Nicosia, Cyprus · Venture Capital 33East was founded by Demetrios Zoppos and Yiannis Eftychiou and selected by the European Investment Fund in 2023 as Cyprus's first EIF-backed venture capital fund. It closed a €26 million debut fund in January 2025, anchored by the Cyprus Equity Fund (NRRP) and private investors including the Bank of Cyprus. The fund targets pre-seed and seed-stage startups with a Cyprus connection, writing cheques of €100K–€1M across enterprise software, fintech, gaming, marketplaces, logistics, digital health, and climate tech. First portfolio companies include Electryone AI, an AI-powered renewable-energy management platform.
Baku, Azerbaijan · Startup Birmarket (formerly Umico, founded 2019) is Azerbaijan's largest e-commerce marketplace, rebranded in July 2025 as part of PASHA Holding's Bir digital ecosystem. The platform offers over 500,000 products, express 2-hour delivery, 900+ pickup points, and integrated installment financing through Birbank. It operates across electronics, fashion, food, home, and multiple other retail categories.
Barcelona, Spain · Event A hybrid B2B event connecting strategic new-economy sectors with around 320 international experts and 100+ hours of programming, organised around cross-sector verticals at DFactory Barcelona. Useful for founders wanting cross-industry corporate connections and exposure beyond a single vertical.
Tallinn, Estonia · Startup Bolt is an Estonia-born mobility superapp operating ride-hailing, micromobility (scooters and bikes), food delivery, grocery delivery via Bolt Market, and car sharing through Bolt Drive. The company reported about EUR 2.0b in revenue in 2024 and has said it is preparing for a potential stock market listing when conditions are favorable. Bolt continues to expand across Europe with a multi-vertical platform built around local operations and logistics density.
Antwerp, Belgium · Event The inaugural, biennial Breakbulk Summit draws on Antwerp’s breakbulk heritage to convene the international breakbulk community to share insights, discuss trends and strategise on the opportunities and challenges shaping modern breakbulk logistics. The programme spans two days at venues including the Kinepolis Business Center, with an evening networking reception.
Birmingham, United Kingdom · Event UK's largest road transport and commercial vehicle event at NEC Birmingham, attracting fleet operators, logistics companies, and vehicle manufacturers. Free with registration. Covers fleet telematics, EV commercial vehicles, and logistics optimization. Valuable for mobility and logistics startups targeting fleet management and last-mile delivery operations.
Como, Italy · Startup D-Orbit is an Italian space infrastructure company focused on in-orbit transportation and services for satellites. Its best-known product line is built around orbital transfer and deployment: rather than leaving smaller satellite operators constrained by the primary mission of a launch vehicle, D-Orbit helps place payloads into more precise target orbits after launch. That changes the economics and flexibility of access to space for customers who need better control over deployment profiles. The company also reflects a broader trend in European deep tech, where success increasingly depends on integrating hardware, software, mission operations, and long sales cycles into a single commercial platform. D-Orbit therefore matters beyond aerospace alone. It shows that European startups can participate in the frontier infrastructure layer of the space economy instead of limiting themselves to downstream software or research projects. In this directory, D-Orbit helps extend coverage into spacetech and aerospace logistics, while also connecting naturally to the ecosystem's support organizations, accelerators, and cross-border industrial networks that often help hard-tech companies reach early validation and partnerships.
Berlin, Germany · Person David Nothacker is Co-founder & CEO of the digital road-freight platform Sennder. A founder in the German startup ecosystem, David leads the digital road-freight platform Sennder.
