The list of new 25 VC funds that were launched in Central and Eastern Europe in 2022
OTB Ventures
Headquarter: Poland
Fund size: €150 million
Investment stages: early-stage
In November, venture capital fund OTB Ventures announced the launch of a new €150 million OTB Fund II. It is aimed to make direct investment in early growth deeptech companies, developing innovative breakthroughs with R&D in Europe. “OTB Ventures will continue to play an active role in further strengthening the sustainable competitive edge of European deeptech ecosystem based on its large talent pool,” said Adam Niewinski, General Partner at OTB.
bValue
Headquarter: Poland
Fund size: targeting €100 million
Investment stages: growth stages
In November, Warsaw-based bValue announced opening of its third fund bValue Growth to invest in companies from the CEE. The fund has already completed the first closing of €72 million, and wants to increase its capital to €100 million. It aims to invest in 8-12 companies, with a single ticket of €5-€15 million for an equity stake of 20-40%. bValue Growth fund is focused on growing companies with scalable business models, and a turnover of no more than €25 million.
Inovo Venture Partners
Headquarter: Poland
Fund size: €100 million
Investment stages: early-stage
Warsaw-based investor Inovo Venture Partners launched a third fund with €100 million in assets in August. The fund is aimed at supporting CEE-based early-stage and post-traction startups with global potential. Inovo VC specializes in the fields of venture capital, corporate finance, innovations, SaaS, and marketplaces. Its ticket size is between €500,000-€3 million.
Market One Capital
Headquarter: Poland
Fund size: €80 million
Investment stages: early-stage
Poland-based generalist venture capital firm Market One Capital raised €80 million for its second fund in October. It will support around 30 European marketplace and network effect startups during their early stages. With the fresh funds, the firm wants to support around 30 new pre-seed and seed startups. Its initial tickets range from €200,000 to €2 million, with the possibility to invest up to €8 million in one company.
Simpact Ventures
Headquarter: Poland
Fund size: €21 million
Investment stages: pre-seed, seed, and Series A
Polish venture capital firm Simpact Ventures closed its second fund, aiming at projects with positive impact at the end of November. The fund has over €21 million (100 million PLN) under management, dedicated to early-stage startups, mainly from CEE. It will provide sector agnostic investments with a preference for pre-seed, seed, and Series A investments (equity & convert). The tickets will range from nearly €100,000 to over €2 million, with strong follow-on strategy.
MediVentures
Headquarter: Poland
Fund size: €5.3 million
Investment stages: early-stage
MediVentures, a fund supported by group of private investors from Polish diaspora in the US, has announced a new investment fund. The firm plans to invest nearly €5.3 million (25 million PLN) in the Polish medtech sector, specifically elderly care, across 4 years with a ticket size of up to €200,000.
GR Capital
Headquarter: Ukraine and Germany
Fund size: targeting €100 million
Investment stages: Series B and C
GR Capital, the pan-European venture capital firm with offices in Berlin and Kyiv, has launched its second early growth fund — GR Capital Fund II, having signed the first closing of €30 million and targeting €100 million in total. It usually invests between €5-€10 million per company within fintech, mobility, proptech, healthtech, and future of work sectors.
hi5 Ventures
Headquarter: Ukraine
Fund size: $15 million
Investment stages: early-stage
Kyiv-based hi5 Ventures was launched in April 2022. The firm focuses on 2C, SaaS, Mobile, EduTech, AI/ML, Security, eSports, AdTech verticals. hi5 Ventures is primarily interested in projects with Ukrainian founders. Its tickets are sized up to $250,000 for pre-seed startups, up to $500,000 seed-stage startups, and up to $1 million for Pre-A startups.
Angel One Fund
Headquarter: Ukraine
Fund size: $1.5 million
Investment stages: pre-seed
The new angel investment venture fund Angel One Fund was launched in October. As Ivan Petrenko, Managing Partner of Angel One, told: “Angel One was created with this mission to help startups grow and enter global markets.” The fund will focus on pre-seed startups in fintech, SaaS, AI/ML, with plans to close a third part of all deals in edtech. The average ticket size will be from $50,000 up to $200,000 per company.
Trind VC
Headquarter: Estonia
Fund size: €55 million
Investment stages: starting from seed
Tallinn-based venture fund Trind VC closed its €55 million second fund to back European startups in September. The new fund is aimed to support 30-40 consumer and SME-focused companies and make initial investments of up to €1 million. Its minimum ticket size will be €100,000. Any follow-up rounds will allow ticket sizes to reach up to €5 million.
Change Ventures
Headquarter: Estonia
Fund size: €49 million
Investment stages: seed
Tallinn-based VC firm Change Ventures closed its second fund for startups in the Baltic region at €49 million. It is the largest seed venture capital ever raised in the region. Change Ventures invests in such major sectors as fintech/regtech, e-commerce and retail, B2B, consumer and edtech, and a range of deeptech and AI startups.
Specialist VC
Headquarter: Estonia
Fund size: targeting €500 million
Investment stages: pre-seed to Series A
Tallinn-based tech investor Specialist VC has announced the first close of a new €50 million Fund II at €42 million. It focuses primarily on B2B, SaaS, fintech, platforms, software-enabled hardware, Web3, and deep tech verticals. Fund II will make over 40 investments in startups from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, as well as in founders from Ukraine and Belarus who are building their businesses in the Baltics and Finland.
Contrarian Ventures
Headquarter: Lithuania
Fund size: targeting €100 million
Investment stages: seed
Lithuania-based climatetech firm Contrarian Ventures launched its second fund targeting €100 million back in August. The fund supports climatetech startups and climate-oriented founders, while mobilizing the resources needed for climate action. “We must focus on the world in 2050, not just in 2030. Climate tech is going to be one of the most lucrative and important investment opportunities for the next 30 years,” Contrarian Ventures co-founder Rokas Peciulatis noticed.
