Thunderclap Labs took home Newcomer of the Year and Public's Favourite at the Kaunas Startup Awards 2025 — a double win that puts our visual drone detection technology firmly on the map.
A Double Win in Kaunas
On the night of the Kaunas Startup Awards 2025, Thunderclap Labs walked away with not one, but two trophies: Newcomer of the Year and Public's Favourite. The event brought together 240 participants and pulled in more than 18,000 viewers on a Delfi.lt live broadcast — making it one of the most visible startup showcases in the region this year.
The awards were organized by Tech-Park Kaunas and Kaunas IN Startups, long-time partners of our team.
What We're Building
We develop visual drone detection and tracking systems — identifying and following aerial objects using cameras and real-time video processing, without relying on expensive radars or acoustic sensors. Our flagship project, Thunder Eye, uses multi-camera voxel projection to build a live 3D map of the airspace, operating passively with no active emissions and working even in GPS-denied environments.
Our system is designed with the current geopolitical reality in mind. Effective, affordable drone detection has become a critical need — and we're building exactly that.
Beyond drone detection, we're also developing rocket engines, rockets, drones, cloud seeding systems, and rocket fuel automation — a pipeline that's as broad as it is ambitious.
Why the Public's Favourite Award Matters
Newcomer of the Year is an industry recognition. Public's Favourite is something else — it's thousands of people choosing to back you. For a young team still in its early stages, that kind of visible public support is fuel.
Co-founders Dovydas Jusevičius and Ignas Mikolaitis noted that the votes and support from the public are the ultimate motivation to keep pushing the technology forward.
A Year of Momentum
The Kaunas Startup Awards cap off what has already been a strong year for us:
- NASA Space Apps Global Nominee — international recognition for our aerospace work
- Kickstart Lab — prize fund winner
- Rise or Fall Startup Battle — prize fund winner
- EUDIS hackathon — winner with our Thunderbee drone interceptor
Our team of seven — engineers, physicists, a materials scientist, an atmospheric scientist, and a software/AI specialist — continues to move fast, iterate hard, and build systems that matter.
Kaunas's tech future is looking sharp. We're proud to be part of why.