Wallingford, United Kingdom · Startup Dexory is a UK-based warehouse intelligence company that combines autonomous mobile robots with AI software to give logistics operators real-time visibility into their inventory. Founded in 2015 as BotsAndUs, it rebranded to Dexory in November 2022 after pivoting toward warehouse inventory intelligence. Its purpose-built robots autonomously scan warehouses and feed data into the DexoryView cloud platform, which builds real-time digital twins of facilities for inventory tracking and operational optimisation. The company serves sectors including third-party logistics, retail, manufacturing, and air cargo, and is headquartered in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
Sofia, Bulgaria · Startup Dronamics was founded in 2014 by brothers Svilen and Konstantin Rangelov and became the first cargo drone airline in Europe to receive an EU operating license. The company develops and operates the Black Swan unmanned aircraft, capable of carrying up to 350 kg over distances up to 2,500 km. It has established droneport partnerships with airports across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and raised over $40 million in pre-Series A funding. Products are 100% manufactured in Europe.
Stockholm, Sweden · Startup Einride is the Swedish pioneer of autonomous freight, best known for its cab-less "Pod" trucks that are designed from the ground up without a driver. Rather than retrofitting automation into traditional vehicles, Einride built a purpose-made electric platform paired with remote operations. Its "Mesh" system allows a single human operator to supervise multiple autonomous pods in real time from a control center, enabling higher utilization while keeping safety oversight in the loop.
The year 2026 is a defining moment for Einride. Following a merger with Legato Merger Corp. III, the company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on 10 June 2026 under the tickers ENRD and ENRDW, at a pre-money valuation of roughly $1.35B and with a $113M PIPE raised ahead of the debut. This public-market transition gives Einride the balance sheet to scale fleet deployments, charging infrastructure, and regulatory approvals across key logistics corridors.
By mid-2026, Einride is executing on major commercial contracts with GE Appliances in the United States and DP World in the UAE. It does not sell trucks in the traditional sense; it sells freight capacity as a service (FaaS), bundling vehicles, energy management, and its digital "Saga" operating system that optimizes routes, energy usage, and scheduling. The 2026 focus is on "Einride Grids": dense regional networks in Northern Europe and the US Southeast where autonomous pods handle repeated hub-to-hub routes, driving down costs compared to diesel trucking while cutting emissions.
Einride's ecosystem ties include Norrsken House in Stockholm and early innovation pilots through Plug and Play. Its investor base blends Nordic growth capital and strategic logistics backing: EQT Ventures, NordicNinja, Maersk Growth, Soros Fund Management, and Temasek are among the key supporters. In 2026, Einride stands out as the most mature European autonomous freight platform, combining electric hardware, autonomy software, and logistics orchestration into a single commercial service. The company is also investing in safety validation, regulatory engagement, and remote-operations tooling to scale autonomy responsibly across multiple jurisdictions.
Istanbul, Turkey · Venture Capital Esas Ventures is the venture capital arm of Esas Holding, Turkey's largest family-owned investment group backed by the Şevket Sabancı family, founders of the Sabancı Holding conglomerate. Founded in 2018 and operating from Istanbul with a London presence, the fund has built a portfolio of 38+ companies including four unicorns, with Getir, Deel, and Misfits Market among its most notable exits and holdings. The firm invests primarily at Seed and Series A stages in B2B SaaS, marketplaces, and consumer tech, with a global mandate spanning Turkey, the US, and Europe. Esas Ventures backed Insider through its $500M Series E led by General Atlantic, underscoring its capacity for large follow-on rounds.
Yerevan, Armenia · Event Organisator Event x Expo Group is an Armenian event management company headquartered at Sayat-Nova Ave 19/1 in Yerevan, specializing in conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, summits, and networking events. They are the organizer of e-Logi Fest, Armenia's leading international event dedicated to logistics, e-commerce, and supply chain innovation, held annually at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex. Their portfolio spans large-scale international events including the PostEurop Plenary Assembly 2016 in Armenia and the CDEK Forum Yerevan 2025. The company works with industry leaders, government officials, and innovators to build communities and create collaboration platforms.
Lille, France · Startup Exotec is a Lille-based warehouse robotics company founded in 2015 by Romain Moulin and Renaud Heitz. Its flagship Skypod system uses fleets of autonomous robots that move in three dimensions across warehouse racking to pick, store, and prepare orders at high speed. Exotec became France's first industrial robotics unicorn after a $335 million Series D in 2022 at a $2 billion valuation. The company serves major global retailers including Decathlon, Gap, Uniqlo, and Carrefour across Europe, North America, and Asia. Exotec demonstrates that France can produce world-class hardware and robotics companies, not just software.
