June 28 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria-based early-stage VC firm LAUNCHub Ventures said that it has completed the second closing of its new fund with a target size of 70 million euro ($83.4 million).
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, joined the list of institutional investors in the fund by taking part in the second closing, LAUNCHub Ventures said in a statement published on its LinkedIn profile last week.
The IFC is making an equity commitment of up to 10 million euro in LAUNCHub Ventures Fund 2.0, according to information published on the IFC's website.
"The fund will invest in seed to series A technology startups in Southeastern Europe focus region. A separate co-investment envelope of up to 10 million euro to invest alongside all Launchub managed funds will also be part of the project," the IFC said, adding that the equity commitments to the fund will not exceed 20% of total fund commitments.
IFC's investment will result in improved access to early-stage capital and increased ability for startups to scale. The contribution will also help close the SEE region's VC fundraising gap and provide patient risk capital to LAUNCHub Ventures while helping achieve the target fund size. "The project is expected to increase competitive pressures within the region's VC market by demonstrating the viability of VC investments," the IFC added.
According to a report published by local news outlet The Recursive earlier this month, LAUNCHub Ventures’s new fund has now almost reached its original target size. Part of the money will be allocated for first-time investments in 25 seed or Series A startups from Central and Eastern Europe, with the rest being reserved for follow-on rounds in portfolio companies. The standard ticket size is between 500,000 euro and 2 million euro.
The fund has attracted supplementary commitments from private individuals from Bulgaria and the SEE region. "We have attracted as investors more than 20 successful founders from Bulgaria and the region who have committed over 5 million euro in this new fund, and a large part of them are successful founders who have formerly raised funding from LAUNCHub Ventures," The Recursive quoted Stephane Gantchev, partner at LAUNCHub Ventures, as saying.
Earlier this year, LAUNCHub Ventures completed a 44 million euro first closing of its LAUNCHub Ventures Fund 2.0. The final close of the fund is expected by the second quarter of 2021, US technology-focused media outlet TechCrunch reported at the time.
($ = 0.838567 euro)