Despite being strategically situated between East and West, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania often fly under the radar of executives. However, they are steadily establishing themselves as fintech powerhouses.
The Balkan states experienced major economic challenges upon regaining their independence in 1991. Yet, these challenges also presented new opportunities. The post-Soviet countries transitioned to market economies and quickly transformed their business environment.
One advantage the Baltic states had was their lack of legacy banking infrastructure. Unlike many Western nations that had to transition from traditional banking systems to digital platforms, the Baltics “leapfrogged” directly into digital financial services.
Today, the Baltic fintech ecosystem consists of over 500 companies addressing digital payments, cryptocurrency, insurtech, and many more. Estonia’s Wise (formerly TransferWise), Lithuania’s Vinted and Revolut have all achieved “unicorn” valuations of over $1B (€0.92M).
Each of the states has its achievements. Estonia, for example, has the highest number of unicorns per capita worldwide. Latvia just won an anti-money laundering (AML) crackdown, making it a wise choice for compliance expertise. Meanwhile, Lithuania has increased its number of fintech firms from a handful to over 270.
Each of the states has a unique approach to fintech. Let’s get to know some disruptors in this industry.
Montonio
Founder(s): Henrik Rank, Karel Nappus, Karl Kristjan Kalluste, Kristofer Turmen, Markus Lember, Rasmus Õisma
Founded: 2018
Funding: €14.5M
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Founded by a team of entrepreneurs, Montonio is an all-in-one payment platform for European online merchants. It offers a variety of local payment methods, including card payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, all at low costs.
Montonio simplifies refund processes and shipping management for its client base. It provides a “buy now, pay later” option, allowing customers to split purchases into instalments with zero fees or interest. Merchants, however, will receive full payment upfront.
Its dashboard allows merchants to access real-time data on payments, shipping, and refunds.
Through its platform, Montonio promises to put an end to overcharging. It also wants to eliminate payment complexities through its self-serve API integration.
Xolo
Founder(s): Avo Alender, Erik Mell, Erko Hansar, Urmo Pärg
Founded: 2015
Funding: €11M
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Fintech company Xolo reduced business administration time to near zero by merging invoicing, compliance, and banking into a single app. Catering to entrepreneurs, it targets 40 million professionals worldwide who run their businesses independently.
Xolo’s platform accommodates company formation, banking, accounting, and other services. This makes it the quickest and easiest way to launch and run a one-person freelancing business in Europe.
Although based in Tallinn, Xolo’s largest user base lies in Germany, Spain, France, the UK, Ukraine, and Turkey.
Its typical customers are professionals who need a strong, straightforward platform for business operations. This includes software developers, management consultants, designers, and others.
Led by CEO Mikko Teerenhovi, Xolo now has 140,000 signups and €7.2M in annualised revenue (ARR).
Tuum
Founder(s): Jan Lakspere, Ove Kreison, Rivo Uibo, Vilve Vene
Founded: 2019
Funding: €45M
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Formerly known as Modularbank, Tuum is a cloud-based banking platform. Founded by a team of banking and technology experts, the company offers a suite of banking services for businesses.
Tuum is designed to easily integrate with existing financial infrastructures. With it, both traditional banks and fintech companies can improve and add their digital offerings. Tuum’s platform is cloud-native, which means it can run on all major cloud providers and private clouds.
Tuum, which raised €4M in a round of late seed funding in December 2020, is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. Its CEO Vilve Vene employs over 60 people across several offices in Berlin and Malaga as well.
4finance
Founder(s): Aigars Kesenfelds
Founded: 2008
Funding: $734.2M (€679M)
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
4finance is a fintech company specialising in online and mobile consumer lending. Established in 2008, the company became the largest consumer lending group across 11 countries in Europe.
Its lending products include single-payment loans, instalment loans, and lines of credit. The company assesses credit risk using advanced analytics to provide specific lending solutions.
The unique approach led to the company issuing over €8B in loans to a broad customer base. Leading brands like Vivus, SMSCredit, and Zaplo are included in its customer portfolio.
The company’s group offices are located in Riga and London. However, it oversees operations in countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.
4finance also services its customers through TBI Bank, an EU-licensed banking operation that provides consumer and SME lending in Bulgaria and Romania.
kevin.
Founder(s): Pavel Sokolovas, Tadas Tamosiunas
Founded: 2018
Funding: $79.4M (€73.4M)
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, kevin. is a fintech company that offers advanced account-to-account payment infrastructure. Led by entrepreneur Tadas Tamošiūnas, it has become a big player in the payments industry.
kevin.’s technology eliminates the need for credit cards by connecting directly to users’ bank accounts. The platform supports traditional cards, pay-by-link, point-of-sale (POS) systems, direct debit, and online payments.
kevin. benefits both merchants and consumers with its efficient and cost-effective transactions. Businesses of all sizes can also use kevin.’s customisable and scalable payments solution.
The company has raised $65M (€60.11M) in Series A funding from investors like Accel and Eurazeo. This financial backing has enabled kevin. to hire over 300 employees across Europe. It is optimistic in positioning itself on a trajectory towards achieving unicorn status.
Mintos
Founder(s): Martins Sulte, Martins Valters
Founded: 2015
Funding: €14.2M
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Mintos is a global marketplace for investing in loans based in Riga, Latvia. The company was founded by entrepreneurs Martins Sulte and Martins Valters in 2015.
Mintos has created a platform that connects retail investors with loan opportunities. The company serves over 500,000 investors within the European Union. It also manages assets worth over €600M.
Regulated under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) in the European Union, Mintos is a unique way to build wealth. It implements environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in its practices. The company also maintains high standards of anti-corruption and anti-bribery measures.
Mintos encourages existing customers and the broader public to become shareholders. Ultimately, it aims to become the leading choice for every individual seeking long-term wealth building.
Profitus
Founder(s): Viktorija Vanagė
Founded: 2017
Funding: Undisclosed
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Profitus is a real estate investment platform based in Vilnius, Lithuania, with a new approach to real estate financing. Launched in mid-2018, it aims to democratise real estate investments by allowing users to start investing with as little as €50.
The platform bridges investors with real estate developers seeking financing. Investors can browse through real estate projects on the platform and choose the ones that align with their goals. The investment is secured by the pledged assets of the project owner, which further secures the transaction.
In 2019, Profitus participated in a trial within the Vilnius-based Realbox Proptech sandbox. The project allowed it to expand its network of investors and customers. Profitus has also raised €300,000 in seed funding to further develop its platform.
Evarvest
Founder(s): Stephanie Brennan
Founded: 2018
Funding: €239.5K
Hiring: Yes, check out job opportunities here
Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Evarvest is a fintech startup that seeks to change how individuals invest in the stock market. Founded in early 2018, Evarvest makes global stock exchanges accessible by providing a simple, commission-free investment platform.
The company helps users invest in the brands they know, love, and trust without the complexities associated with stock trading. Even before its official launch, Evarvest already has over 28,000 users on its waitlist.
Now, it integrates more than 30 of the world’s stock exchanges and offers users access to over 9,000 stocks. Currently, Evarvest is focused on securing its financial brokerage license and finalising its investment platform.
Despite being a relatively young company, Evarvest obtained accolades within the fintech sector. The startup has been recognized in the Barclays Rise Vilnius 2018 Fintech Week Pitch Competition and the FintechInn Conference 2018 Pitch Battle.
Read More