Berlin, Germany · Startup Flink is a Berlin-based quick-commerce grocery delivery company founded in 2020 by Christoph Cordes, Oliver Merkel, Julian Dames, Saad Saeed, and Nikolas Bullwinkel. The platform delivers everyday groceries in an average of 35 minutes through a network of dark-store hubs, operating in Germany and the Netherlands across 100+ cities serving 22.5 million people. In March 2026 Flink raised $100 million in a Series C round after reaching EBITDA profitability, remaining one of the last independent quick-commerce operators in Europe after rivals Gorillas and Getir exited.
Berlin, Germany · Startup Forto (formerly FreightHub) is a Berlin-based tech-enabled freight forwarding platform founded in 2016 by Ferry Heilemann, Michael Wax, Fabian Heilemann, and Erik Muttersbach. The company provides digital management of international sea, air, and rail freight shipments with real-time tracking and supply chain visibility through its platform. Forto serves major enterprise customers across Europe and Asia from 21 offices and has raised over $610 million in funding, reaching a valuation of $2.1 billion.
Brasov, Romania · Startup Cross-border e-commerce fulfillment network for online retailers, running storage, pick-and-pack, invoicing and courier coordination across a multi-warehouse footprint in 30 countries for next-day delivery.
Reykjavik, Iceland · Venture Capital Frumtak Ventures is Iceland's oldest active venture capital firm, founded in 2008 with a mandate to back local innovation with global potential. The firm takes a concentrated, high-conviction approach from seed through later growth stages, partnering closely with founders across AI, healthcare, logistics, energy, climate, and ocean-tech. Its fourth fund, closed in July 2024 at $87 million and oversubscribed, is primarily backed by Icelandic pension funds. The portfolio of 34 companies includes notable companies such as Controlant (pharma cold-chain) and Sidekick Health (digital therapeutics).
Istanbul, Turkey · Startup Getir is an Istanbul-founded ultra-fast grocery and delivery platform that pioneered the 10-minute delivery model before it became a global phenomenon. Founded in 2015 by Nazim Salur, the company built a vertically integrated dark-store and courier network across Turkey before expanding to the UK, Germany, Netherlands, US, and other markets. At its peak Getir raised over $1.8 billion and reached a valuation above $11 billion, making it Turkey's most highly valued startup. The company later consolidated operations and refocused on profitable core markets, representing both the ambition and the operational challenges of the rapid delivery category in Europe.
Osijek, Croatia · Startup Gideon Brothers develops AI and 3D-vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling in manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing. Their flagship product TREY is an autonomous forklift for trailer loading and unloading, using stereoscopic cameras and deep learning for navigation. The company raised a $31 million Series A in 2021, led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with backing from DB Schenker and Prologis Ventures.
Barcelona, Spain · Startup Glovo is a Barcelona-based on-demand delivery platform founded in 2015 by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud. The app enables users to order food, groceries, pharmacy items, and courier services with rapid delivery, operating across more than 25 countries in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. In 2022, German delivery giant Delivery Hero acquired a majority stake, valuing Glovo at approximately EUR 2.3 billion. The company has built a strong presence in markets underserved by competitors like Uber Eats and Deliveroo, and has invested heavily in quick-commerce through its own dark stores. Glovo is Spain's most prominent tech unicorn and a key reference point for Barcelona's startup ecosystem.
Istanbul, Turkey · Person Vice Chairman of Horoz Logistics, a major logistics and supply-chain operator supporting cross-border e-export. He is an announced speaker at the IGEXX Istanbul Global E-Export Summit 2026.
