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RootedLT: Opening the way for US biotech startups to Lithuania
Problem
The EU is positioning biotechnology as a strategic growth engine: the European Commission values the bioeconomy at up to €2.7 trillion, yet many bio-based companies struggle to scale and are acquired by non-European investors. Meanwhile, uncertainty in the United States is pushing researchers abroad – 75.3% of respondents to a Nature poll were considering leaving – and the EU is competing for them through Choose Europe for Science.
Lithuania has the foundations to compete: life sciences generate about 2.7% of GDP and grow by around 25% a year towards a 5% target by 2030 (Invest Lithuania), labour costs are about half the EU average (Eurostat), and its farms produced 7.7 million tonnes of grain, pulses and rapeseed in 2025 (Ministry of Agriculture).
Yet these strengths are not packaged into a visible soft-landing offer. Information on funding, set-up, immigration and partners is spread across institutions, EU routes such as the EIC Accelerator are not communicated to US founders, and there is no open-access pilot facility. As a result, Lithuania risks missing talent, investment and partnerships that would strengthen its bioeconomy.
Goal
The goal of the project is to design a realistic soft-landing offer that makes Lithuania a compelling destination for US biotech startups.
Project progress
2026/09/30
Brief on EU and Lithuanian policy drivers for biotechnology and the bioeconomy
2026/10/15
Map of funding institutions (grants, venture capital, loans) with a contact at each
2026/11/20
Map of the Lithuanian biotech ecosystem: industry partners, research co-applicants and open-access laboratories
2026/10/30
Fact sheet on Lithuania’s business and living environment and the agencies providing non-financial support
2026/12/11
Benchmarking of Lithuania against the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and ecosystem models such as QB3
2027/01/07
Design of the soft-landing pathway, with an owner institution and a named contact for each step
2027/02/04
Definition of the best-fit US biotech startup profiles, testing of the soft-landing offer with US biotech startups
2027/03/05
Presentation of the project and handover to relevant institutions
