Newly published data from the Baltic Deep Tech Report 2025 shows a regional ecosystem that has nearly tripled its share of startup funding in four years, grown faster than the United States and every comparable European region, and is increasingly establishing itself as a European hub for dual-use and defence technologies.
Iron Wolf Capital, Startup Estonia, Startup Lithuania, and WALLESS today published the Baltic Deep Tech Report 2025, the third annual edition of the region's most comprehensive data-driven assessment of its deep tech startup economy. Where the first two editions tracked an emerging trend, this year's report documents something more definitive: deep tech has moved from a niche vertical to the defining force of Baltic innovation, and defence technology has emerged as its fastest-accelerating dimension.
Between 2021 and 2025, the enterprise value of Baltic deep tech startups grew 2.88 times from €2.6B to €7.5B. No comparable European region matched Baltic growth. Nordic and CEE ecosystems remained largely flat, while DACH, despite being roughly twenty times larger, grew only 1.16x. The only benchmark that comes close to Baltic growth is the United States at 2.26 times, which the Baltics also outpaced. Latvia's deep tech ecosystem recorded a 3.8x increase in enterprise value over the same period – the strongest five-year growth rate among the Baltic countries.
In 2021, deep tech accounted for 17.5% of all funding for Baltic startups. By 2025, that share had reached 49.5% – nearly every second euro invested in the Baltic startup ecosystem now flows into deep tech. Across the full five-year period, deep tech startups raised €1.87B of the €6.44B deployed region-wide.
"Deep tech is no longer a niche within the Baltic startup ecosystem – it’s evolving into a focused deep tech region, defined by technical talent, capital efficiency, and growing regional backing, with strong momentum across energy, AI, robotics, and increasingly, defence, security, and resilience. Our conviction is simple: the next wave of enduring companies will be built here," said Kasparas Jurgelionis, Managing Partner at Iron Wolf Capital.
A third major finding concerns the source of capital. In 2025, 84% of Baltic deep tech investment came from domestic or European investors, representing a fundamental shift away from dependence on US capital. Domestic investment has grown 238% in three years. The Baltic deep tech story is now a European capital story, not a transatlantic one.
The funding data also shows an ecosystem growing in depth and concentration. Series C rounds dominated Baltic deep tech in 2025, accounting for 46% of total capital raised. Series A activity surged 79% year-on-year. Pre-seed activity, meanwhile, nearly halved, signalling that capital is concentrating behind proven companies rather than spreading across new entrants at the same pace as before.
Among verticals, energy and enterprise software each crossed the €2B enterprise value mark, with robotics at €1.1B. Health, though smaller at €476M, posted the fastest five-year growth rate at 497%, signalling the next vertical likely to break into the top tier.
Defence, security, and resilience (DSR) emerged as one of the Baltic ecosystem’s defining sectors in 2025, reaching €104M across 47 publicly announced funding rounds and accounting for 15.4% of all startup funding. The report maps 271 DSR startups – a figure described as a floor, not a ceiling, given the sector’s significant stealth activity – and highlights growing momentum in dual-use across energy, robotics, and autonomous systems. As Andrius Ivanauskas, Partner at WALLESS, observed: "Deep tech and defence are no longer side themes in the Baltics, but are becoming a serious part of the region's business and investment story."
Latvia's standout round of 2025 was Aerones's $62M raise in June, accounting for 75% of the country's entire deep tech funding total and ranking among the largest robotics rounds in the Baltics. Estonia accounted for 56% of Baltic deep tech funding across 70 of 106 rounds, while Lithuania contributed the region's only €100M+ round with CAST AI's $108M Series C, the second-largest funding round in Lithuanian startup history. Within Latvia's defence tech sector, autonomous systems and robotics have emerged as a particular area of strength, underpinned by strong engineering competencies and the recently established Autonomous Systems Competence Centre.
