A €100 million private initiative is to create Europe’s largest tech campus, situated in the heart of Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.
The project is on the site of several old sewing factories, and will house 5,000 office workers, using sustainable building practices to capture and save over 500 million tonnes of carbon throughout the development process.
Due to open in 2024, it will offer auditoriums for meetings and events, and will focus on hybrid working, with a 24/7 ethos supported by co-living spaces, restaurants and bars for out-of-work socialising.
The development that will span 55,000 square metres, which would make it larger than Paris’ Station F, currently the largest startup campus in Europe.
Lithuania’s tech ecosystem has grown dramatically over the past decade, Darius Zakaitis, Tech Zity’s founder, told CNBC. “When I started 30 years ago, there were 200 people in the Lithuanian tech ecosystem,” Zakaitis said. “Now it’s 18,000 people. It’s a result of 10 years of active young people building new companies every day. Some of them are very successful,” he said.
The Tech Zity project’s funding hails from several sources reports Tech Crunch. Of the planned €100 million fund required to fulfil the project, €30 million has been committed so far, with Vinted co-founder and COO Mantas Mikuckas contributing around 80% of the initial tranche and Tech Zity founder Darius Žakaitis making up the remainder. This “primary” phase has involved buying the land and buildings, and laying the groundwork for the reconstruction required to transform the site. For the next phase, Tech Zity is looking to secure the additional €70million from various sources, including banks and private investors.
Vilnius, the second-largest city in the Baltic states, is home to a burgeoning tech industry, including clothing retailer Vinted and cybersecurity firm Nord. Nord has its own 300-square-meter campus in Vilnius about 300 metres away from Tech Zity’s, while Vinted’s headquarters is roughly 200 metres away.