The Istanbul branch of the well-known Venture Capital 500 startup fund has announced that it will be focusing even more on Central and Eastern European countries, including Serbia.
“This renowned fund currently has almost 50 unicorn startups in its portfolio and 40 per cent of these companies are located outside the United States of America. In 2016, the fund started 500 Istanbul, a venture capital fund recently renamed 500 Emerging Europe which focuses on European countries from Turkey to the Baltic States – including Serbia,” writes the Netokracija website.
A new EUR 70-million-budget will be available to start-ups in these countries. As stated in the official press release, the new fund will target start-ups in countries that don’t have big markets, i.e. those countries where the founders are committed from day one to developing global rather than local products.
“We believe that in countries with smaller population density and lower market depth, start-ups look in the direction of global markets, instead of making moves locally. This demographic paradox, whereby smaller populations encourage the creation of companies focused on the global market, exists in Emerging Europe due to the potential for regional expansion,” the press release says.
The Venture Capital fund points out that, guided by this strategy, it has already invested in 40 companies from Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Poland and that the portfolio also includes three unicorns.
Emerging Europe 500 will focus even more on CEE countries, as well as the Baltic States. Initial (seed) investments will rise to EUR 2 million, with larger amounts reserved for later rounds. The press release additionally states that live events will be held in Bucharest, Tallinn, Budapest, Warsaw, Athens and Sofia by the year-end, while a visit to Belgrade is planned for 2023.
(Blic, 05.10.2022)
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