Practica Capital
Headquarter: Lithuania
Fund size: targeting €70 million
Investment stages: pre-seed to Series A
Vilnius-based venture capital firm Practica Capital launched its third €70 million fund to invest in startups with Baltic founders. It aims to invest in 25 companies, with a single ticket of up to €3 million primarily at the seed stage, making several initial investments in pre-seed and Series A. The fund has already completed the first closing of €32 million.
FIRSTPICK
Headquarter: Lithuania
Fund size: targeting €20 million
Investment stages: early-stage
In November, the Lithuanian team of the Estonian accelerator Startup Wise Guys launched the new VC firm, FIRSTPICK. The firm plans to raise of €20 million for the fund, with €15 million already committed. FIRSTPICK plans to invest in 45 startups over the next three years. It offers a pre-accelerator with grants of up to €20,000 per team, an accelerator with an investment range from €50,000 to €100,000, and investments up to Series A, between €200,000 to €500,000.
Baltic Sandbox Ventures
Headquarter: Lithuania
Fund size: targeting €13 million
Investment stages: early-stage
Freshly founded Lithuanian firm Baltic Sandbox Ventures raised €10 million for its first deeptech fund in December. For its closure, the firm targets to raise a total of €13 million. The fund is the first in the Baltics focusing on early-stage deeptech and life science solutions. It is especially interested in solutions that are patented or patentable. In total, Baltic Sandbox Ventures wants to accelerate up to 60 teams, with an acceleration ticket of €25,500.
Speedinvest
Headquarter: Austria
Fund size: €500 million
Investment stages: early-stage
Austrian Speedinvest, one of the Europe’s most active seed investors, announced it has raised €500 million to invest in early-stage tech startups. As of December, 90% of the funds’ target amount is committed. Speedinvest intends to back about 100 new startups with its new fourth early-stage fund. €300 million will be used to invest in pre-seed and seed startups, and €200 million — for supporting the growth of existing portfolio companies. It will write cheques ranging from €600,000 for pre-seed companies up to €2.5 million for seed-stage startups.
Round2 Capital
Headquarter: Austria
Fund size: targeting €100 million
Investment stages: growth stages
In November, Round2 Capital, which provides growth capital for European software and technology companies, announced the first close of its second €100 million fund with €62 million. It focuses on European growth companies offering B2B software critical to business success. The second fund targets on 40 small- and mid-cap software companies all over Europe, especially on the DACH and Nordic markets.
Female Founders
Headquarter: Austria
Fund size: targeting €20 million
Investment stages: pre-seed and seed
Vienna-based organization Female Founders launched €20 million Fund F to invest in pre-seed and seed startups with at least one female founder. As of October, the new fund has already made its first close of €12.5 million. Fund F focuses on climatetech, femtech, healthtech, fintech, insurtech and HRtech verticals. It plans to invest in 25-30 gender-diverse startups that have at least one female co-founder in the next four years.
Credo Ventures
Headquarter: Czech Republic
Fund size: €75 million
Investment stages: pre-seed to Series A
In October, Prague-based venture capital company Credo Ventures closed its €75 million fourth fund to scale up its operations in Central and Eastern Europe. Credo typically invests from €100,000 to €5 million in pre-seed to Series A tech companies in the CEE or launched by founders from the region.
Presto Ventures
Headquarter: Czech Republic
Fund size: €30 million
Investment stages: pre-seed and seed
Presto Ventures launched Fund II, valued at €30 million, in July. The Prague-based firm is looking to make pre-seed and seed investment rounds in more than 40 B2B startups from the CEE region, including the Baltics, Balkans, and Ukraine. Its ticket size can range up to €3 million, and, according to the firm, it stays committed to follow-on rounds.
DEPO Ventures
Headquarter: Czech Republick
Fund size: €20 million
Investment stages: early-stage
In October 2022, Prague-based venture capital firm DEPO Ventures announced the launch of its third angel fund. The new fund is aiming €20 million and is currently looking for investors, who can help startup founders further their development. The third angel fund focuses on investing in early-stage startups that develops projects in the areas of artificial intelligence and blockchain applications, financial technologies, and tech marketplaces.
Underline Ventures
Headquarter: Romania
Fund size: €20 million
Investment stages: pre-seed, seed, and late seed
Bogdan Iordache, founder of the long-running Bucharest-based How to Web conference, has launched a new venture fund Underline Ventures. As of July, it already raised half of its targeted €20 million to make investments in Eastern European startups. The fund invests in Eastern European startups at pre-seed, seed, and late seed stages along with other investors. Its average ticket size is €500,000.
Eleven Ventures
Headquarter: Bulgaria
Fund size: €60 million
Investment stages: early-stage
Eleven Ventures announced the final closing of Eleven Fund III at €60 million in January 2022. It is the tenth time bigger than its previous fund, closed in 2018. “Our job is to seek out the local heroes in Southeast Europe and give everything we have to support their growth and global outreach,” Ivaylo Simov, co-founder at Eleven Ventures, said about the fund’s focus. The firm’s investment ticket ranges from €250,000 to €1 million.
Invenio Partners
Headquarter: Bulgaria
Fund size: €55 million
Investment stages: growth and buyout funding
Sofia-based equity investment firm Empower Capital expanded its business model, rebranded to Invenio Partners, and announced the launching of a new €55M regional private equity fund Invenio Partners Fund II to invest in SMEs in Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia. It is focused on manufacturing, retail, transportation and logistics, food processing, technology, healthcare, education, and hospitality.
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