Istanbul, Turkey · Startup Hepsiburada is one of Turkey's two largest e-commerce platforms, running a marketplace, first-party retail, express logistics, payments (HepsiPay), and advertising network serving tens of millions of monthly customers. Founded in 2000 by Hanzade Doğan Boyner, the company was the first major Turkish internet company to list on a US stock exchange when it IPO'd on Nasdaq (HEPS) in 2021 — a milestone that put Turkish consumer tech firmly on the radar of international public-market investors. Hepsiburada differentiates from Trendyol through its stronger positioning in 1P inventory, premium electronics, and its in-house payment infrastructure, and has built one of the largest same-day and next-day last-mile networks in the country. For the directory it is a key example of a Turkish consumer-internet story that reached public markets on its own, rather than through strategic acquisition.
Istanbul, Turkey · Event The second edition of the Istanbul Global E-Export Summit (IGEXX) is a cross-border digital commerce and e-export event at the Haliç Congress Center under the theme 'Beyond Borders'. It brings together e-commerce brands, online marketplaces, retailers, logistics and fulfilment providers and trade policymakers for keynotes, panels, B2B matchmaking and the IGEXX Awards.
Madrid, Spain · Person Spanish entrepreneur and investor who co-founded the digital road-freight marketplace OnTruck and is also a co-founder of the AI cardiology startup Idoven. He is an active figure in the Madrid startup ecosystem across logistics and health tech.
Munich, Germany · Event Bitkom's Innovators' Pitch 2026 live finals featuring startup teams in future technologies for logistics and education. Application deadline was February 23, 2026 (now closed); live pitch takes place March 19, 2026 with equity-free prize money and ecosystem visibility.
Kraków, Poland · Startup InPost is a Polish logistics company that pioneered the parcel-locker model in Europe, allowing customers to send and receive packages from automated self-service points (Paczkomaty) instead of home delivery. Founded by Rafał Brzoska, it grew into the largest out-of-home delivery network in Poland and expanded into the UK, France, Italy, and the Benelux. InPost went public on the Amsterdam Euronext stock exchange in January 2021 in one of Europe's largest tech IPOs of that year.
Tbilisi, Georgia · Venture Capital Kedari Ventures is a Tbilisi-based early-stage investment fund founded by Dimitry Kumsishvili, who served as Georgia's Minister of Finance and First Vice Prime Minister before moving to the private sector. The fund targets digital platforms with global expansion potential across e-commerce, logistics, education, and entertainment, and has built a portfolio of over 10 companies employing more than 100 people. Fund size is not publicly disclosed; the firm has deployed approximately 993,000 GEL in equity and 2.5 million GEL in loans across portfolio companies. Kedari also co-founded AXEL, Georgia's first structured business angel network, in partnership with Tbilisi Startup Bureau.
Prague, Czech Republic · Startup Liftago is a Prague-based ride-hailing and delivery marketplace founded in 2012 that connects passengers and businesses with licensed professional taxi drivers and courier services. Unlike Uber and Bolt, Liftago works exclusively with regulated taxi operators, positioning itself as a compliant alternative in the Czech market. The platform expanded into last-mile delivery and B2B logistics, helping restaurants and retailers fulfill same-day orders. Liftago has become one of the most widely used mobility apps in Prague, with a strong network of professional drivers and fleet partnerships.
Stuttgart, Germany · Event Europe's largest intralogistics exhibition, held annually in Stuttgart with 60,000+ trade visitors. Covers warehouse automation, robotics, supply-chain software, and material handling innovation. Day tickets cost about EUR 30-50. Essential for logistics tech startups seeking partnerships with enterprise warehouse operators and supply-chain decision-makers.
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg · Incubator An EU-accredited business incubator launched in September 2017 by the Chamber of Commerce with the City of Luxembourg as its main sponsor. Located at the House of Startups, it provides 2,000 m² of closed offices and open coworking areas for early-stage local and international startups. Focus sectors include urban tech, logistics, and environmental technology.
