The Emerging Tech Hubs in the Baltics to Consider in 2025
The Baltic countries usually hit the top lists of countries of Eastern Europe, including tech hubs and emerging IT clusters. However, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are worth reviewing separately to realize their strong features for 2025. Let’s check their distinguishing characteristics in the context of software development and talent pools to opt for.
The Baltic Tech Hubs: Where to Start?
It is worth noting that the Baltics is leading in several industries in 2024. Cybersecurity, e-gaming, and fintech are ever-developing in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. For example, Statista published expected gaming market growth for Baltic countries - the production of mobile, video games, and cloud gaming apps is predicted to grow up to 2029 with a projected revenue estimated at $330.20 million.
At the same time, Estonia and Lithuania are still among leading countries in the context of cybersecurity solutions. According to the NCSI report, they hold the 2nd and 3rd places with the highest indices compared to other european countries.
Latvia is rapidly developing in tech education opportunities while enlarging the number of standard programs accessible in high schools like Riga National University with alternative and innovation-friendly ones. All the Baltic countries deserve to be named European tech hubs today and reasonable for IT networking in 2025.
1. Latvia
If Riga is the heart of tech education, Latvia itself is the Baltic tech hub to consider in 2025. More than 700 graduates yearly are ready to be outsourced by the USA, Nordic, European, and Asian countries. The number of competent technicians in this Baltic country is over 35,000. Besides cybersecurity coding and e-gaming programming, Latvia is famous for devs with tech skills required for:
- Fintech;
- E-commerce;
- Business;
- Healthcare, etc.
This tech hub educates young talents with the help of innovative programs available in Baltic countries. Riga TechGirls and Start School are projects for those who would like to become a skillful programmer. Dozens of tech companies are located in Latvia - among them are Eduro, Skillarize, AGA Games, and many more. For December 2024, there are about software startups in this Baltic tech hub (e.g. SonarWorks, DronePlan, Forse AI, etc.).
2. Estonia
Almost the same graduates’ and devs’ statistics are observed in Estonia. +34 thousand developers and more than 800 graduated IT specialists yearly will describe this tech hub in the Baltics. We have mentioned that Estonia is famous for its cybersecurity solutions. That is why it is reasonable to outsource technicians with these areas of competence.
The leading programming languages are Python and Java. The highly requested software development service is DevOps. Estonia is associated with renowned tech companies like Bolt, ELEKS, DataForest, and RALABS. Estonian programmers like other developers from Eastern Europe are great performers with affordable hourly rates, self-discipline, and comfortable time zone.
3. Lithuania
Together with Estonia, Lithuania is the Baltic tech hub with a solid cybersecurity background. Moreover, Lithuania is the top-ranking company in Europe in terms of the number of startups. 1,000+ new companies and tech projects were registered there in 2024. Additionally, this European tech hub can be proud of the enormous capital raised together with ever-growing enterprise value statistics.
The leading IT direction in Lithuania is fintech. That is why most digital & software solutions are developed for banking systems, financial structures, and public organizations. Nevertheless, there are many other niche startups related to AI, DevOps, app & web programming, UX design, and many more (for example, Vinted, Green Genius, boBo, NordSecurity, etc.).
Summarizing
The Baltic countries can be considered separate-standing tech hubs in Europe with similar cultures and mentality. Most Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian programmers have the same level of English proficiency and soft skills. Hourly rates are also similar in all the reviewed Baltic countries.
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia usually host yearly tech conferences like TechChill (Riga), Cloud Technology TownHall (Tallinn), and many more. It is a great idea to hire a developer from the Baltic countries or other European destinations. Wild.Codes can simplify your employment processes and become responsible for the talent search. 😉
• PHP expertise;
• Database management skills;
•Jungling traits, methods, objects, and classes;
• Agile & Waterfall understanding and use;
• Soft skills (a good team player, high-level communication, excellent problem-solving background, and many more)
• OOP & MVS deep understanding;
• Knowledge of the mechanism of how to manage project frameworks;
• Understanding of the business logic the project meets;
• Cloud computing & APIs expertise.
• Reasonable life-work balance;
• The opportunity to implement the server-side logic via Laravel algorithms;
• Hassle-free interaction with back-end and front-end devs;
• Strong debugging profile.
• Using HTML, XHTML, SGML, and similar markup languages
• Improving the usability of the digital product
• Prototyping & collaboration with back-end JS experts
• Delivery of high-standard graphics and graphic-related solutions
• Using JS frameworks (AngularJS, VueJS, ReactJS, etc
• Clean coding delivery and timely debugging & troubleshooting solution delivery
• UI testing and collaboration with front-end JS teammates
• Database experience
• Building APIs while using REST or similar tech solutions
• Collaboration with project managers and other devs
• Delivery of design architecture solutions
• Creation of designs & databases
• Implementation of data protection and web cybersecurity strategies.
• Both front-end and back-end qualifications
