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 first month of 2023!

Leading CEE Funding Rounds Closed In January

AMPECO - Bulgarian white-label and hardware-agnostic EV charging management platform that allows big EV charging providers to establish and develop their business operations under their brand. AMPECO works with approximately 110 charging network operators in 45 markets. (Series A - €12.1M from BMW i Ventures, Cavalry Ventures, LAUNCHub Ventures)
3Soft - Poland-based startup that helps companies implement a data-driven business approach by providing artificial intelligence, data management and business automation solutions. The company designs and implements IT platforms for collecting, processing and analyzing large amounts of data. They specialize in providing solutions for clients in the financial and retail sectors. (Venture round - €4.2M from Cezary Smorszczewski, Warsaw Equity Group).
Filuta AI - Company founded in Prague in 2022 that provides full lifecycle intelligent automation services with observability, scalability, A/B testing, continuous deployment and out-of-the-box testing. The company operationalizes composite artificial intelligence to democratize the intelligent automation market. (Pre-seed - €2.3M from Czech Founders VC., EIC Fund, Nation 1, SPM Invest).
Vatis Tech - Romanian startup founded in 2020 with the mission to provide the most accurate and easy-to-use speech recognition API ever, for multiple domains, in multiple languages. At the same time, they're working to enable anyone to build custom speech recognition models. (Seed - €650K from Early Game Ventures, Malin-Iulian Stefanescu, Sparking Capital).
INKsearch.co - Founded in Poland in 2018, is a SaaS-enabled CRM and marketplace with AI for the tattoo industry. It accelerates the connection between the best artists and clients. Clients can book sessions, recommend or get ideas for their tattoos within one comprehensive platform. Artists can promote themselves, meet clients, get hired by new studios, travel and tattoo around the world. (Seed - €200K from EKIPA Investments, Startup Wise Guys).
FUERGY - Slovakian startup is a leading provider of highly-scalable energy storage solutions and AI-powered software platforms for smart energy management systems. Their solutions are designed to offer tailored products and services to all stakeholders in the energy industry, including end customers, energy suppliers and power plants. (Venture Round - €16M from ProPartners).
Talk-A-Bot - The Hungarian-based chatbot provider is a startup that is revolutionizing the way companies communicate both internally and externally. Their technology automates communication, turning digital business conversations into secure, app-like services that provide customers and employees with a faster, more effective and overall better experience. (Venture Round - €5M from Sz√©chenyi Capital Fund Management).
NapiFeryn BioTech - The Polish startup company demonstrated its capability to develop unique technology that can obtain rapeseed protein from the side-stream of the oil pressing. Startup provides an effective way of utilizing this essential component. (Venture Round - €8M from ICOS Capital Management).
Hydrogenera - Bulgarian startup offers new technologies for using green hydrogen as a major energy source. The company has the technological solutions to realize the entire chain - hydrogen production, compression and storage, feeding into the gas grid or transportation to charging stations. (Venture Round - €2M from Impetus Capital, Karoll, MFG Invest).
VOS.health - Czech-Republic startup offers an app that helps individuals maintain their mental health. They provide all the resources people need to enhance overall happiness and mental health. For businesses that are concerned about the welfare of their employees, it also provides a B2B version of the app. (Seed Round - €1.5M from MITON, Purple Ventures, Reflex Capital, Soulmates Ventures).

VC Funds Investing In CEE

DeepTech & Climate Fonds - A german-based company announces the creation of its €1Bn-large VC fund. The firm will back German and European scaleups with investments of up to €30M.
Momenta - Swiss VC launches $100M fund to invest in industry 5.0 startups. The firm will back companies across the EU, EFTA, UK, US, and Canada.
Silicon Roundabout Ventures - UK-based VC announces the first close of its £10M fund. The firm will invest £100K-300K in pre-seed and seed-stage companies building the future of computing, data processing, climate tech and/or security.
New Enterprise Associates - NEA announces a $6.2Bn close-off across two funds. The firm will back technology and healthcare innovation, including enterprise and consumer technology, digital health and life sciences startups throughout stages and geographies.
Highland Europe - The firm closes a new, €1Bn growth fund to invest in European startups. The Company will target growth-stage European internet, mobile, and software companies.
Galdana Ventures - Spain-based company raises its third, $700M fund-of-funds. The firm will back VCs across the US, Asia, Israel, and Europe.
Sequoia Capital - American VC announces a $195M fund. The firm will focus on European/US pre-seed and seed-stage companies.
PropTech1 Ventures - German proptech investor 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.
La French Tech Kyiv - Company announces the creation of the Ukrainian Phoenix Tech Fund. The firm will back local pre-seed to seed stage startups with €100K to €400K investments.

Interesting Events For CEE Startup Community

CEE VC Summit 2023 - The leading regional, invitation-only event hosted in Warsaw, Poland for emerging VC fund managers. Its aim is to strengthen cross-border relationships between emerging fund managers, exchange valuable insight, empower women in VC, and build bridges with developed ecosystems. (March 28-29, 2023, stationary)

Other Interesting News Worth Your Attention

Zoom is laying off 1,300 employees, which represents around 15 percent of its workforce. US employees were notified via email and will be getting a 16-week severance package (salary and healthcare coverage). Zoom is planning a similar situation outside the US.

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

#22 CEE Startup & VC News - January 2023

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