Vilnius Innovation Industry Park receives first EUR 5 million foreign investment

Experimentica Ltd., one of the most promising Finnish innovation companies, has recently registered a subsidiary in Lithuania and is planning to establish a division at Vilnius Innovation Industry Park. The company plans an investment of up to EUR 5 million and about 20 new jobs, Lithuanian business daily Verslo žinios reports.

UAB Experimentica will establish a 1100 sqm laboratory and office in the park. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2019 and the company expects to commence operations in mid-2020.

‘The main office in Lithuania will focus on dry eye, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration pathologies, as well as factors which determine increased vascular permeability. In order to assess the efficiency and safety of advanced medicinal products, an artificial intelligence platform based on new algorithms will be used,’ the press release said.

The director of the company, Giedrius Kalesnykas, is the founder and manager of Experimentica Ltd. and is a former researcher at universities in Kuopio and Tampere in Finland; he is also a visiting researcher at Johns Hopkins University (USA).

Experimentica Ltd received EU funding of almost EUR 1.2 million for the project ‘Development and validation of pre-clinical models for testing advanced therapy medicinal products’ under the ‘Smart FDI’ measure. Another application for EUR 1.59 million of EU investment is still under consideration.

The company is currently negotiating with the operator of Vilnius Innovation Industry Park, VšĮ Šiaurės Miestelio Technologijų Parkas, regarding the possibility of expanding after a few years by erecting new buildings in the neighbouring plot.

‘The arrival of Experimentica allows us to expect that we will attract more pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,’ said Gediminas Pauliukevičius, manager of Šiaurės Miestelio Technologijų Parkas.

Experimentica Ltd. is valued for its exceptional research potential – it is managed by a team of scientists with a total of over 50 years of research experience and knowledge. In Europe, Experimentica Ltd. has only one competitor.

The park has had only one investor so far – Poliprojektas, a Lithuanian capital engineering industry company, which is implementing a new generation fire-fighting system innovation development project.

Šiaurės Miestelio Technologijų Parkas is going to build and fit-out a 2000 sqm business incubator for young technological-industrial enterprises and researchers. Branches of two higher education and research institutions will also be based here, and their students, researchers and doctoral students will have an opportunity to realize their ideas in collaboration with the advanced high-tech industry companies of the park. The aim is to ensure synergy between the enterprises operating in the park – it is planned to establish at least 6 clusters on the site.

Source: Verslo žinios