LAUNCHub Ventures is backed at this stage by the European Investment Fund, corporations in the tech sector and successful Bulgarian founders. The advanced discussions with other private and institutional investors provide strong confidence that the final close will happen by Q2 2021.

LAUNCHub Ventures will invest in 25 startups in the next 4 years. The initial investment range is between €500K and €2M, more than a half of the total fund size will be kept as reserves to support the funding needs of the best portfolio companies in follow-on rounds. LAUNCHub Ventures will provide capital to the most promising entrepreneurs building companies in verticals such as B2B SaaS, Fintech, Proptech, Big Data, AI, Marketplaces, Digital Health. The fund will also actively invest in the Web 3.0 / Blockchain space where its first successful deals date back in 2014 - the early days of this emerging sector.

What does that mean for startup founders from Romania?

LAUNCHub Ventures are looking for scalable businesses with initial traction and passionate founders, originating from South-Eastern Europe and the broader CEE region. ”If you are founder fitting that criteria, tell us more about it here - we’re actively meeting with founders. LAUNCHub Ventures initial investment is between €500K and €2M, with capacity to continue supporting the funding needs of our portfolio companies in future rounds. If you are a Romanian founder based outside of Romania, reach out as well”, says the investment team.

LAUNCHub Ventures are not only doubling down their efforts to support CEE founders, but also strengthening the team while maintaining focus on equality. “We're incredibly proud to announce that this year we've reached a 50:50 gender split in our team”, said Irina Dimitrova, Partner at LAUNCHub Ventures.

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CFO since the fund's inception, Irina was recently promoted to operating partner. Team additions include Raya Yunakova, who joins as an Investor, previously working for PiLabs in London and Mirela Yordanova joining as an Associate, previously leading the startup community at Google for Startups Campus in London.

There is a huge concentration of highly skilled developers in most countries in CEE - approximately 1.3 developers for every 100 people in the workforce. “Central and Eastern Europe's rapid economic growth has caught the attention of Western investors searching for the next unicorn. The region has huge and still untapped potential with more and more local success stories, paving the way for the next generation of CEE tech founders”, said Todor Breshkov, Founding Partner at LAUNCHub Ventures.

Across the previous and the new fund LAUNCHub Ventures have backed companies like:

  • FintechOS (Banking and Insurance middleware for automation and digital innovation acceleration, followed-on by Earlybird and OTB)

  • Cleanshelf (Enterprise SaaS management and optimisation platform, followed-on by Dawn Capital)

  • Office RnD (Co-working and flexible office space management, followed-on by Flashpoint Ventures)

  • Giraffe360 (Robotic camera for real estate listing automation, coinvestment with Hoxton Ventures and HCVC)

  • Ferryhopper (Ferry ticketing platform for Southern Europe, coinvestment with Metavallon)

  • Fite (Premium direct to consumer digital live streaming for sports, followed-on by Earlybird)

LAUNCHub Ventures is supported by InnovFin Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing. LAUNCHub Ventures is also a beneficiary of the InvestBG Equity instrument.