New VC Funds
- EQT Ventures 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.
- Mozilla announces its first $35M-large VC fund - Mozilla Ventures. The firm will invest across early-stage startups building applications around privacy, safer AI and web3 technology.
- The Lithuanian team of Startup Wise Guys debuts a a fully independent VC FIRSTPICK to focus on Baltic founders at the early stage. The firm is open to considering startups building across any sector or industry.
- A sustainable fashion search engine Glami announces a debut of their first fund Glami Ventures under the lead of the company's founder Tomáš Hodboď. The firm will invest in projects around circular economy, B2B e-commerce or AI SaaS companies.
CEE Startup Funding Rounds & Acquisitions
- A Polish crypto infrastructure startup Ramp raises one of the largest rounds in country's history, grabbing $70M in its series B round to fund its expansion and team growth. The round was co-led Mubadala Capital and Korelya Capital, joined by Cogito Capital and company's previous investor Balderton Capital.
- An Estonian crypto exchange Coinmetro takes a €7M investment to expand across Europe, the US and the US. The funding was raised from an undisclosed list of existing shareholders and 3 angel investors.
- A Polish media and ecommerce group Wirtualna Polska acquires Mediapop company owning a number of notable internet portals. The size of transaction is reported to be around 28M PLN.
- An American VC everfield buys out a Latvian digtial health service provider BlueBridge Technologies. The full size of transaction is undisclosed yet its reported that BaltCap and other shareholders have sold 100% of the company to the new owner.
- Air quality sensor producer Airly wraps up its next $5.5M round to scale up the global expansion. The round was led by Firstminute Capital and joined by Expa with a number of very prominent angels, among them: Bolt's CEO Markus Villig, former editor of WIRED David Rowan, Pipedrive's founder Ragnar Sass and others.
- Secondhand fashion marketplace for Africa/Asia Yaga picks up a €2.2M-big investment to invest in the company's growth. The round was led by Startup Wise Guys and joined by Trind Ventures, Specialist VC, and Rubylight.
- Nano-material production startup Adriano gets €500k in funding to finish building the prototype and for expansion of its research capabilities. The round was co-led by GTTechnologies and Commercialization Reactor.
- TikTok adtech startup ViralTalk grabs 1M PLN in funding to invest in product development. The investment was made by SpeedUp Bridge Alfa.
Startup Calls
- Vestbee gathers applications for the upcoming CEE Startup Challenge. The winner will have a chance of pitching in front of more than 250 VC funds, get €250k-worth of startup tools/credits and more! The applications will be accepted until the 25th of November.
- A Polish food company MASPEX and EIT Food partner up in running a foodhathon for sustainable packaging. The submissions will be accepted till the 18th of November.
- Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation launches an Open Data Services Support program. The program will choose 4 winners and grant them up to 1.1M Hrywnas to realize the project. The projects should concern one of four areas: anti-corruption efforts, social benefits, those increasing the accountability and transparency of public authorities and those combating the negative consequences of the war. The deadline for accepting applications is set as the 28th of November.
- A Polish ecommerce platform Allegro starts out a StartUp Asystent for aspiring entrepreneurs wishing to start selling on the platform. Those registering will get support in setting up a company, a 100% commission on the first three months of running a shop, up to 10k PLN 30/60 day loans and more.
- Techstars Startup Weekend hackathon comes to Warsaw in the end of November. Any aspiring entrenpreneurs are welcome to join and have an experience of startup-building over a few days and under a guidance of experienced mentors/engineers. The event will occur between the 25th of November and last until the 27th of November. To get a free ticket one can go to this webpage.
Startup Moldova and Startup City Cahul team up in launching a Digital Impact program. The program will reward up to 780k lei in grants and help test the proposals for both private and public sector. The applications are open to businesses carrying their activities in the Cahul region and should be focused on one of assigned topics: agriculture, tourism, logistics, governance or trade. The applications are open till the 30th of November.
Related Posts:
VC & Startup Weekly News From CEE, October 29 - November 4, 2022 (by Ilya Mikhalchyk-Kananenka, Community Builder, Vestbee)
VC & Startup News From CEE, October 22-28, 2022 (by Ilya Mikhalchyk-Kananenka, Community Builder, Vestbee)
VC & Startup News From CEE, October 15-21, 2022 (by Ilya Mikhalchyk-Kananenka, Community Builder, Vestbee)
