Deep tech companies rarely scale within national borders alone. In the Baltic Sea Region, collaboration across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland is increasingly becoming a strategic asset, enabling startups and scaleups to access broader markets, capital, and expertise.

Each ecosystem contributes distinct strengths, from leading technical universities and specialised sector expertise to expanding venture capital networks and growing international visibility. Together, these elements form a region with significant potential for deep tech innovation and commercialisation.

Today, the Baltic Sea Region hosts more than 900 mapped deep tech startups and scaleups, primarily operating in high-impact B2B sectors. This growth is supported by rising investment levels and the emergence of new venture funds, signalling increasing confidence in the region’s innovation capacity.

Strengthening regional connectivity

FINEST SCALEUP, a Horizon Europe-funded project bringing together leading research, innovation, and ecosystem organisations across the Baltic Sea Region is helping to accelerate this development by enhancing collaboration between ecosystems.

Through a combination of ecosystem mapping, investor-focused capacity-building programmes, peer-matching initiatives and structured cross-border dialogue, the project is helping to reduce fragmentation and strengthen regional alignment.

Since its launch, the initiative has engaged more than 1000 participants through over 25 ecosystem events and involved more than 50 investors across the region. It has also delivered 14
capacity-building programmes for startups and investors, and developed a digital knowledge platform that consolidates insights and best practices from across the ecosystem.

In addition, the project has identified and documented 16 structured best practices for deep tech commercialisation, available via the project’s digital platform, highlighting the importance of investor readiness, cross-border scaling strategies, and stronger collaboration between research institutions and industry.

Together, these outputs support improved knowledge sharing, stronger coordination and greater visibility for Baltic deep tech actors at the European level.

Building the next phase of competitiveness

While challenges remain, particularly in strengthening cross-border deal flow and expanding later-stage investment opportunities, the region has already made significant progress in aligning stakeholders and fostering a more integrated innovation landscape.

This progress is reflected in recent investment figures: during the project period alone, Baltic deep tech startups attracted €160 million in venture capital. Continued focus on investor education, targeted matchmaking, and ecosystem coordination will be essential to sustain this momentum.