubators.
According to the Lithuanian government, the CERN incubators in Vilnius and Kaunas will host no more than 5 startups each at the time, and the value of funding for one startup will not exceed 40,000 euros. The funds will come from the EU.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said in Davos in January when she met Fabiola Gianotti, director general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), that Lithuania will be the first among associated CERN members to gain unique access to CERN’s newest technologies, data bases and expertise, adding that it's huge recognition of Lithuania's scientific progress.
CERN membership costs around 900,000 euros per year for Lithuania.