[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":135},["ShallowReactive",2],{"naujienos/life-sciences-baltics-2023-boundless-approach-leads-life-sciences-to-innovations-without-borders/en":3},{"status":4,"data":5},true,{"image":6,"id":14,"seo":15,"title":12,"date":90,"url":86,"fullUrl":26,"text":91,"excerpt":25,"more":92,"tags":133,"temos":134},{"src":7,"is_svg":8,"ratio":9,"width":10,"height":11,"alt":12,"caption":13},"https://web-prod.inovacijuagentura.lt/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/11pitch-battle-19-of-69.jpg",false,0.66650390625,2048,1365,"Life Sciences Baltics 2023: boundless approach leads life sciences to innovations without borders","",6951,{"title":16,"robots":17,"og_locale":23,"og_type":24,"og_title":16,"og_description":25,"og_url":26,"og_site_name":27,"article_publisher":28,"og_image":29,"twitter_card":34,"schema":35,"breadcrumbs":78,"description":13,"language":87},"Life Sciences Baltics 2023: boundless approach leads life sciences to innovations without borders - Inovacijų agentūra",{"index":18,"follow":19,"max-snippet":20,"max-image-preview":21,"max-video-preview":22},"index","follow","max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview:-1","en_US","article","Last week the Life Sciences Baltics in Vilnius attracted more than 750 participants from 35 countries. The largest life sciences event in the Baltic countries attracted an international audience of decision-makers, scientists, startups, investors and talents. The spectacular event was also of interest to the international media, with journalists from neighboring countries, as well as the UK, Israel, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, and Taiwan coming to cover the event. The forum culminated in the Startup Pitch Battle competition, with #hitEnergy, a Lithuanian startup aimed at a breakthrough in biotechnology and circular economy, winning one of the main prizes.","https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/naujiena/life-sciences-baltics-2023-boundless-approach-leads-life-sciences-to-innovations-without-borders/","Inovacijų agentūra","https://www.facebook.com/inovacijuagentura",[30],{"width":31,"height":32,"url":7,"type":33},"2048","1365","image/jpeg","summary_large_image",{"@context":36,"@graph":37},"https://schema.org",[38,53,55,65,69],{"@type":39,"@id":26,"url":26,"name":16,"isPartOf":40,"primaryImageOfPage":42,"image":44,"thumbnailUrl":7,"datePublished":45,"breadcrumb":46,"inLanguage":48,"potentialAction":49},"WebPage",{"@id":41},"https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/#website",{"@id":43},"https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/naujiena/life-sciences-baltics-2023-boundless-approach-leads-life-sciences-to-innovations-without-borders/#primaryimage",{"@id":43},"2023-09-26T09:27:00+00:00",{"@id":47},"https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/naujiena/life-sciences-baltics-2023-boundless-approach-leads-life-sciences-to-innovations-without-borders/#breadcrumb","en-US",[50],{"@type":51,"target":52},"ReadAction",[26],{"@type":54,"inLanguage":48,"@id":43,"url":7,"contentUrl":7,"width":31,"height":32,"caption":12},"ImageObject",{"@type":56,"@id":47,"itemListElement":57},"BreadcrumbList",[58,63],{"@type":59,"position":60,"name":61,"item":62},"ListItem","1","Home","https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/",{"@type":59,"position":64,"name":12},"2",{"@type":66,"@id":41,"url":62,"name":27,"description":13,"publisher":67,"inLanguage":48},"WebSite",{"@id":68},"https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/#organization",{"@type":70,"@id":68,"name":27,"url":62,"logo":71,"image":76,"sameAs":77},"Organization",{"@type":54,"inLanguage":48,"@id":72,"url":73,"contentUrl":73,"width":74,"height":75,"caption":27},"https://www.inovacijuagentura.lt/en/#/schema/logo/image/","https://web-prod.inovacijuagentura.lt/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ia-logo-main.svg","1886","786",{"@id":72},[28],[79,82,85],{"url":80,"text":61,"id":81},"/en/",7576,{"url":83,"text":84},"/en/news/","News",{"url":86,"text":12,"id":14},"/en/naujiena/life-sciences-baltics-2023-boundless-approach-leads-life-sciences-to-innovations-without-borders/",[88],{"url":26,"code":89,"locale":89,"default":8},"en","2023-09-26","\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">\u003Cstrong>An alternative to recycling\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">The #hitEnergy project has been invited to the accelerator of Baltic Sandbox Ventures, an investment fund focused on life sciences and deeptech, and has been offered an opportunity to receive an investment of up to EUR 125,000 to protect intellectual property, develop a technology development strategy, and further develop the business.