Good practice:

Startup Fair in Lithuania

Lithuanian one-stop-shop agency Startup Lithuania is holding and annual conference for startups. The aim is to present the most relevant topics for local and regional startups, investors and ecosystem builders. During the two days event key note speakers cover broad range of topics: how to use digital marketing tools, improve customer success and adapt to business changes, how to clarify the idea while searching for the investments and global tendencies.
In addition to this, the conference has its B2B meetings part, where startups can schedule the meeting with mentors, angel investors, venture capitalists or potential employees. Usually this event is visited by more than 50 local and international investors, thus it is a good platform to look for additional financing or networking
The StartupFair is always finished with the pitch battle, where pre-selected startups pitch their ideas and compete on stage in front of the influential jury: the investors, startup ecosystem experts and the audience.

The full amount that is dedicated for this event is around 40K EUR for two days conference including venue, catering, VIP dinner, communication etc.
Organizational part is prepared by the team of 4 people, also important is to establish connections with local and international startup communities.

Startup Fair is considered as a big success that contributes to the growing Lithuanian start-up ecosystem. Since 2012 Start-up fair events foster knowledge and experience-sharing, create great opportunities for startups to meet foreign investors and partners. Thus, it is an essential long-term investment, which brings economic and social benefits.
2019 results:
- 118 startups from 25 different countries in the pitch battle
- attracted investors from 11 different countries
- 54 speakers.

Organizing a big event requires a lot of work and human resources, thus it is worthwhile to contract an external organization that has a vast experience in this field. The main focus of local one-stop-shop agency should be on gathering community, inviting foreign guests.

The format and idea of event like Startup Fair could be transferred in other regions easily. The agenda of this event varies every year as it's important to adapt to local circumstances and the conditions that exists at a current time. During the first years it was focused on networking team building and ideas generation. Afterwards the presentations and discussions were targeted on challenges that established startups are usually facing. This year the organizers noticed that most of the startups are good at coping with those challenges, thus the main topic is growth. So, each country or region should focus on area in relation to the current stand of their local startup ecosystem. In addition, the presence of foreign experts or startup supporters such as investors, tech gurus, owners of accelerators should not be forgotten when organizing such event. Thus, Thus, it is essential to have a matchmaking part and dinning event / party during this kind of events.