September 26 (SeeNews) - Central and Southеast Europe-focused venture fund Eleven has so far invested 12 million euro ($13.5 million) in 115 seed projects, with 15% return based on an evaluation of its portfolio by international standards, the fund's co-founder Dilyan Dimitrov said.
Eleven, which for its greater part was financed by the European Investment Fund under the JEREMIE initiative, was fully invested by the end of 2015 and is now in talks with investors on extending its operations in the future, however with a bigger focus on investments already made, Dimitrov told SeeNews in a recent interview.
Since the fund started operations in the summer 2012, it has seen a steady increase in deal flow, which according to Dimitrov goes to show that the startup ecosystem in the region has evolved.
"For each investment made so far, we have reviewed some 30-40 projects. Upon the opening of our first application period in 2012 we had almost 500 projects, of which we singled out and invested in 11," the official said. "Over time, the number of projects we sifted through every year reached around 1,000, as we have been investing in 30-40 on the average."
Four years ago, the applicants were mostly teams with some concept in an initial stage, yet by the end of 2015, three-fourths were companies already in production and even generating revenue, which Dimitrov sees as another sign for the development of the region's ecosystem.
Most companies do not seek financial support from Eleven but rather assistance in contacting mentors, partners and investors.
The list of companies in which the fund has invested includes Enhancv, a website for creating work resumes; Colomb.io, an online crowdsourcing platform for journalism; ARTery, a web app that helps crafters sell their products; and gaming companies Confetti Gaming, BinCode, GamingBattleGround, among others.
A large part of the 115 projects funded by the venture fund are generating revenues but, as they are still working on their product, they have significant costs for research and development and not all are making profit.
"What is more interesting to us is that almost four years on, more than three-fourths of the companies in which Eleven has invested are active and operating," Dimitrov noted.
The JEREMIE programme acted as a catalyst for the Bulgarian startup ecosystem, giving it a serious boost and a top position in the region. It remains to be seen, though, if this ecosystem is viable.
"The main challenge with which we are faced now is that we have a relatively young ecosystem. We have still not seen the first companies of this generation become successful and their founders, following their exits, return to the ecosystem as investors or mentors," Dimitrov said.
($=0.8893 euro)