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">With the help of microbes, the startup #hitEnergy turns the energy contained in wastewater into green energy. Scientists have found a way to use yeast not only to purify water, but also to efficiently generate electricity from it. Startup founder Kasparas Kižys, a PhD student at the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology, says that the biofuel cell technology developed by their team could revolutionise waste recycling. According to him, it took many years to create: “It all started a decade ago, when Dr. Eivydas Andriukonis, who was my mentor at the time, patented a yeast modification technology. Three years ago, I started working on biofuel cells, and at the beginning of this year, through research in several laboratories, I came up with the idea for the winning solution.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">Biofuel cells are kind of energy sources based on the electricity produced by bacteria. The bacteria feed on biomass – waste or sugar – and directly produce electricity that we can use. If this new technology becomes a product, it could replace thermal power plants, be used in agriculture and wastewater treatment, and in the future perhaps even replace pipelines with electrodes.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">Free Bionics Taiwan, an exoskeleton product developer and startup from Taiwan, won the first prize in the Life Sciences Baltics Startup Pitch Battle and will do an internship at the Akron Accelerator in the USA. Other startups such as Innosensus, which is developing a mobile device to help celiacs determine the gluten content of their meals, and Biognr, which is developing innovative raw materials for the food industry, have also been recognised and awarded sponsor prizes.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">“We are delighted that this year’s Startup Pitch Battle competition has attracted interest from international investors and life sciences startups. We received more than 40 applications for the competition and selected 10 teams with the highest potential. The Lithuanian life sciences startup community, consisting of about 80 innovative businesses, has been growing rapidly recently because, as the #hitEnergy example shows, scientists have been finding their way into business increasingly faster,” says Paulius Petrauskas, the Director of the Innovation Department of Innovation Agency Lithuania, which organised the Life Sciences Baltics Forum. .\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">The winners were selected by a panel of investors and scientists: Sandra Golbreich, Founder of Baltic Sandbox Accelerator and General Partner of Baltic Sandbox Ventures, Donatas Keras, Founding Partner of Practica Capital, Aurelija Rutkauskaitė, Partner of Trinity Jurex, Erin Gainer-Grigaliūnė, philanthropist, founder and CEO of The Ella Fund, a women’s empowerment foundation, Rita Sakus, Board Member of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) and one of the founders of the Lithuanian Business Angels Network (LitBAN), and Viktorija Trimbel, Managing Director of Coinvest Capital.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">\u003Cstrong>Resilient to economic crises\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:black\">Andrius Milinavicius, Founder of Baltic Sandbox Ventures, an accelerator, scouting for scientifically-led solutions, says life sciences is a vibrant field and covers tremendously impactful solutions. “Yes, it is usually tightly connected to your expertise and takes longer until a particular level of confidence and development. But at the same time, it always retains the value created – the promise of intellectual property. In comparison, if we compare life sciences to more generic b2b solutions, these come with a burden of heavy investments in marketing to keep the valuation going up. Scientifically driven solutions come with a completely different set of rules”, explains Milinavicius.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:black\">Listing appealing sector trends, Milinavicius says that we’re living through a revolution some call techbio – humanity has attained the ability to program biology as if it was a programming language. Functional genomics, gene editing, digital twin solutions, computation and AI use in the drug discovery field, and many more – all this makes life sciences an exciting playground which, after the Covid pandemic, has lost its limits and borders – it does not matter where the innovations come from, it is the result they can achieve and what it takes to speed it up.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:black\">According to Milla Koistinaho, Founding Partner of Innovestor Life Science Fund, investing in biotech and digital health within Life Sciences in the Nordic and Baltic countries, biotech investing is typically less dependent on economic cycles than many other sectors.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"color:black\">“Despite economic downturns, there is a desperate need for breakthrough medicines for diseases like cancer, dementia, and heart diseases, and while the population is aging, these diseases cause an immense burden on healthcare and our societies. New targeted solutions are needed to address various health challenges and improve quality of life”, she says.