Vlad Andriescu
The fund has been raised in a single closing and builds on 15 years of activity during which Credo Ventures invested in more than 100 companies, including UiPath and ElevenLabs, two of the most valuable companies to emerge from the region.
In a world where anyone can spin up an AI wrapper in a weekend, the bar for what's truly defensible has shifted to the founders themselves
"We believe in strong founders more than ever. In a world where anyone can spin up an AI wrapper in a weekend, the bar for what's truly defensible has shifted to the founders themselves - their technical depth, their ability to iterate faster than the market, and their agency. Serious technical builders with global ambition are exactly who we look for, and we think that edge is even more pronounced today", said Jakub Krikava, partner at Credo Ventures in a short interview with start-up.ro.
From its 4th fund Credo learned that AI companies can grow fast and it was also a learning experience for Credo in backing this type of founders. "We have learnt a lot about how companies can scale quickly in the age of AI. The portfolio is so far performing way better than expected", adds Jakub.
Doubling down on pre-seed and technical founders
Credo Stage 5 will focus on pre-seed investments, with initial checks ranging between $1 million and $5 million. The fund aims to build a portfolio of around 30 companies and maintain a pace of seven to eight investments per year.
"We are still flexible on the check sizes.$1-5 million is just the most common range that we decided to advertise. However with increasing capital requirements we see 100k checks as very unlikely", says Jakub.
The strategy remains founder-first rather than sector-driven. The team is specifically looking for technical founders with global ambitions, partnering with them from the very first round of funding.
According to the fund, its edge comes from deep local networks across CEE countries, as well as access to the region’s tech diaspora in hubs such as San Francisco and London.
A track record of backing global companies
Credo Ventures was an early investor in UiPath, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange at a $35 billion valuation, and ElevenLabs, recently valued at $11 billion.
Its portfolio also includes companies such as Productboard, Resistant AI, and Betterstack, as well as startups that were later acquired, including Manta by IBM and Around by Miro.
Over time, Credo-backed companies have attracted follow-on investors such as Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and Index Ventures. Around two-thirds of the capital raised by the firm comes from institutional investors, with no public funding involved.
When launching their 4th fund, Credo mentioned their interested in people that worked in Big Tech, which bring experience in solving big issues. This approach is kept in the 5th fund.
"We've always looked for founders who have seen or experienced greatness in any form. Big Tech remains a strong source of talent, but increasingly we're seeing exceptional founders coming from companies like Palantir, from successful startups in the region, and from the CEE diaspora communities in the US and UK. The shrinking of large tech teams is certainly creating more opportunity, but what matters to us is the individual, not where they come from", adds Jakub Krikava.
Central and Eastern Europe remains underserved
Credo Ventures argues that Central and Eastern Europe continues to be one of the most underserved venture capital markets in Europe, despite its strong technical talent pool.
With a population of around 170 million people and a combined GDP of roughly $2 trillion, the region is increasingly producing globally competitive startups. However, fragmentation and cultural differences across markets still represent a barrier for international investors.
The firm believes that its 15-year track record and the mix of experienced and next-generation partners position it to identify and support the next wave of globally relevant companies emerging from the region.
The fund is managed by a team of six partners combining founding experience with a new generation of investors active across the region and its diaspora. The team includes Maciek Gnutek, an early backer of ElevenLabs, Jakub Krikava, who brings a background in policy and strong regional and UK networks, and Max Kolowrat-Krakowsky, with international investment experience and US connections. They are joined by Matej Micek, focused on infrastructure, AI and developer tools, as well as founding partners Ondrej Bartos and Jan Habermann, who launched Credo Ventures in 2010 and have backed some of the firm’s most notable companies, including UiPath and Productboard.
