New VC Funds
- Galdana Ventures raises its third, $700M fund-of-funds. The firm will back VCs across the US, Asia, Israel, and Europe.
- Sequoia Capital announces a $195M fund. The firm will focus on European/US pre-seed and seed-stage companies.
- Steven Bartlett kickstarts a $100M-big VC Flight Story Fund. The firm will focus on European startups within the blockchain, biotech, health/wellbeing, commerce, technology, and space verticals.
- German proptech investor PropTech1 Ventures announces the first €44M close of its next €100M fund. The firm will back European early-stage startups with tickets ranging from €0.5M to €4M.
CEE Startup Funding Rounds & Acquisitions
- Space debris removal startup ClearSpace closes a €26.7M series A to prepare for the world's first space debris removal mission, scheduled for 2026. The round was led by OTB Capital backed by the European Investment Fund under InvestEU programme, Swisscom Ventures,Luxembourg Future Fund, Lakestar, In-Q-Tel, Happiness Capital and 600 T Space Investments.
- Slovak robotics and warehouse automation startup Photoneo Brightpick Group raises $19M from its $40M Series B round to scale up throughout the US. The round was led by Taiwania Capital, joined by H&D Asset Management, Venture to Future Fund, Kolowrat Group as well as the startup's previous investors among IPM Group and Alpha Intelligence Capital.
- Polish solar roof producer SunRoof extends its growth round by an additional €13.5M. The round was joined by World Fund, Legal & General and Nordic Alpha Partners.
- The Polish-found platform for launch and business management, Capbase gets acquired by international payroll and compliance unicorn Deel. The size of the transaction remains undisclosed.
- Medical imaging AI platform Oxipit announces a $4.9M round to fund the company's international expansion. The round was co-led by Taiwania Capital, Practica Capital, and Coinvest Capital.
- Bulgarian courier and delivery startup euShipments acquire Croatian fulfilment and logistics startup Pick & Pack with the goal of strengthening its e-commerce position throughout CEE.
- Impact investment platform Grünfin gets €2M in funding after a recent fundraise. The round was joined by the startup's existing investors: Norrsken VC, Specialist VC, Lemonade Stand, together with a couple of new investors among Sie Ventures and HoneyBadger VC.
- Italian banking/payment software platform Auriga buys out Polish fintech F1 Solutions in order to gain a stronger hold of CEE's market opportunities. The size of the transaction remains undisclosed.
- Polish nanomaterials startup synthesizing blue quantum dots QNA Technology raises 7.2M PLN to invest in further R&D and commercialization of its product. The round was led by National Center for Research and Development.
- Lithuanian reputation management platform Repsense grabs €0.5M pre-seed round for further product development. The round was co-led by Iron Wolf Capital and Coinvest Capital and a number of business angels.
- Freelance marketplace Vaqat raises 1.8M PLN pre-seed to further develop the platform. The round was led by Untapped Capital.
- Sidewalk delivery robot producer Delivery Couple closes a 1.4M PLN to obtain an operating license and kickstart operating. The round was co-led by Czysta3.VC and TechniVentures.
- Time tracking platform for physical work MONITI raises 1.2M PLN to invest in product development. The investment was made by JR Holding.
- AI-based platform to monitor and combat addiction PredictWatch raises 1M PLN. The investment was made by Aligo VC.
Startup Calls & Events
- Google for Startups seeks cybersecurity startups to join its incoming Growth Academy: Cybersecurity. The 3-month program will assist founders with essential growth skills, internationalization strategies, and provide Google tools/products to help them scale. The program is open for early-stage startups from Europe, and registrations for the program are open till the 12th of February.
- Ventures Thrive venture builder seeks deep tech startups for its inaugural program. The program is open for early-stage climate tech from CEE and provides a 6-month acceleration together with €1.5M equity-free funding for the participants. The applications for the program are open till the 16th of March.
- Estonian tech conference Latitude59 invites startups to take part in its pitching competition with a €1M prize. The applications are open for early-stage startups with proven traction and positive impact which are actively fundraising. The applications are open till the 9th of April.
- TechChill Riga looks out for startups interested in pitching at its Fifty Founders Battle pitch competition. The winners of the competition will get €10K in equity-free prizes and a chance of getting a €150K from BaDideas fund. Registration is open till the 10th of March.
- Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation launches a business accelerator for local entrepreneurs. The program is open for those working within agriculture, energy, infrastructure, healthcare, cybersecurity and other industries that seek to make positive social change part of their strategy. The registrations are open till the 17th of February.
- Human security-centred innovation forum BALTinnoSEC invites Polish startups/businesses and anyone interested in security-related topics. The event will occur on the 27th of January in the main school of fire service in Warsaw.
Related Posts:
VC & Startup Weekly News From CEE, January 7 - 13, 2023 (by Ilya Mikhalchyk-Kananenka, Community Builder, Vestbee)
VC & Startup Weekly News From CEE, December 24 - January 6, 2023 (by Ilya Mikhalchyk-Kananenka, Community Builder, Vestbee)
VC & Startup Weekly News From CEE, December 17 - 23, 2022 (by Ilya Mikhalchyk-Kananenka, Community Builder, Vestbee)
