Cast AI, a company developing cloud cost-optimisation software for businesses, said it has secured a strategic investment from Pacific Alliance Ventures, pushing its valuation above $1 billion and earning it “unicorn” status.
The size of the investment was not disclosed. The news was announced by startup association Unicorns Lithuania.
“Our team in Lithuania has been a key part of Cast AI’s success from day one,” said Gabija Marganavičė, the company’s head of human resources. “The technical talent and innovation culture here helped build a platform now trusted by global companies.”
Cast AI has over 300 employees across 34 countries, from Bengaluru to Tel Aviv and New York, Marganavičė said.
Unicorns Lithuania CEO Gintarė Verbickaitė said the company employs nearly 80 people in Lithuania, paying an average monthly salary of 8,200 euros. Over the first three quarters of last year, Cast AI paid nearly 2 million euros in taxes in the country, she said.
“While calculations of how many unicorns each country has vary depending on the criteria used, Cast AI built its product in Lithuania,” Verbickaitė said in a statement. “The company hired its first employees here, and initially its main offices were only in Vilnius and the United States. Talent is one of the most important success factors for any startup, so Lithuania’s contribution to Cast AI’s journey to unicorn status is undeniable.”
Cast AI was founded in the United States in 2020 but has developed its product from its earliest days in Vilnius, where its largest engineering hub is located and about a quarter of its workforce is based. The company plans to continue expanding its Vilnius team.
Cast AI began to be viewed as a potential unicorn last year after raising $108 million in a Series C funding round, the largest investment round among Lithuanian startups in 2025.
Following that funding, the company opened offices in Bengaluru, London, New York and Tel Aviv, and established subsidiaries in Canada, France, India, South Korea, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
Pacific Alliance Ventures, a US-based corporate venture capital arm of South Korea’s Shinsegae Group, operates in retail, services and digital platforms, developing projects with Alibaba International and other technology companies. Shinsegae Group’s valuation exceeds $50 billion, according to the statement.
According to Unicorns Lithuania, the country has now produced four other technology “unicorns”: second-hand fashion marketplace Vinted, cybersecurity company Nord Security, online classifieds operator Baltic Classifieds Group and women’s health app developer Flo Health.
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