"Defence startup activity in Latvia has increased significantly, driven by growing demand and targeted support from NATO and the EU. Latvia has developed particular strength in autonomous systems and robotics, with the engineering depth and innovation environment to move quickly from concept to deployable solution. The conditions are in place for Latvia to become one of the key hubs for this niche in the region," noted Andris Baumanis, CEO of the UniLab Defence accelerator.
The fresh report can be further read and downloaded at ironwolfcapital.com/report.
Between 2021 and 2025, the enterprise value of Baltic deep tech startups grew 2.88 times from €2.6B to €7.5B. No comparable European region matched Baltic growth. Nordic and CEE ecosystems remained largely flat, while DACH, despite being roughly twenty times larger, grew only 1.16x. The only benchmark that comes close to Baltic growth is the United States at 2.26 times, which the Baltics also outpaced. Latvia's deep tech ecosystem recorded a 3.8x increase in enterprise value over the same period – the strongest five-year growth rate among the Baltic countries.
In 2021, deep tech accounted for 17.5% of all funding for Baltic startups. By 2025, that share had reached 49.5% – nearly every second euro invested in the Baltic startup ecosystem now flows into deep tech. Across the full five-year period, deep tech startups raised €1.87B of the €6.44B deployed region-wide.
"Deep tech is no longer a niche within the Baltic startup ecosystem – it’s evolving into a focused deep tech region, defined by technical talent, capital efficiency, and growing regional backing, with strong momentum across energy, AI, robotics, and increasingly, defence, security, and resilience. Our conviction is simple: the next wave of enduring companies will be built here," said Kasparas Jurgelionis, Managing Partner at Iron Wolf Capital.
A third major finding concerns the source of capital. In 2025, 84% of Baltic deep tech investment came from domestic or European investors, representing a fundamental shift away from dependence on US capital. Domestic investment has grown 238% in three years. The Baltic deep tech story is now a European capital story, not a transatlantic one.
The funding data also shows an ecosystem growing in depth and concentration. Series C rounds dominated Baltic deep tech in 2025, accounting for 46% of total capital raised. Series A activity surged 79% year-on-year. Pre-seed activity, meanwhile, nearly halved, signalling that capital is concentrating behind proven companies rather than spreading across new entrants at the same pace as before.
Among verticals, energy and enterprise software each crossed the €2B enterprise value mark, with robotics at €1.1B. Health, though smaller at €476M, posted the fastest five-year growth rate at 497%, signalling the next vertical likely to break into the top tier.
Defence, security, and resilience (DSR) emerged as one of the Baltic ecosystem’s defining sectors in 2025, reaching €104M across 47 publicly announced funding rounds and accounting for 15.4% of all startup funding. The report maps 271 DSR startups – a figure described as a floor, not a ceiling, given the sector’s significant stealth activity – and highlights growing momentum in dual-use across energy, robotics, and autonomous systems. As Andrius Ivanauskas, Partner at WALLESS, observed: "Deep tech and defence are no longer side themes in the Baltics, but are becoming a serious part of the region's business and investment story."
Latvia's standout round of 2025 was Aerones's $62M raise in June, accounting for 75% of the country's entire deep tech funding total and ranking among the largest robotics rounds in the Baltics. Estonia accounted for 56% of Baltic deep tech funding across 70 of 106 rounds, while Lithuania contributed the region's only €100M+ round with CAST AI's $108M Series C, the second-largest funding round in Lithuanian startup history. Within Latvia's defence tech sector, autonomous systems and robotics have emerged as a particular area of strength, underpinned by strong engineering competencies and the recently established Autonomous Systems Competence Centre.
"Defence startup activity in Latvia has increased significantly, driven by growing demand and targeted support from NATO and the EU. Latvia has developed particular strength in autonomous systems and robotics, with the engineering depth and innovation environment to move quickly from concept to deployable solution. The conditions are in place for Latvia to become one of the key hubs for this niche in the region," noted Andris Baumanis, CEO of the UniLab Defence accelerator.
The fresh report can be further read and downloaded at ironwolfcapital.com/report.