From Stockholm to Riga, Outlast Fund launches €21M fund to back founders in it for the long game
Outlast Fund, a Baltic-Nordic VC fund, has closed its first fund at 21M EUR to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups from the region. The fund is based in Riga and Stockholm, and aims to be the first cheque in backing founders building solutions that are built to last, with initial pre-seed tickets of up to 250,000 EUR and 1.5M EUR seed rounds.
The fund goes against the grain in the investment environment, eschewing typical VC advice to prioritize quick exits. Rather, they look to scour the edges to uncover the most promising founders in the Baltics and Nordics, and are prepared to invest in them at the earliest stages to help them build enduring companies.
The fund is particularly keen to keep an eye out for serial entrepreneurs with a proven track record, ready to back them as early as the idea stage. Outlast Fund also invests in first-time founders who possess unique and specific insights within their chosen verticals. However, a trait that they look for in all cases is an obsessive drive to solve their customers’ most pressing problems. Regardless of whether the founders are better suited for building lean teams with the help of angels, microfunds, and syndicates, or if they are eyeing large rounds from the get-go, Outlast Fund is ready to support from the first cheque, rather than jumping in at the middle.
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Originally published on 18 Sep
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The Finnish Hydrogen Cluster has today published a hydrogen economy roadmap, which provides the guidelines and measures to elevate Finland into Europe’s most competitive hydrogen economy by 2035.
The measures presented in the hydrogen economy roadmap focus on areas such as initiatives to boost the hydrogen market, the increased availability of clean energy and biogenic carbon dioxide, project financing, and safety. Industry, the government, European Union institutions all need to do their part to enable investments in the hydrogen ecosystem.
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Originally published on 14 Jan
Ellex in Estonia advised SmartCap Green Fund on its investment into Taaleri SolarWind III, a renewable energy infrastructure fund managed by Taaleri Energia.
SmartCap committed €25 million to accelerate the development and operation of onshore wind, solar and battery energy storage assets across the Baltics, Nordics, Poland and select markets in Europe and the U.S.
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Originally published on 14 Jan
On 22 January 2026, the Rail Baltica Forum on European Connectivity, Security, and Cooperation will take place in Madrid, Spain, continuing the series of high-level Rail Baltica seminars launched last year. The forum marks the first Rail Baltica high-level event of 2026 and highlights Spain’s important role in advancing Europe’s cross-border transport connectivity.
Organised by Rail Baltica together with ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, MAFEX, and the Embassies of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in Spain, the forum will convene senior policymakers, representatives of European institutions, members of the diplomatic and defence communities, rail infrastructure managers, operators, and industry leaders.
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Originally published on 14 Jan
AI offers new opportunities that free up social and health care professionals’ time from administrative and repetitive tasks for more important duties, such as seeing people face-to-face. AI has been helping to automate patient data entry and interpret meetings. Moreover, AI can be used to assist in guiding clients to the right services.
In 2024, Sitra funded several AI pilots implemented in cooperation between wellbeing services counties and businesses. The pilots produced good results: for instance, AI-assisted logging of patient data helped to speed up professionals’ work and freed time for interaction with the patient.
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Originally published on 13 Jan
Homie, a Helsinki-based startup building a platform for relationship-driven B2B sales, has raised €1 million in pre-seed funding to support its market launch and international expansion.
The round was led by Superhero Capital, with participation from Antler. The funding coincides with Homie’s public launch, making its network-based sales platform available to teams across Europe and North America.
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Originally published on 13 Jan
The Latvian airline airBaltic announces that it has been named among the world’s top 50 safest airlines for the second year in a row by Airline Ratings, a global authority on airline news, passenger reviews, and safety evaluations. In its category, airBaltic improved its ranking, rising from 25th place in 2025 to 7th place in 2026.
Pauls Cālītis, Chief Operations Officer of airBaltic: “Safety is the foundation of every decision we make at airBaltic. This recognition by Airline Ratings reflects our safety culture, the professionalism of our teams, and our continued investment in training, modern aircraft, and operational discipline. Operating reliably in demanding winter conditions further demonstrate the robustness of our procedures. Being recognized among the world’s safest airlines for the second year in a row reflects our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and to earning our customers’ trust. We thank Airline Ratings for this recognition.”
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Originally published on 13 Jan
Project financing from Interreg Øresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak will support the establishment of a cross-border collaboration platform aimed at accelerating the use of renewable energy through CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) in the Øresund region, paving the way for the production of sustainable fuels.
Building on a successful pre-project focused on mapping specific areas of action, the initiative now moves from analysis to implementation with a three-year project, bringing together Danish and Swedish strengths in a Center of Excellence. The ambition is to make CCUS an integrated, cross-border element of the energy system, where captured biogenic CO₂ is combined with green hydrogen and renewable energy to produce fuels for shipping and aviation.
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Originally published on 13 Jan
Bechtel and Westinghouse tap Arabelle Solutions to supply steam turbine and key auxiliary components
Bechtel and Westinghouse Electric Company have chosen Arabelle Solutions to supply three half-speed Arabelle steam turbine and generator sets for the AP1000® nuclear project in Poland. The selection was confirmed by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), the Polish state-owned company developing the country’s first nuclear power plant at the Choczewo site in Pomerania.
Arabelle Solutions will provide the steam turbine and generator systems for all three units at the Choczewo nuclear plant, along with the major supporting equipment needed to run the steam cycle. In a nuclear power plant, heat from the reactor turns water into steam, which spins a turbine and generator to produce electricity.
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Originally published on 13 Jan
On December 3–4, the BalticSeaH2 consortium held its annual all consortia project meeting and General Assembly in an online format. The meeting marked an important milestone as the project approaches its mid-term phase.
During the sessions, consortium members presented completed project tasks and deliverables, as well as reviewed progress on ongoing activities. One of the key takeaways was that the implementation of the BalticSeaH2 project is progressing as planned, with approximately one-third of all deliverables already completed – 41 out of a total of 123.
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Originally published on 12 Jan
LTG Group company LTG Infra has signed contracts for land acquisition for public needs in the Panevėžys Railway Node and regional station areas, including engineering systems along the section between Kaunas and the Lithuanian–Latvian border.
The tenders were awarded to Tyrens Lietuva and a consortium operating under a joint venture agreement – Atamis (lead partner) and Projects House – which will carry out the land acquisition activities.
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Originally published on 13 Jan