Lisbon, Portugal · Startup Lyzer is a Logistics-as-a-Service platform for retail and e-commerce operations, covering order management, warehouse picking optimization, and last-mile orchestration. In July 2025, the company announced a EUR 10M Series B and reported over EUR 160M in GMV plus more than 500,000 fulfilled orders across the Iberian peninsula.
Prague, Czech Republic · Startup Malcom Finance (formerly 4Trans) provides factoring and financing for truck drivers and logistics SMEs. Its underwriting leverages real-time telematics and operational data to assess risk more accurately than traditional banks. This enables faster payouts and more flexible credit for transport operators who are cash-flow constrained. By 2026, Malcom is a fast-growing Czech fintech focused on the logistics economy.
Berlin, Germany · Person Michael Wax is Co-founder & CEO of the digital freight-forwarding company Forto. A founder in the German startup ecosystem, Michael leads the digital freight-forwarding company Forto.
Madrid, Spain · Startup OnTruck is a digital road-freight marketplace connecting shippers with truck operators, with instant pricing, real-time tracking and automated payments. It focuses on short-haul routes and uses AI to cut empty kilometres and emissions across Spain and France.
Amsterdam, Netherlands · Startup Picnic is a Dutch online supermarket that rebuilt grocery delivery around planned logistics instead of adapting the economics of traditional retail stores. Customers order through an app, while Picnic fulfills from dedicated infrastructure and delivers on optimized neighborhood routes using tightly managed electric vehicles. That routing-first model makes the company structurally different from on-demand marketplaces because it reduces waste, increases drop density, and improves unit economics over time. As a result, Picnic is often discussed less as a consumer app and more as a logistics and software company disguised as a supermarket. It is a useful addition to the directory because it represents a European scale-up that won by controlling operations, data, and delivery cadence rather than by pursuing convenience at any cost. The company also broadens the dataset's coverage of e-commerce and supply-chain innovation, showing how category-defining startups can emerge from dense urban operations and disciplined software-led execution. For founders and investors studying European tech, Picnic is a strong reference case for how operational complexity can become a defensible moat rather than a burden.
Antwerp, Belgium · Event Organisator One of Europe’s largest ports and a hub for maritime logistics, energy and industrial innovation. It organises events including Port of the Future Week and the Breakbulk Summit, convening port authorities, technology providers and the autonomous-systems community to shape the future of port operations and breakbulk logistics.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · Accelerator Founded 2015. World's first port and maritime industry accelerator based in Rotterdam (now also Antwerp and Singapore). Three-month program with 100+ mentors and a Shakedown demo day; alumni include We4Sea and CargoLedger. Scope: International.
Berlin, Germany · Venture Capital Project A Ventures is a Berlin-based early-stage operator VC founded in 2012 by Florian Heinemann, Uwe Horstmann, Christian Weiss, Ben Fischer, Anton Waitz, and Thies Sander. The firm closed its fifth and largest fund at €325 million in 2025, bringing total assets under management to approximately €1.2 billion. What sets Project A apart is its in-house platform of over 140 functional experts in engineering, business intelligence, marketing, sales, and recruiting who work directly inside portfolio companies alongside capital. Investments span seed through Series B across SaaS, fintech, logistics, and consumer technology, with a notable portfolio including Trade Republic, sennder, Catawiki, WorldRemit, KRY, and Voi.
Krakow, Poland · Angel Investor Founder of InPost and one of Poland’s highest-profile entrepreneurs, Rafał is active as an impact-oriented investor through personal and foundation initiatives. His flagship company reached a landmark Amsterdam IPO, and his broader investment activity spans logistics-adjacent consumer sectors, food, and medical innovation. Notable references include activity around Bakalland and support for oncology and advanced medical equipment initiatives.
Lille, France · Person Co-founder and CTO of Exotec, leading the engineering behind its autonomous warehouse robots. He co-founded the company with Romain Moulin in 2015.
