For the first time the EBRD invests (€10 million) in a fund launched by Romanian partners. GapMinder Fund II aims to develop a portfolio between 18 and 22 companies selected from Romania, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. The fund will aim to invest first tickets up to €2.5 million, with significant follow-on capabilities.
GapMinder Ventures, the venture capital fund manager that invests in technology companies born in Romania and Eastern Europe, launches GapMinder Fund II, an investment vehicle with a target of €80 million, representing the largest VC with a primary focus on the Romanian tech start-up market. The fund became active on February 14th after its first closing will shortly announce its first transaction.
The fund is raised with the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
EIF supports GapMinder Fund II with an aggregate of €30 million via two initiatives, namely the European Union programme InvestEU and the Recovery Equity Fund, part of The National Recovery and Resilience Plan co-financed by EU via Next GenerationEU.
EBRD has invested €10 million in this fund. This it the first investment of EBRD in a fund launched by a team of Romanian partners.
The Team
The Team has been managing for the last six years GapMinder Fund I, a €50 million fund that has contributed to the development of the tech start-ups environment in Romania out of the pioneering stage of the ecosystem. Companies financed by GapMinder Fund I include Druid.AI, FintechOS, TypingDNA, Veridion, Siena.Cx, Cyscale, Deepstash, SmartDreamers, Machinations.io, Frisbo, and Innoship.io. The first fund was financed by EIF using resources from Romania’s structural funds, namely the Competitiveness Operational Programme 2014-2020.
The Partners of GapMinder Ventures managing Fund II are: Dan Mihăescu, Sergiu Roșca, Cosmin Ochișor, and Alexandru Ruff. As of first closing, Robert Herșcovici has been promoted to the Investment Director position while the second layer investment team continues to be increased shortly.
The investment strategy: DeepTech B2B start-ups at Seed and Late Seed stages, making first investments up to €2.5 million, with significant follow-on capabilities.
GapMinder Fund II will deploy the majority of its capital in start-ups born in Romania, Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria, with high ambitions and execution power to become global companies. The VC will focus on B2B start-ups operating in the Fintech, Cybersecurity, Enterprise Automation, and Data/Analytics verticals. This approach is validated by the previous fund’s experience which invested in the same verticals and technologies.
GapMinder is a venture capital firm that invests in technology companies created in Romania and Easthern Europe (mainly Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria), growing rapidly internationally and in the Seed or Late Seed phase. GapMinder have a direct approach as investors, supporting companies grow through strategic consulting and direct involvement in scaling the organization, financial discipline, corporate governance and development.
GapMinder has two funds under management. With its first fund at €50 million size, established in 2018, GapMinder invested in companies such as Druid.AI, FintechOS, TypingDNA, Veridion, Siena.Cx, Cyscale, Deepstash, SmartDreamers, Machinations, Frisbo, Innoship.io. Its second fund was launched in 2024 with a target capital size of €80 million.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
