Hi! Welcome to the place with the latest updates on CEE Startup & VC Scene. Here, exclusively for you, we have prepared a monthly overview of closed funding rounds, new VC funds from the region, and other interesting startup events definitely worth your attention.

Ready? Let’s dig into the regional startup and venture capital happenings from the eleventh month of 2022!

Leading CEE Funding Rounds Closed In November

Ramp - Polish cryptocurrency payment startup building a crypto payments infrastructure that allows users to easily exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrencies. (Series B - €68M from Balderton Capital, Cogito Capital Partners, Korelya Capital, and Mubadala Capital Venture).
Turbine - Hungarian company working on a cell simulation platform that can predict the effectiveness of cancer treatments. The platform itself provides a deeper understanding of cancer biology and the potential impact of therapy.(Series A - €20M from Accel, Day One Capital, Delin Ventures, Mercia Fund Managers, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, and XTX Ventures).
Airly - Poland-based cleantech startup that offers a comprehensive SaaS solution for air quality monitoring via a proprietary sensor network delivering real-time air quality data. (Series A - €5.3M from AENU, Firstminute Capital, Pi Labs, Semapa Next, TOVentures, UNTITLED, and various business angels like Marcin Zukowski - Snowflake, Richard Branson - Virgin Group, and Cal Henderson - Slack).
Ecobean - Polish ecotech startup with a mission to make the coffee industry more sustainable. The company supports the circular economy by reusing spent coffee grounds, and turning it into raw materials, specialty chemicals, and other products. (Seed - €2.1M from Ciech Ventures, CofounderZone, and InnoEnergy).
Volteum - Hungarian startup that works on electric fleet optimization software to enable companies to operate EV fleets easily and cost-efficiently. The software can predict energy consumption, plan optimal trips, and manage the daily tasks of the fleet. (Seed - €1.25M from Day One Capital, Fiedler Capital, Oktogon Ventures, Techstars Ventures, and business angel).
Goodlegal - Romania-based legal tech startup that wants to become a one-stop-shop for legal compliance with features like drag-and-drop document builder, editor and text analysis, e-signature, automation, integrations and many more. (Pre-seed - €1.2Mfrom Credo Ventures, Daniel Dines - UiPath, EarlyBird, and Underline).
Licenseware - Romanian startup providing an open app ecosystem where users can access a range of third-party enterprise apps with competitive licensing fees, underpinned by a public development framework. (Seed - €1M from Acequia Capital (AceCap), Early Game Ventures, Fortech Investments, Growceanu Angel Investment, Hellen's Rock Capital, Startup Wise Guys, TechAngels, Transylvania Angels Network, business angel).
Supernova.io - a Czech-based startup that provides a platform that helps to build and scale a design system. The solution enables advanced documentation and effective design system management. (Seed - €4.5M from EQT Ventures, Expedite Ventures, KAYA, Sara Varni, Wing Venture Capital, Y Combinator).
Keboola - Czech-based cloud platform that helps clients combine, enhance and publish crucial information for internal analytics & data products. (Seed - 4.3M from Presto Ventures, Reflex Capital and business angels).
Re:benefit - Bulgarian cloud-based platform offering benefits and rewards for employees while reducing benefits administration, improving communication, and introducing automation in the process. (Seed - €1.2M from Impetus Capital, New Vision 3, Vitosha Venture Partners).

VC Funds Investing In CEE

Peak - European VC grabs €150M for its fifth fund to support European early-stage startups. The firm will deploy from €250k to €4M into SaaS, marketplace, and platform founders.
OTB Ventures - Polish deeptech VC announces a new €150M fund. The firm will invest across enterprise AI automation, spacetech, fintech, cybersecurity and climatech around Europe.
Alpha Intelligence Capital - AI-focused VC announces the first $100M closing of its $300M fund. The firm will back series A to B startups across the globe.
Pact - Female-led UK VC announces closing of its £30M to invest in seed-stage startups. The firm will back companies building solutions around economic inclusion, personal and professional well-being, and climate solutions, putting £1M to £1.5M into each opportunity.
Index Ventures - The fund raises its next $300M seed fund to invest across sectors and industries. The firm will primarily focus on the US and Europe but is open to investing in other geographies as well.
FIRSTPICK - The Lithuanian team of Startup Wise Guys debuts a fully independent VC to focus on Baltic founders at the early stage. The firm is open to considering startups building across any sector or industry.
bValue - Polish VC announces a first €72M closing of its €100M fund. The firm will back mature CEE companies with €5M to €15M size tickets.
EQT Ventures - Swedish VC announces the closing of its third, €1.1Bn fund to invest across European and North American early-stage startups. The firm will primarily focus on climate tech, food tech, the creator economy, energy, fintech, software, data & IT infrastructure, and deep tech.

Interesting Events For CEE Startup Community

Innovation Explorer - The ninth international innovation forum Innovation Explorer is aimed at investors, young business tech companies, economists, and scientists. The event is hosted in Sofia, Bulgaria, and will include panel discussions, keynote speeches, and workshops. This year's edition will cover topics related to innovation for social growth. (February 23, 2023, stationary).
Czech On-line Expo - Czech Republic's largest e-commerce & online business exposition and conference, aimed at young tech companies and industry giants. The event is hosted in Prague, Czech Republic, and is set to have more than 10 thematic stages including customer care, e-commerce strategy, social, brand, and e-shop inspiration. (January 22-23, 2023, stationary, but you can choose the option: video recordings of filmed lectures only with access to videos after the event)

Other Interesting News Worth Your Attention

SMEs in Europe are struggling, according to an annual survey, just released by Glovo. One common trend that was visible in every surveyed market is quite a gloomy one – SMEs are struggling. The situation is quite dire in the UK and Spain, as two-thirds of businesses in the UK indicate they are struggling to survive. In Spain, nearly half of SMEs surveyed admit to being in survival mode, and almost the same number of SMEs find it difficult to stay competitive.

Stay tuned for the next overview of interesting happenings in CEE VC and Startup ecosystem!

#20 CEE Startup & VC News - November 2022

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