February 25th, 2026. Who do these kids think they are, dropping out of college, vibecoding, and starting tech companies before they’re 25? Apparently, they think they’re the next unicorns, and they may be right. According to a recent report, the average age of AI unicorn founders dropped from 40 in 2020 to 29 in 2024. And the trend continues.
It’s been called a “youthquake,” shaking up the Silicon Valleys of the world. An ambitious Gen Z, coming of age in the AI-era, is not waiting for permission from their elders, or even college degrees, to start turning their dreams into reality. Instead, they’re getting down to business and making things happen.
This wave is catching attention in some of the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystems, where key players are getting on board to fuel the ambition and send more next-generation founders out to compete on the world stage.
In the Baltics, for example, all this energy is being matched with real investment and structured support. FIRSTPICK, a first-check venture capital fund backing Baltic founders, and Lost Astronaut, a venture builder and an early-stage investor known for early bets on bold ideas, have launched a new collaboration focused on helping young startup founders at the very start of their journey.
With a goal to invest in 100 early-stage startups over the next three years, they aim to give Gen Z founders a platform to build globally competitive businesses right from idea inception. By combining resources and hands-on programs, the two partners aim to fill the funding and knowledge gap at the early stage and keep young talent in the region moving forward.
Early-stage momentum raises the stakes
The push to back early-stage founders is part of a worldwide funding trend. In just the past year, average early-stage funding round sizes have climbed, and startups are reaching higher valuations faster than a decade ago. This means that competition, especially for Gen Z founders, starts earlier and demands more resources up front.
Baltic data mirrors this global surge, according to the latest Baltic Startup Funding Report. In Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, early-stage funding hit new records, with venture investments in the region rising from €505 million in 2024 to €607 million in 2025, with much of this growth coming from pre-seed and seed rounds. This creates a competitive environment for new startups, making it harder to break into the market. With global funds moving in earlier and bigger, Baltic founders need a stronger push at the outset to keep up.
According to Tadas Burgaila, investor, entrepreneur, and founder of Lost Astronaut, many first-time founders struggle with the same early-stage mistakes, like spending too much time perfecting their plans or building alone instead of moving quickly to test ideas in the real world. Speed and momentum matter more than waiting for the perfect moment, he says.
“What we’re building with FIRSTPICK is not a traditional accelerator. It’s a league of All-stars, a roster of the best builders in the Baltics,” says Burgaila. “We’re bringing together first-contact experience for founders at the initial stage and strategic depth for when it’s time to scale. This creates an environment where Gen Z upstarts can get the right support at the right time, to learn fast and compete at the highest level.”
Supporting new founders from the start
At the core of the collaboration between FIRSTPICK and Lost Astronaut is the All-stars program, built on covering the full journey for early-stage founders, beginning with a €100K investment for each selected company. For its part, Lost Astronaut brings to the table its first-contact experience working with founders at the -1 → 0 stage. With a background rooted in self-funded, fast-paced investments, Burgaila says his team will focus on creating a competitive arena where All-stars can earn their position, raise their level, and compound performance over time.
FIRSTPICK picks up where early validation ends, giving All-stars access to a platform for practical learning and scaling. “Our approach does more than write checks,” says Andra Bagdonaitė, Partner at FIRSTPICK. “It connects early founders to a community of 100+ experienced coaches and more than 250 other All-star founders who have learned from growing real companies. In our seven years of investing, backing nearly 100 startups like Ondato, Turing College, and Jeff App, we’ve built up a huge archive of workshops, templates, and insider operator advice. With access to these valuable resources through the All-star programs, new teams don’t have to start from scratch.”
“On top of that,” Bagdonaitė continues, “we support every selected company with hands-on guidance for fundraising strategy, feedback on their materials, and warm introductions to the right VCs in a network of over 700 funds. Our aim is to back builders with leverage, not just polish. We’re here for wildcards and underdogs who have the drive to turn a strong idea into something real.”
For the Baltic region, this joined approach is meant to build not just more startups, but a deeper talent pool and a more competitive ecosystem overall. “The strength of the Baltic ecosystem lies in this quality-over-quantity mindset,” says Burgaila. “Many first-time founders today don’t fit traditional venture patterns. They are less interested in pitch theatre and more focused on shipping, testing, and learning in real time. This collaboration is built for this shift, investing early and moving fast to make sure strong builders aren’t filtered out by slow decision cycles. Not everyone is chasing the next big headline. Some are building quietly but relentlessly. We see value in that, and ultimately, we are backing people before metrics.”