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"color:black\">She admits that the Baltic biotech and startup ecosystem is evolving and gaining recognition for its investments and contributions to entrepreneurship, translational research, and innovation. “We have seen exciting opportunities, especially in digital health, digital therapeutics, personalized medicine, and biotech platform technologies. Incubators and accelerators offering mentorship, access to laboratory facilities, business development support, and networks to investors are crucial to the region”, says Koistinaho.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">In recent years, the Lithuanian life sciences sector has grown by an average of 30 per cent per year. The contribution of this sector to GDP in 2022 reached 3 per cent, and the Lithuanian economy is targeting a 5 per cent contribution of this sector to GDP by 2030.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align:justify\">Life Sciences Baltics, the largest life sciences forum in the Baltic countries, has been held every two years since 2012. It brings together scientists, entrepreneurs, startups, investors and policy-makers to discuss key ideas and transformations in the field of life sciences. Life Sciences Baltics consists of an international conference, a trade show, business meetings and a startup pitch competition.\u003C/p>\n",[93,102,111,125],{"image":94,"title":97,"url":98,"id":99,"text":100,"temos":101},{"src":95,"is_svg":8,"ratio":96,"alt":97,"caption":13},"https://web-prod.inovacijuagentura.lt/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/kosmoso-memorandumas-su-polsa.jpg",0.6669921875,"Lithuania Strengthens Cooperation with Poland and the United States in the Space Sector: Important Memorandums Signed","/en/naujiena/lithuania-strengthens-cooperation-with-poland-and-the-united-states-in-the-space-sector-important-memorandums-signed/",6748,"Lithuania’s space sector continues to strengthen international partnerships and expand cooperation with key players in the global space industry. Innovation Agency Lithuania has recently signed two significant memorandums of understanding – with the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) and the U.S. space infrastructure company Vast. These agreements open new opportunities for Lithuanian businesses, research institutions, and international projects.",[],{"image":103,"title":106,"url":107,"id":108,"text":109,"temos":110},{"src":104,"is_svg":8,"ratio":105,"alt":106,"caption":13},"https://web-prod.inovacijuagentura.lt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/shutterstock-2539768243-1.jpg",0.7490234375,"Lithuania Ranks First in Europe in the Global Entrepreneurship Index","/en/naujiena/lithuania-ranks-first-in-europe-in-the-global-entrepreneurship-index/",6892,"The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2025/2026 global report shows that Lithuania is the leading country in Europe in terms of the quality of its entrepreneurial environment and ranks among the world’s strongest economies in this field.",[],{"image":112,"title":114,"url":115,"id":116,"text":117,"temos":118},{"src":113,"is_svg":8,"ratio":96,"alt":114,"caption":13},"https://web-prod.inovacijuagentura.lt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/karolina-urbonaite.jpg","Lithuania’s Startup Ecosystem Surpasses €16.4 Billion in Value: Investments Jump 1.7x in 2025","/en/naujiena/lithuanias-startup-ecosystem-surpasses-e16-4-billion-in-value-investments-jump-1-7x-in-2025/",6999,"The total value of Lithuania’s startup ecosystem reached €16.4 billion in 2025, according to the latest Dealroom report initiated by Startup Lithuania, a division of the Innovation Agency. In just one year, Lithuanian startups attracted €220 million in venture capital investments from 77 unique investors. The ecosystem’s growing maturity was further confirmed earlier this year with the addition of a new unicorn to Lithuania’s startup map — Cast AI.",[119,122],{"id":120,"name":121},577,"Growth",{"id":123,"name":124},579,"Innovation",{"image":126,"title":128,"url":129,"id":130,"text":131,"temos":132},{"src":127,"is_svg":8,"ratio":96,"alt":128,"caption":13},"https://web-prod.inovacijuagentura.lt/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/modix-fgf-3d-spausdintuvas-2.jpg","Mission-Driven Innovations: Science and Business Shaping Lithuania’s Future","/en/naujiena/mission-driven-innovations-science-and-business-shaping-lithuanias-future/",6904,"Some important scientific research activities and innovative business-developed products may sound complex – unsurprisingly, as they are developed by people who dedicate their entire lives to these fields. Yet behind these sophisticated terms lie concrete solutions that will eventually make each of our daily lives easier. Where science and business join forces, more accurate disease diagnostics for the health of us and our loved ones are developed, cybersecurity tools are created to protect the country, and climate-neutral production technologies and materials emerge to help preserve our nature and resources.",[],[],[],1780325203767]