How Vugene Raised €1M Without a Sales Team to Revolutionize Biomedical Research

At a glance, Vugene may look like another deep-tech startup working with artificial intelligence and big data. But beneath the surface lies a disruptive idea: transforming how scientists and biotech companies interact with biological data. The company’s core technology—a Service-as-a-Software (SaaS) solution that delivers results instead of tools—has attracted the attention of scientists, hospitals, and now, venture capitalists.

The investment round, led by Finnish VC fund Superhero Capital, also included contributions from Coinvest Capital, business angel syndicate NGL Ventures, and a handful of individual angels. It marks a turning point for the startup, founded in 2021 by Juozas Gordevičius, a bioinformatics scientist who returned to Lithuania after years in the U.S.

"We operate at the intersection of biology, data analysis, and programming," says Gražina Mykolaitytė, Vugene’s CEO since 2023 and previously an executive at Lithuania’s first unicorn, Vinted. “What makes us unique is our ability to integrate multiple types of biomedical data—what’s known as multiomics—into a single, coherent analysis.”

This level of integration allows researchers to explore human diseases and biological processes in unprecedented detail, ultimately accelerating the search for new drugs and treatments. Vugene’s platform combines statistical analysis, machine learning, and publicly available data to help research institutes, hospitals, and pharma companies make the most of every experiment and patient sample.

A Quiet but Global Launch

From its inception, Vugene had global ambitions. It has been active in the U.S. market since day one, with American clients making up 85% of its revenue. That customer base includes 20 organizations, ranging from biotech companies to research labs and hospitals. Despite being a Lithuanian startup, Vugene has grown by 35% in the past year, reaching €380,000 in revenue, even before receiving outside investment.

And here's where it gets even more impressive: they did it without salespeople.

"Investors were surprised how we sell services without a sales team," says Mykolaitytė. "We’ve built an internal network—engineers who understand the tech and go to conferences, I pitch the company myself. But now, with the investment, we’ll finally build a proper sales process and expand our outreach internationally.”

The Product Behind the Pitch

What exactly does Vugene sell?

Unlike traditional software-as-a-service companies, where users pay for tools they must learn to use, Vugene offers Service-as-a-Software—the client provides biological data, and Vugene returns scientific insights. “Our clients don’t need to touch our platform. We work in the background,” Mykolaitytė explains.

For many organizations—especially in biotech and academia—this is a game-changer. An experiment that once required hiring a data scientist for six months can now be completed in a matter of days.

“With machine learning and advanced statistical models, we can test hundreds of hypotheses,” she says. “We can determine if a treatment affected specific cells, whether it was effective at all, or find previously hidden patterns within the data.”

This efficiency isn’t just useful—it’s necessary. “Biological samples are expensive to collect and preserve. There’s a wealth of data, but not enough ‘hands’ to analyze it. That’s where we come in.”

The Secret Sauce: Team, Traction, Timing

According to Mykolaitytė, three things made the €1 million round possible:

1. A top-tier interdisciplinary team – The company now employs 13 people, most of whom studied abroad and bring international best practices to product and business development.

2. Early revenue traction – With nearly €400,000 in revenue and 35% year-over-year growth, Vugene had already proven its product-market fit before seeking investment.

3. International focus from day one – By starting in the U.S. and building trust with leading institutions, Vugene proved it could operate globally.
   

The team also secured EU funding in 2024 to help turn its custom software into a scalable product—yet another signal of its credibility.

Looking Ahead: Scaling Fast and Smart

With this new capital, Vugene aims to scale its sales operations, expand globally, and further develop its product. The goal for 2025 is ambitious: €1 million in revenue, a 2.5x increase.

“That’s a big leap, but that’s probably what our investors expect too,” Mykolaitytė reflects.

Now armed with venture backing and a proven platform, Vugene is poised to become a critical engine behind scientific breakthroughs—not by reinventing biology, but by finally helping it keep up with its own data.

Below: Juozas Gordevičius, „Vugene“ founder.