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A new fund for later- and early growth-stage enterprise tech businesses in CEE is just the latest to have been launched this year.
Over the past five years, according to the International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, the combined enterprise value of start-ups in Central and Eastern Europe has more than doubled, now totaling 213 billion euros.
Among these, start-ups and scale-ups backed by venture capital have experienced the fastest growth, adding 21 billion euros in value during the same period.
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Despite this growth however, the late-stage segment of the market remains shallow, creating a funding gap for technology start-ups as they mature and seek to expand internationally.
To help close this gap, this week Cogito Capital Partners, a Warsaw and New York-based venture capital firm, announced the first close of its Cogito Fund II with a target size of 125 million euros in capital commitments.
The new fund, with over 90 million euros of capital available for investment after this first close, will enable the firm to continue investing in European later- and early growth-stage enterprise tech businesses, with a particular focus on companies with a Central European footprint.
The fund targets investments ranging from five million up to 15 million euros per company.
A number of institutional international investors have backed the fund, including the IFC, the European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Polish Development Fund (PFR) and the Kościuszko Foundation, US, as well as family offices and US and European tech entrepreneurs.
“Tackling the scale-up funding gap is a top priority for the EIF, and we are happy to be taking this step in that direction, supporting European businesses as they look to expand into global markets,” says EIF chief executive Marjut Falkstedt.
“[This fund] will channel much-needed financing to ambitious ICT businesses from the CEE region.”
Led by Sylwester Janik and Martin Jasinski, co-founders and managing partners, Cogito is a venture capital firm that partners with ambitious entrepreneurs to scale up globally category-defining companies.
Cogito invests in later- and early growth-stage tech B2B companies with products and services poised for successful expansion into the US and other global markets.
The firm focuses on investing in enterprise software, fintech and healthtech sectors, working collaboratively to support and advise entrepreneurs, empowering them to execute their global growth strategies.
“We are excited about the unique investment opportunities created by the clear equity gap in funding for scale-ups across European markets and the high-growth potential of the technology sector in Central Europe,” says Janik.
According to Ary Naïm, World Bank Group country manager for Poland and IFC Manager for Central and South Europe, CEE economies need more dynamic venture ecosystems and equity financing to boost competitiveness and converge with the highest EU standards.
“Together with Cogito, we aim to accelerate digital transformation and build a regional ecosystem that aligns innovation, skills, and financing.”
Tech talent–CEE’s biggest natural resource
Cogito Fund II is just the latest in a series of major funds with at least a partial focus on CEE to have been launched this year.
In June, Presto Tech Horizons, a partnership between VC firm Presto Ventures and Michal Strnad’s industrial technology group, Czechoslovak Group (CSG), announced that it was investing 150 million euros in defence tech projects.
Among its first investments was Bavovna, a US-Ukrainian project that has developed a hybrid AI-driven navigation system that allows unmanned vehicles (UVs) to operate autonomously.
Also focused on defence tech is Polish-founded OTB Ventures, which in March raised 170 million euros, with backing from the NATO Investment Fund, to support disruptive deep tech start-ups.
“[These start-ups] are leveraging Europe’s outstanding tech talent pool—the biggest natural resource that our continent can offer,” said OTB co-founder and managing partner Adam Niewiński at the time.
In September meanwhile, the EIF and the Hungarian National Capital Holding launched a 40 million euros VC Fund to strengthen enterprises with social and environmental impact.
The fund, managed by Impact Ventures, primarily provides VC investment, focusing on niche markets in highly scalable, technology-based key areas such as health and medical technology, education technology, recycling and waste management, as well as clean energy.
The EIF also participated in the launch of a fund by Warsaw-based Radix Ventures, which announced its first close, at 41 million euros, in June.
With the first close of this first fund, Radix Ventures plans to accelerate the growth of groundbreaking deep tech start-ups in the CEE region.
“This milestone marks a journey that began over four years ago with the vision of a CEE-focused deep tech fund,” said Pawel Bochniarz, partner at Radix.
“Our goal is to raise at least 60 million euros to support 16–20 start-ups from all corners of CEE.”
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