Prague, Czech Republic · Startup Rohlik Group is the Czech Republic's flagship ecommerce and logistics scale-up, often compared to Ocado for its vertically integrated model. The company dominates online grocery across Central Europe and operates the Knuspr brand in Germany and Austria, pairing premium assortment with fast delivery windows. By 2026, Rohlik is heavily automating fulfillment to push down unit economics while expanding warehouse capacity across CEE. Its influence is outsized locally, acting as a talent magnet and a repeat-founder factory for the Prague ecosystem.
Lille, France · Person Co-founder and CEO of Exotec, the warehouse-robotics company behind the Skypod system. He turned the Lille-based startup into France's first industrial-tech unicorn, serving global retailers.
Berlin, Germany · Startup sennder is a Berlin-based digital freight forwarder founded in 2015 that uses technology to connect shippers with trucking carriers across Europe. The platform digitizes the traditionally fragmented and paper-heavy European trucking market, using algorithms to match loads with available capacity, optimize routes, and provide real-time shipment tracking. sennder acquired Uber Freight's European operations in 2021 and has raised over $300 million in funding. The company works with major shippers and connects to a network of tens of thousands of trucking companies, making it one of Europe's largest digital freight platforms.
Athens, Greece · Startup Skroutz is the dominant price-comparison and e-commerce marketplace in Greece, routinely ranking among the top five most-visited websites in the country and effectively serving as the discovery layer for most Greek consumer online shopping. Founded in 2005 by George Hadjigeorgiou, Vassilis Stavrou, and Panagiotis Papadimitropoulos as a simple product price-comparison site, it has since evolved into a full marketplace with integrated checkout, Skroutz Last Mile logistics, Skroutz Pay, and Skroutz Plus subscription, becoming the closest thing Greece has to a local answer to Amazon. The company was majority-acquired by CVC Capital Partners in 2021 at a valuation reported around EUR 300 million — one of the largest consumer-tech exits in Greek history — and it continues to run both its marketplace and a logistics arm independently. For the directory, Skroutz shows how a domestically dominant consumer platform can compound over fifteen years to become a strategic asset that global PE buyers are willing to pay premium multiples for.
Freiburg, Germany · Event Europe's leading special bike trade fair at Freiburg Messe with 15,000+ visitors and 250+ exhibitors covering cargo bikes, e-cargo, recumbents, and micro-logistics hardware. Day tickets about EUR 15-25. Valuable for urban logistics, last-mile delivery, and mobility-hardware startups seeking fleet buyers and European distributors.
Tallinn, Estonia · Startup Starship Technologies is a Tallinn-founded robotics company building autonomous sidewalk delivery robots for last-mile grocery, food, and package delivery. Founded in 2014 by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, the company has completed millions of commercial deliveries across the US, UK, and Europe. Starship's six-wheeled robots navigate sidewalks using computer vision and sensor fusion, and have raised over $100 million in funding. The company operates in university campuses, suburban neighborhoods, and city centers, making it one of the most deployed autonomous delivery platforms globally and a flagship Estonian robotics success.
Gdansk, Poland · Accelerator PARP-backed accelerator attracting international startups to Poland, run by Space3ac in Gdansk. Offers up to EUR 65,000 equity-free funding plus soft-landing support (incorporation, legal/tax, accommodation, visas). Focus on smart cities, space, and logistics. Scope: International.
Ljubljana, Slovenia · Venture Capital Suricate Ventures is a Ljubljana-based venture capital firm founded in 2021 by a group of nine partners with backgrounds spanning finance, insurance, law, IT, private equity, energy, and mobility. The fund targets pre-seed to early-growth technology companies in Southeastern Europe, with a smart-money philosophy and minimum ticket sizes from €50,000. Core investment verticals are fintech and insurtech, gaming and metaverse, digital health, and logistics and supply chain. Notable portfolio companies include ZenOwn, Noii, Bloq.it, and VIAR.
