OTB Ventures (OTB), a VC fund focused on making strategic investments in technology firms based in central and eastern Europe, has introduced an early-stage tech fund, which is notably the biggest venture capital fund in the region. The fund has reportedly received $100 million in total commitments from institutional investors across the globe, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), and several other high-profile individuals such as Greg Jankilevitch.
The early-stage, post-product, technology startups in the region offer critical services including those related to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, internet-of-things (IoT), robotics, various cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) verticals, and Fintech. The new fund will allocate capital to 16 different companies by 2022.
The $100 million fund is notably the largest fund in the central and east European region. It has a long-term investment strategy of up to 10 years. The fund will allocate as much as $15 million to each company and will acquire a 10-15% stake in each firm.
OTB offers financial advisory services, which includes assisting in the expansion of portfolio firms to global markets with the highest demand for innovative technologies. The fund has allocated capital to support the business operations of eight companies, including Cosmose, SpaceKnow, Silent Eight, Minit, BabbleLabs, Segron, FintechOS and ICEYE.
In November of last year, OTB invested $5 million in FintechOS, an online platform for financial institutions for developing various front-end digital products. FintechOS offers low-code platforms that digitize standard customer-facing processes for financial institutions and is presently expanding its product offering for customers based in Asia and Europe.
The introduction of the OTB fund shows that firm remains committed to investing in early-stage companies and the nascent startup ecosystem in central and eastern Europe. OTB has also co-invested with global VC funds, such as DNX, Draper Associates, Wavemaker Partners and True Ventures. It has also teamed up with corporate VC investors, including Intel Capital, Dell Technologies Capital, Samsung Next, Salesforce Ventures and Standard Chartered Ventures.
Adam Niewiński, managing partner and co-founder at OTB Ventures, stated:
“We are grateful for this backing from new and existing investors who share our vision to develop the start-up ecosystem in Central and Eastern Europe. Our deep market knowledge and investment experience proved to be central to the successful international expansion of our portfolio companies.”
Niewiński added:
“As the largest VC fund in the region investing in post-product and revenue-generating technology companies, we are excited to be able to support more entrepreneurs with investment and guidance on their journey towards building successful and sustainable businesses for the long-term.”
