Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures has announced the final close of its second fund at €74 million. The fund will follow on in the firms’ commitment to funding the most promising SaaS, Fintech, Proptech, Big Data, AI, Marketplaces, Digital Health, Web 3.0, and Blockchain startups hailing from the south-east region of Europe. With investments made in the seed and Series A stage, LAUNCHub Ventures is targeting around 20 investments, with a typical ticket size ranging between €300,000 and €2 million.
From a birdseye view, LAUNCHub Ventures has decided to up the average ticket size, reflective of the growing influence, and therefore capital needed in, and flowing to, the CEE region.
“The VC landscape in the CEE has changed a lot and there is now more availability of money than ever before. This means that investors are able to commit to larger seed and Series A rounds which in turn leads to higher valuations and more competition among venture capital firms. This reflects the developing ecosystem and in order to fit in the market dynamics, we need to identify winners at earlier stages,” explained LAUNCHub Ventures’ Stephane Gantchev.
At nearly a decade old, the Bulgarian VC firm has a learning or two under its belt, and is ready and willing to roll up its sleeves and not only invest in super early-stage startups with a smaller ticket size, but provide valuable guidance and support.
A portion of the €74 million has already been put to work, with LAUNCHub Ventures investing in 9 startups across 5 geographies including FintechOS, Giraffe360, Ferryhopper, Kriptomat, Orbiit, and Rush.
“Ever since LAUNCHub Ventures started in 2012, we believe that we played a transformative role to the local and to some extent the regional startup ecosystem. We are delighted to have witnessed how the aspirations of the founders have grown over the years, with every next generation having higher goals and changing mentality to achieve global leadership in the markets they operate in. It is a matter of time to see more and more amazing growth stories coming out of the region and it is our main goal to be able to be the early partner of these founders,” added LAUNCHub Ventures’ Lyuben Belov.
The new fund is backed predominantly from private investors, including founders who have previously seen support from LAUNCHub Ventures, as well as from the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
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