Minded VDU

What Minded VDU does

Minded VDU, legally VDU Verslo praktikų centras, VšĮ, is a Lithuanian non-profit entrepreneurship education organization embedded within Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Founded in 2017, it operates as the university's official Centre for Enterprise Practice and delivers experience-based entrepreneurship education to VDU students, school pupils (grades 9-12) in the Kaunas and Tauragė regions, young entrepreneurs, and corporate clients. Its core portfolio comprises the 33 ECTS Entrepreneurship Academy, the 3-year Bachelor's in Creative Business and Innovation Design, the Experience Academy for pupils, the Startup Academy (delivered in partnership with Junior Achievement Lithuania), and the new OPEN MINDED LAB (launched August 2025 in collaboration with MIT). Supporting services include quote-based corporate workshops in Design Thinking, LEGO Serious Play, Experience Design, Team Building, and Points of You coaching.

The organization's underlying intellectual property is the EQ Thinking Model (Experience-Create-Initiate), a proprietary three-phase framework created in 2019 that unifies all curricula and is supplemented by the Smart Practice and Multicultural Field ecosystems connecting students with 90+ business partners. MINDED has earned European-level recognition, including top-3 placement at the 2018 European Enterprise Promotion Awards and selection among 50 best University-Business cooperation case studies globally in 2017.

Revenue is generated through three streams: EU and government grant funding (Interreg Europe ECoC-SME, ESFA, EEA Active Citizens Fund, regional development grants) as the primary source; corporate training workshops delivered on a quote basis; and university program delivery integrated into VDU's academic credit structure. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and the organization operates without equity funding, reflecting its non-profit Všľ governance and parent affiliation with Vytautas Magnus University.

Name

Minded VDU

Legal name

VDU Verslo praktikų centras, VšĮ

Website

https://minded.lt

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Minded VDU is a Lithuanian non-profit entrepreneurship education center at Vytautas Magnus University delivering experience-based programs (Entrepreneurship Academy, Bachelor's in Creative Business and Innovation Design, Startup Academy, OPEN MINDED LAB) to university students, school pupils, young entrepreneurs, and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education and Training

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Technical and Trade Schools (6115)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Leadership, Management & Teamwork for Business (EDAMAHAI), Entrepreneurship, Business & Innovation Camps (EDAMALAL)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Experiential learning
• Corporate training
• Youth entrepreneurship
• Startup mentoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Kaunas

HQ country

Lithuania

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. EU/Government Funded Projects: Primary revenue stream through EU funding programs including Interreg Europe (ECoC-SME), European Social Fund (ESFA), European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (Active Citizens Fund), and other regional development grants. These fund youth entrepreneurship education, civic engagement, and psychological development programs.
2. Corporate Training Services: Organization offers paid workshops for businesses including Design Thinking, Experience Design, Team Building, and LEGO Serious Play sessions. Training programs help organizations develop innovative capabilities.
3. University Program Delivery: Delivery of supplementary study programs (Gretutinės studijos) for university credit through Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, including Entrepreneurship Academy (33 ECTS) and Creative Business and Innovation Design bachelor's program.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Minded VDU is an entrepreneurship education and training non-profit organization that delivers experience-based learning programs for university students, school pupils, young entrepreneurs, and corporate clients. Its portfolio centers on the Entrepreneurship Academy (33 ECTS), Experience Academy, Startup Academy, and Creative Business and Innovation Design Bachelor's degree, alongside paid corporate workshops using Design Thinking, LEGO Serious Play, Team Building, and Experience Design methodologies.

Product overview

MINDED VDU operates as an experience-based educational organization at Vytautas Magnus University offering a portfolio of programs centered on entrepreneurship education and creative business development. The core portfolio includes the Entrepreneurship Academy (33 ECTS, 1-year experience-based curriculum), Experience Academy for pupils, Startup Academy for young entrepreneurs, and a Bachelor's Degree Programme in Creative Business and Innovation Design. Supporting these are workshops in Design Thinking, Experience Design, Team Building, and LEGO Serious Play methodology. The EQ Thinking Model serves as the underlying framework unifying all activities through three phases: Experience, Create, and Initiate. Additionally, OPEN MINDED LAB offers a 3-month intensive program for VDU students in collaboration with MIT methodologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MINDED Entrepreneurship Academy (Verslumo akademija)

Quantifiable outcome

• Recognition as one of top 3 entrepreneurial education programs in Europe (European Enterprise Promotion Awards 2018)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.