Berlin, Germany · Venture Capital Target Global is a Berlin-headquartered international venture capital firm founded in 2012 by Alexander Frolov, Mikhail Lobanov, Shmuel Chafets, and Yaron Valler, investing across all stages from seed to late stage in European and Israeli technology companies. With over USD 3 billion in assets under management across early-stage, growth, and fintech-focused funds, Target Global has become one of the most active cross-border European venture investors, running parallel investment themes across fintech, mobility, logistics, travel, PropTech, and enterprise software. The firm has backed category-defining businesses including Auto1 Group, Delivery Hero, Revolut, Rapyd, TravelPerk, WeFox, and Omnipresent, and operates offices in Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, and Barcelona. Target Global is a useful reference point for founders looking for a European-headquartered fund that can write initial checks at seed and follow them all the way into late-stage growth rounds from a single partnership.
Munich, Germany · Startup The Exploration Company is a Munich-based space startup founded in 2021 by Helene Huby, a former Airbus and ArianeGroup executive. The company is developing Nyx, a reusable orbital vehicle designed to carry cargo to the International Space Station and future commercial space stations. Nyx uses a green propulsion system and is designed for multiple missions, reducing cost per flight. The company has raised over EUR 150 million, including a major Series B, making it one of Europe's best-funded space startups. The Exploration Company represents Europe's push for independent orbital logistics capabilities beyond traditional government-led programs.
Warsaw, Poland · Angel Investor CEO of Lancerto and active business angel focused on the overlap between traditional retail operations and modern digital commerce. Tomasz frequently mentors D2C founders and contributes as a jury member in startup competitions. His investment interests center on e-commerce, fashion tech, logistics, and tools that improve customer experience or supply-chain performance.
Istanbul, Turkey · Startup Trendyol is Turkey's largest e-commerce platform, operating a marketplace, express delivery service, digital wallet, and food delivery product that together serve tens of millions of customers. Founded in 2010 by Demet Mutlu, the company attracted a major investment from Alibaba Group and has grown into one of the most valuable private technology companies in Europe with a valuation exceeding $16 billion. Trendyol processes millions of orders daily through its logistics infrastructure spanning hundreds of thousands of merchants. The platform is a dominant force in Turkish digital commerce and an increasingly important player in cross-border e-commerce across the broader region.
Vilnius, Lithuania · Startup Vinted is one of the most important consumer internet companies to emerge from the Baltics and the dominant European marketplace for second-hand fashion. Its scale comes from solving the resale experience in a way that feels simple for ordinary users rather than niche collectors: easy listing, broad demand, integrated shipping, and a business model that reduces friction on the supply side. That combination turned wardrobe resale from an occasional behavior into a repeat consumer loop, helping normalize recommerce across Europe. Vinted matters in the startup ecosystem because it proves that Lithuania can produce globally relevant consumer platforms with strong brand recognition, operational depth, and defensible marketplace dynamics. It also sits at an interesting intersection of circular economy, logistics, trust, and consumer product design, showing that major marketplace businesses are built as much on operations and liquidity as on software. For founders and investors, Vinted remains a strong case study in how marketplace design choices and local logistics execution can compound into continental scale.
Helsinki, Finland · Startup Wolt is a Helsinki-based delivery platform founded in 2014 by Miki Kuusi that expanded from restaurant food delivery into grocery, retail, and merchandise delivery across 27 countries. Known for its polished user experience and strong operational execution, Wolt became one of the Nordic region's most successful consumer tech companies. DoorDash acquired Wolt in 2022 for approximately $8.1 billion in an all-stock deal, using Wolt as its vehicle for international expansion. The Wolt brand and Helsinki-based team continue to operate DoorDash's business outside North America and Japan.
Riga, Latvia · Venture Capital ZGI Capital is one of the most experienced venture capital firms in the Baltics, founded in 2005 in Riga. It has operated four successive fund generations (ZGI-1 through ZGI-4), with ZGI-4 attracting the largest single private VC investment in Latvia at €10M. The firm targets seed and Series A rounds of €500k–€5M in Latvian and Baltic companies across SaaS, fintech, food-agtech, logistics, and industrial sectors. ZGI Capital has won Latvia's VC & PE sector award six times, including in 2024 and 2025.