# Ilja Laurs

> Ilja Laurs is the founder and former CEO and executive chairman of GetJar, the independent app store that grew from a developer testing forum in Vilnius into an international mobile distribution business. His later work includes Nextury Ventures and chairing the advisory investment committee associated with Nextury’s technology funds. His public career connects mobile games, app discovery, advertising-supported distribution and technology investing.

- **Role:** Chair of the advisory investment committee at Nextury Funds
- **Organizations:** GetJar, Nextury Ventures, Nextury Funds
- **Known for:** Founded GetJar, which passed one billion cumulative downloads by June 2010., Led GetJar as CEO through the announced $25 million Series C in February 2011., Placed 51st in WIRED’s 2011 ranking of Europe’s technology influencers.

## Career timeline

- **1999** — Entrepreneurial activity dates to 1999 in Startup Lithuania’s biography; early projects included LithuanianHotels.com, MicroPay and Midas Mobile.
- **2004** — Founded GetJar in Vilnius as an online forum for developers to test beta versions of games.
- **2010** — GetJar passed one billion app downloads and announced an $11 million Series B led by Accel Partners.
- **2011** — As founder and CEO, discussed GetJar’s $25 million Series C; GetJar Gold publicly launched in September.
- **2012** — Identified as founder and executive chairman as GetJar shifted toward app discovery, rewards and commerce.
- **2021** — Startup Lithuania’s January publication described him as founder and CEO of Nextury Ventures; this is a publication date, not the venture’s founding date.
- **2023** — Listed among the speakers for Growth Hacking’23 at LITEXPO in Vilnius.
- **2026** — Nextury identifies him as investment committee chairman; its October webinar listing names him as co-presenter.

## Achievements

- Founded GetJar, which passed one billion cumulative downloads by June 2010.
- Led GetJar as CEO through the announced $25 million Series C in February 2011.
- Placed 51st in WIRED’s 2011 ranking of Europe’s technology influencers.
- GetJar Gold reported 50 million users in November 2012 during his executive chairmanship.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Nextury advertised an October 14 online technology-investing webinar with Ilja Laurs and Rena Saribekian-Kinderė, covering AI, semiconductors, automation and assessing long-term potential; the listing establishes the planned event, not proof of attendance.

## Links

- Website: https://nextury.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurs/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/iljalaurs

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ilja-laurs
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21