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There are currently 19,5 thousand specialists working in the Lithuanian startup sector – this is almost 5 percent more than at the same time last year (18,6 thousand specialists).
"Lithuanian startups continue to grow, attract investments, expand into new markets, and, especially important in the age of artificial intelligence, continue to expand their teams. In addition, the average salary paid to talents working in startups is constantly growing. It currently reaches 4,6 thousand euros per month before taxes - almost 5 percent or 200 euros more than last year and twice as much as the national average," says Gintarė Verbickaitė, head of Unicorns Lithuania.
TOP5 startups operating in Lithuania that paid the most taxes (Q2 2025)
1. Binance – 15,93 million euros
2. Vinted – 11,30 million euros
3. Nord Security - 7,20 million euros
4. Wargaming - 6,81 million. euros
5. BCG –5,16 million euros
Commenting on the top five startups that paid the most taxes, G. Verbickaitė emphasized that it is excellent proof that technology companies that grew from startups significantly strengthen the economy of the entire country.
"The increasing number of taxes paid and the share of GDP in the budget generated by startups clearly shows that this sector can transform our country's economy into one that creates high added value. Therefore, promoting the creation of new startups, maintaining existing ones and attracting them from other countries should become one of the most important state priorities - each of them can become a mature company or unicorn in the future, create new jobs and strengthen the economy," says G. Verbickaitė.
According to her, the potential of this sector is also proven by the increasing number of startups that have exceeded the threshold of 1 million euros in taxes per quarter. According to the association, there were 2025 such startups in the second quarter of 22, or 10 percent more than in January-March of this year.
"In addition to the above, startups Zen, Kilo Health, Oxylabs, Gurtam, Flo, Surfshark, Ovoko, Humbility, mano.bank, Omnisend, Wix, Hostinger, Wallletto, Orbio World, Nordcurrent, Tribe, Eldorado paid over 1 million euros in taxes. In order to exploit the potential of startups, it is necessary to improve conditions for the entire ecosystem - both by shaping regulatory policy or the tax environment in different areas, and by creating conditions for talent and capital to grow," says G. Verbickaitė.
TOP 5 startups operating in Lithuania that paid the highest salaries (Q2 2025)
1. Game Insight – 55,95 thousand euros (+497 percent compared to Q1 2025)
2. Wargaming – 12,19 thousand euros (+111 percent compared to Q1 2025)
3. Planner 5D – 10,33 thousand euros (+25 percent compared to Q1 2025)
4. Payhawk – 9,90 thousand euros (+3 percent compared to Q1 2025)
5. Stock Invest.us – 8,56 thousand euros (-4 percent compared to Q1 2025)
Discussing salaries in startups that reach tens of thousands of euros per month, G. Verbickaitė states that such jumps are often influenced by the payment of various bonuses.
"Some startups pay them out at the end of the year, others every six months or even more often. In general, in this sector, it is common to share success and growth with your employees: bonuses, various benefits, shares or options. This creates value not only for company managers or employees, but also for society as a whole through impressive budget revenues," says G. Verbickaitė.
She believes that currently, specialists with artificial intelligence and cybersecurity competencies are particularly needed in the high-value-added sector.
"Our members alone are constantly looking for about 500 talents - not only IT specialists, but also programmers, data analysts, product managers, creatives, financiers and marketers. On the one hand, the constantly announced job vacancies show that startups are growing and expanding their teams, on the other hand, that there are simply not enough of them in our market and we have challenges in the education system," says G. Verbickaitė.
The top three startups employing the most employees in Lithuania remained the same compared to last year: Vinted (1562), Nord Security (1349) and Wargaming (770).
According to data from Unicorns Lithuania, there are over 1 startups active in Lithuania today.
