On March 28th, Warsaw for 2 days became the meeting point for almost 200 VC fund managers from the CEE region and Western European VC ecosystems. The CEE VC Summit, organized by Vestbee, the leading platform in the region connecting startups with global VC funds, accelerators and corporates, is unique in its scale and focuses on fostering cross-border relationships between VC funds managers (GPs) and selected LPs. During the conference, managers of leading VC funds were discussing market trends, challenges and opportunities for the CEE ecosystem, fund fundraising and building relations with LPs, effective ways of managing and valuing the VCs portfolio, managing portfolio and board dynamics, value creation, and more.
At this year's Summit, a major point of discussion was analyzing the current condition of Central and Eastern Europe's startup and VC environment and their capacity to tackle the challenges of an upcoming global economic downturn. The aim was to enhance CEE's presence on the global VC map, looking at factors such as startups, quality of funds, and the allure of Venture Capital as a form of investment for institutional investors. During several panel discussions, speakers covered such topics as:
The state of Ukrainian startup ecosystem
Building a global business out of the CEE
How can VCs differentiate in an increasingly competitive CEE market
Navigating to exit in uncertain times
How VCs create value for startups
The conference was honored with the presence of representatives of leading VC funds and corporates, among the Summit Speakers in such a line-up:
🔹Ewa Chronowska, CEO, Vestbee & General Partner, Next Road Ventures
🔹Marcin Łączyński, Partner, Next Road Ventures
🔹Marek Moravec, Managing Partner, Nation 1 VC
🔹Tomas Pacinda, Partner, Kaya VC
🔹Daniel Tomov, Partner, Eleven
🔹Marcin Kurek, Managing Partner, Market One Capital
🔹Marcin Hejka, General Partner, OTB Ventures
🔹Matei Dumitrescu, Partner, RocaX
🔹Andriy Dovzhenko, Managing Partner, SMRK VC
🔹Elena Mazhuha, Investment Director, Flyer One Ventures
🔹Alexandra Balkova, Partner, Startup Wise Guys
🔹Marton Medveczky, Investment Director, Flashpoint VC
🔹Michał Rokosz, Managing Partner, Inovo Venture Partners
🔹Rumen Iliev, Partner, LAUNCHub Ventures
🔹Wiktor Namysł, General Partner, ORBIT Capital
🔹Bartosz Lipnicki, Managing Director, Endeavor
🔹Philipp von dem Knesebeck, Managing Partner, Blue Future Partners
🔹Bartek Pucek, Angel Investor
🔹Borys Musielak, Managing Partner, SMOK Ventures
🔹Rozalia Urbanek, Investment Director, PFR Ventures
🔹Lukas Grodl, Legal, Purple Ventures
🔹Paweł Maj, Head of VC, Warsaw Equity Group
🔹Jowita Sewerska, Investment Director, ECBF
🔹Szymon Kwiatkowski, Investment Manager, EIT InnoEnergy Central Europe
🔹Elemer Eszter, Managing Partner, Impact Ventures
🔹Christian Lautner, Managing Partner, Heal Capital
🔹Marcus Erken, Managing Partner, Sunfish Partners
🔹Bakhrom Ibragimov, Partner, Molten Ventures
🔹Alex Seran, Partner, Hellen’s Rock
🔹Andras Molnar, CEO, Portfolion
🔹Wojciech Walniczek, Partner, OTB Ventures
🔹Pavel Mucha, General Partner, Kaya VC
🔹Merve Zabci, Partner, Logo Ventures
🔹Alex Wilson, Principal, White Star Capital
🔹Mike Brennan, Partner, Finch Capital
🔹Daniela Raffel, Vice President, Dawn Capital
🔹Numan Numan, Partner, 212
🔹Dusan Zabrodsky, Partner, Rockaway Capital
🔹Paulina Skrzypińska, Chief Innovation Officer, BNP Paribas
🔹Karolina Mrozkova, Partner, Credo Ventures
🔹Martell Hardenberg, Global Partner, Antler
🔹Karola Sisask, Member of EstVCA / MITI Solutions
🔹Charles Moury, Co-Founder & COO, Apiday
🔹Monika Rozalska-Lilo, Sr. VC and Startup Developer EMEA, AWS
🔹Esat Acar, Vice President, 500 Emerging Europe
🔹Nikhil Dinesh, Head of Startup and VC Business Development - EMEA North, AWS
🔹Karol Lasota, Investor inovo.vc, former Founder
During the event, Vestbee officially launched its flagship annual overview of startup funding rounds and venture capital transactions in CEE in 2022 - VC Transactions In CEE - 2022 Report. The report is an essential resource for investors looking to stay abreast of the latest developments and trends in the CEE startup ecosystem.
Participants also had a chance to learn about the CEE SaaS Index, a simple benchmark tool for startups and investors to value SaaS companies in Central & Eastern Europe based on revenue multiples from publicly traded SaaS companies from the CEE region, developed by Vestbee and Warsaw Equity Group.
The organization of the conference would not be possible without Vestbee's Sponsors and long-term Partners - we are grateful to Next Road Ventures, EIT InnoEnergy, Amazon Web Services, PFR Ventures, BNP Paribas, Kaya VC, SSK&W, Apiday, Zendesk, Deel and Republic of Estonia E-Residency for their support.
We were delighted and greatly privileged to host such motivating individuals, as through our collaborative efforts, we are making strides in connecting the venture capital setting in Central and Eastern Europe. We anticipate seeing you at the upcoming edition!
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