Early-stage tech investment fund StartersHub, headquartered in Istanbul and San Francisco, plans to back 60 promising Eastern European startups for the upcoming four years by offering a unique investment model that will enable the closing of the gap between pre-seed and seed funding.
“Despite the fact that a record 0.7 billion euros was invested in CEE startups in 2018, there is still a predetermined gap between pre-seed and seed funding that yet detain a potential the market has,” commented Arda Aşkin, managing director at StartersHub. “We will address this issue by offering a beneficial investment model – it implies quick tranche investment along with the mentoring. It lasts for two-three months and includes business optimisation, legal and financial assistance and networking support. This kind of full and consistent mentoring is highly needed and is really missing now in the whole CEE startup ecosystem.”
StartersHub emphasises its focus on a mentoring phase. It includes safe 25,000 to 50,000 US dollars of investment and allows startups to optimise business processes and refine their product during the two-three month period. In this process, StartersHub helps startups spot the gaps to clear the path for future growth. After successfully accomplished stage, startups might receive further investment in the amount of up to 250,000 US dollars.
“The CEE region is booming with over one million developers,” added Mr Aşkin. “The market proliferates with tech solutions where fintech enterprise software and SaaS are the leading categories. In this era of expansion opportunities, we are planning to increase our scope around CEE to promote business growth for uprising innovative startups of the region. Globally engaged mentor network together with StartersHub team in San Francisco allows to boost financial growth and promotes global expansion for CEE startups.”
During the last 3 months StartersHub has invested in Latvian startup Asya – an app for mindful conversation powered by Ethical AI and Romanian online video editing tool Flixier. By the end of this year, micro VC aims to finalise three more investments coming from Eastern Europe and local accelerators to mutually discover potential entrepreneurs in the region in 2020.
[…] close to one-third of the cash will come from the US, with Silicon Valley financiers in particular looking to get a slice of Europe’s ever-growing […]