• Junior Achievement LithuaniacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership for Startup Academy program, allowing best-performing teams to compete in national Junior Achievement competition with opportunity to represent Lithuania internationally. Also enables junior entrepreneurship programming for school children.
• Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (Lietuvos pramonininkų konfederacija)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Key content partner responsible for implementation of Smart Practice concept, methodology, training, and consultancy in Partners 4 Value project. First and unique University-Business Consortium in Lithuania, expanding real-life training opportunities through Business-International Organisation-University partnerships.
• Partners 4 Value Project ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmart practitioners project improving quality of higher education, ensuring effective student preparation for labor market, improving professional and personal capabilities, and expanding social networks. Involves VDU, Vilnius University, Klaipėda University, and Kaunas University of Technology.
• MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)moderateTechnology or IntegrationOpen Minded Lab program methodologies are tested in collaboration with MIT, providing international credibility and cutting-edge innovation framework for student learning.
• University of Eastern FinlandmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead partner in ECoC-SME Interreg Europe project (2019-2022), focused on improving policy instruments to promote lasting positive impact of European Capital of Culture on socioeconomic development.
• ECoC-SME Interreg Europe PartnersmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership includes Municipality of Timisoara, Materahub Creative and Cultural Industries (Italy), Municipality of Rijeka (Croatia), Municipality of Leeuwarden (Netherlands), and Inqubator Foundation. Project aims to strengthen entrepreneurship and creative industries through Local Learning Labs.
• Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas (VDU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome institution and primary university partner. VDU Verslo praktikų centras (Centre for Enterprise Practice) operates as MINDED. Programs delivered through VDU Faculty of Economics and Management.
• VDU Verslo praktikų centrascoreOthersMINDED is also known as VDU Verslo praktikų centras - the same organization operating as the university's business practice center.
• 90+ Business Partner CompaniesmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of companies well known in Lithuania and abroad that provide real-life business challenges for student projects, mentorship, and contribute to the Smart Practice ecosystem.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• KaosPilots: Danish 'creative business school' combining entrepreneurship, design thinking, and leadership. Comparable to MINDED because both deliver project-based, experiential education that integrates design thinking, creativity, and business creation.
• Enactus: Global non-profit running university-level entrepreneurship programs and competitions. Highly comparable to MINDED because both engage university students in solving real business and social challenges via experiential, project-based learning.
• Junior Achievement: Global youth entrepreneurship education organization. Directly comparable because MINDED operates its Startup Academy in cooperation with Junior Achievement Lithuania, with winning teams advancing to JA national and international competitions.
• DesignThinkers Academy: Global Design Thinking training and certification provider. Comparable to MINDED's corporate Design Thinking and Experience Design workshops in delivering licensed Design Thinking training to organizations and individuals.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): Non-profit providing entrepreneurship education to youth, particularly from under-resourced communities. Comparable to MINDED's Experience Academy (Patirčių akademija) for 9-12 grade pupils in using experiential methods to develop entrepreneurial mindsets.
• European Innovation Academy (EIA): European entrepreneurship bootcamp operating in multiple EU countries including Lithuania. Closely comparable to MINDED's Startup Academy and OPEN MINDED LAB in delivering intensive, cohort-based, internationally-validated entrepreneurship programs in the same region.

Broad incumbents

• MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship: MIT's entrepreneurship education and research center. Comparable to MINDED as both a broader incumbent in entrepreneurship pedagogy and an active collaborator, with MINDED testing its Open Minded Lab methodologies in collaboration with MIT.
• Stanford d.school (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design): The leading global institution for Design Thinking education. Comparable to MINDED as a broader incumbent whose teaching materials and methods (Design Thinking) MINDED explicitly uses and teaches within its Entrepreneurship Academy.
• EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology): EU body driving innovation and entrepreneurship education across Europe through Knowledge and Innovation Communities. Comparable to MINDED as a broader incumbent in the EU-funded innovation education ecosystem in which MINDED participates through Interreg and EEA-funded projects.

Regional players

• Enterprise Lithuania (Versli Lietuva): Lithuanian government agency promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and export. Comparable as a regional peer operating in the same Lithuanian market with overlapping mandates to support entrepreneurship and SME development, though with public-policy rather than educational focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/mindedvdu
• Instagraminstagram.com/mindedvdu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mindedvdu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Minded VDU