Amidst the ever-growing demand for artificial intelligence solutions, Lithuanian startup Sintra has successfully raised $17 million in Seed funding. Launched over a weekend, the company already serves 40,000 paying customers and has reached $12 million in annual recurring revenue. Sintra offers AI-driven helpers to assist small businesses with essential tasks, aiming to offer practical solutions rather than just another software package.
The rise of Sintra marks an intriguing development in the AI sector. A similar startup, Synthesia, developed an AI tool to create synthetic videos for businesses, showing how companies leverage AI to enhance small business operations. However, while Synthesia focuses on video, Sintra targets comprehensive service integration. Both highlight AI’s versatile role in small business empowerment.
How Did Sintra Begin?
The founders, Chris Sidlauskas and Rokas Judickas, initiated their entrepreneurial journey in 2018 by running a marketing agency from a garage in Vilnius, Lithuania. This early endeavor honed their skills in business and technology. By 2023, Sidlauskas, inspired by a road trip through Europe, envisioned an AI product tailored for small businesses, leading to Sintra’s creation. He explained the initial concept that took off unexpectedly.
“We were running out of money and ideas. Traditional tools just weren’t exciting — business owners didn’t want another generic app. Then we had this ‘stupid idea’: what if we started with character first, not tooling? We built these cute, specialised AI helpers with personality.”
What Makes Sintra Different?
Sintra differentiates itself with an integrated AI platform designed for small business owners, primarily in the US, to manage tasks typically requiring additional staff. Sidlauskas emphasized their products aim to assist rather than replace human employees.
“What small business owners need isn’t just another software product—they need assistants that provide real help – and that feel natural and intuitive.”
With over 45 million businesses lacking adequate digital infrastructure, Sintra addresses this gap by simplifying access to their AI helpers. These helpers perform a variety of tasks, from managing social media to creating marketing strategies, using a cohesive intelligence platform known as “Brain AI.” This strategy creates an approachable environment for even solo business operators.
The company’s viral launch underscored the demand for such comprehensive services, reaching a $1 million ARR within weeks. The overwhelming interest motivated a focus on refining core features, such as enhancing context understanding, tool usability, and overall simplification.
The secure, scalable product design and its perceived ability to enrich customer experience incentivized investors like Earlybird VC, Inovo, and Practica Capital to fund their vision. Andre Retterath of Earlybird expressed confidence in Sintra’s capability to serve a considerable, underserved market while being rooted in Lithuania.
Insights drawn from Sintra’s funding highlight the potential for global impact from small beginnings in Lithuania, a message echoed by founders who chose to stay in Europe rather than relocate to tech hubs like San Francisco. Integrating culturally ingrained resiliency into the startup culture fosters innovation in European tech ecosystems.
Sintra’s early success presents possibilities for small businesses to access enterprise-level AI resources. The startup’s focus on user-friendly, autonomous AI solutions could particularly benefit small enterprises looking to streamline operations cost-effectively.
