Launch of the Virtual Energy Startup Education Programme
The Ministry of Energy invites to learn more about how to build an energy startup in your country remotely and for free and why it is worth doing so. Participants will find more than 80 chapters and 3.5 hours of filmed training content in the interactive training programme launched on 18 December. The programme will include success stories of energy startups, an overview of the energy technologies with the highest potential, as well as useful information on the Lithuanian energy innovation ecosystem – its key players and contacts, open access centres, pilot energy innovation environment and funding opportunities.
“Our strategic goal is to transform Lithuania from an importer of energy technologies to a developer and exporter of energy technologies. Innovation in energy opens up huge opportunities for startups, and we want innovative startups to grow, develop and become one of Lithuania’s export leaders, which is why programmes such as this one are being developed,” says Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys.
The programme is designed to nurture startups that innovate in the fields of solar energy, biomass, geothermal energy, hydrogen, batteries, liquefied natural gas, cybersecurity, e-mobility and other areas, so that they can develop their businesses more quickly and easily with the knowledge they have acquired.
The programme also covers topics such as Lithuania’s strategic energy goals, global technology trends, Europe’s Green Deal, presentation of pre-acceleration programmes and investment funds operating in Lithuania and abroad, open access infrastructure and other opportunities. The entrepreneurship competency development sections cover business idea generation, validation, market research, finding and attracting potential customers, performance indicators, marketing plan, attracting investment and other topics.
In the online energy startup pre-acceleration programme, startups will be able to learn at their own pace and receive a diploma upon completion of the course material and knowledge assessment tests. The programme material will be available until 2023.
Startups and innovators are invited to register and access the programme here.
There are currently over 1,000 start-ups operating in Lithuania, which attracted more than EUR 170 million of investment from local and foreign investors in 2019. The first “unicorn”, Vinted, a platform for selling second-hand clothing, was also launched in Lithuania. In 2019, start-ups paid EUR 87 million in taxes to the Lithuanian state and the average salary was EUR 2.4 thousand (according to unicorns.lt).
Startups do not have an easy road to success – according to a study by the US Small Business Administration (SBA), more than 90% of startups fail after their founding: 21.5% in their first year, 30% in their second year, 50% before their fifth birthday, and another 70% before their 10th anniversary.
In most cases, startups developing innovative products or services face a number of formidable challenges – funding opportunities for early-stage businesses, the supply of energy professionals in the market, access to R&D infrastructure and skilled researchers. Lithuanian universities do not provide students with accessible training on effective commercialisation of research results, setting up and developing innovative businesses, and attracting investment.
“We welcome initiatives aimed at the (self-)education of young business creators, especially at this time when, due to the pandemic, events that have become commonplace in the ecosystem are no longer taking place, or are taking place less frequently and in other forms. The LitBAN business angel network receives over 200 applications annually (266 applications in 2020) from startups for potential funding for their businesses. Many of these companies would benefit from improving their knowledge in the areas of investment readiness, business development, sales and related areas,” says Justinas Pašys, Head of the Lithuanian Business Angel Network LitBAN.
The Early Stage Business Development (Pre-Acceleration) Programme has been developed in line with the strategic goals and objectives of the National Energy Independence Strategy (NENS), in cooperation with Vilnius Tech Park.
The NENS, adopted in 2018, includes innovation as one of the strategic directions of energy policy. The NENS also enshrines the ambition for Lithuania to move from a country importing energy technologies to a country developing and exporting energy technologies. In order to achieve this and other related objectives, the Action Plan for Strengthening Lithuania’s Energy Innovation Ecosystem was approved on 10 September 2020. It includes more than 50 measures that will enable the development and strengthening of the energy innovation ecosystem in the areas of infrastructure, human resources, products and services, regulatory environment, science and technology.