Europe’s largest technology campus grows out of a Soviet sock factory

One bus stop is called “Unicorn”, celebrating the tech giants Vinted and Nord Security, whose headquarters are a few meters away.

Marijus Briedis, Nord Security’s chief technology officer, says the area was a “no-go zone”.

“It was a dangerous area,” he said, speaking from an office in his company’s new headquarters there.

Nord Security became Lithuania’s second billion-dollar tech unicorn in 2022, three years after Vinted joined the club.

Briedis described a sea of ​​Soviet-era factories, dilapidated buildings and unsavory characters that once populated the area.

Now, he said, that is changing rapidly, driven by Lithuania’s thriving tech startup scene. The North Building is inspired by Silicon Valley’s tech campuses.

“I would say the last five years have been a really booming time for all startups and the startup community,” Briedis said. “Because I just exploded.”

After the Second World War, Lithuania was forcibly absorbed by the Soviet Union, gaining independence only in 1990. For years, the country was mainly known as a destination for cheap city breaks, but that changed in recent years.

Between 2018 and 2023, Lithuania’s startup ecosystem has grown significantly, with the combined enterprise value of the country’s startups increasing more than sevenfold.

Lithuania now has over 900 startups. He claims to have at least three unicorns as well The fastest growing startup ecosystem in the Baltic States and the second largest in terms of venture capital investments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Lithuania, with a population of less than 3 million, has a much smaller market than larger neighboring countries, Briedis noted. “So you have to think globally.”

The largest technological campus in Europe

Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is at the heart of this startup scene – the city is responsible for around 90% of the value of all Lithuanian startups.

Valdas Benkuskas, the city’s mayor, said it contributes almost half of the country’s GDP.

As a start-up hub, Vilnius is now fighting to become a tech hub to rival European giants like Berlin, London and Amsterdam – although it is still a long way off.

However, its transformation is best exemplified by projects like Cyber ​​City and another even more ambitious project underway, the mayor told BI.

Tech Zity, an ambitious project just a short walk from Cyber ​​City, could help turbocharge Lithuania’s tech scene.

“Lithuania has gone from the 90s, when we gained independence, and it was mainly factories, sewing factories, metallurgy,” says Kipras Krasauskas, COO of Tech Zity, now a sprawling construction site.

“The next stage was we started creating retail companies and shipping companies,” he said, “and now the next generations are coming in and creating global products — NordVPN, Vinted, Kilo Health.”

Several companies have already secured space in what is poised to become Europe’s largest technology campus, covering 592,015 square meters and housing up to 5,000 workers.

Right now, it’s just dusty floors, steel supports and exposed wooden beams.

But Krasauskas sees the tech campus as a vibrant community where entrepreneurs can build startups, connect with venture capitalists, secure funding and close deals.

He hopes it will become a European center of innovation and a breeding ground for future unicorns, which will help the Lithuanian economy grow stronger and stronger.

“I think more and more parts of our GDP will be created in this area,” he said.

Like Cyber ​​City, Tech Zity is being developed on the site of a Soviet-era factory.

While the old sewing factory still operates from a smaller building nearby, the larger structure is being transformed into the campus hub, which will include restaurants, a sports center and a conference center.

“Our idea for Tech Zity is not to demolish and build new buildings, but to try to renovate the old ones and give them a new life and a new function,” says Krasauskas, gesturing to an exhibition of repurposed objects.

The old window frames will be transformed into meeting boxes, he says, while the wooden beams are now communal work tables and the halogen lights have been recycled into an art display.

A changing city

As the city embraces its ambitions as a tech hub, it is determined to preserve traces of its darker Soviet past.

Back in his office, Benkuskas, the mayor, explains that although the technology companies are new, they “purposely bought old territories, which were old factories built in the Soviet Union and abandoned for many years.”

“It illustrates how Lithuania and Vilnius have changed from Soviet times, with old technology and neglected buildings, to new technology, a new economy and a new strength,” he says.

“I’m proud that we’re transforming the city in this way.”