HOME›THE FIRMPRE-SEED AND SEED / CEE

We write the first check for AI and resilience founders in Central and Eastern Europe.

We invest at pre-seed and seed in the AI and resilience software that keeps Europe independent. Central and Eastern Europe has strong technical founders, thin early capital, and little operator support. We write the first institutional check, then put our operators to work on each company’s go-to-market from the day we invest, so more of them reach Series A.

Building software costs a fraction of what it did five years ago. Getting it to market does not. Distribution is where early companies stall, and it is where we do our work.

STAGEPre-seed and seed

REGIONCentral and Eastern Europe

FOCUSAI and resilience software

FIRST CHECK€200K to €1.5M

HOW WE WINGo-to-market at the point of investment

GEOGRAPHYEU Modest and Emerging Innovator states

The record so far.

Since 2022 we have backed more than 40 companies. Our members and operators built Vimeo, Bolt, Wise, Printify and Veriff, and that operating experience goes on the cap table with the check. Fund I carries multiple companies raising follow-on rounds from institutional leads, and one exit at scale.

COMPANIES BACKED40+ since 2022

NOTABLE EXITRoomPriceGenie, acquired at €75M

OPERATOR BASE250+ operators, 20+ countries

BUILT BY MEMBERSVimeo, Bolt, Wise, Printify, Veriff

SEE THE PORTFOLIO→

Who runs the fund, and how decisions get made.

Raimonds Kulbergs

FOUNDER, GENERAL PARTNER

Nine years in corporate finance, then Silicon Valley: 500 Startups alumnus, three companies built, one sold. Founded BADideas in 2022.

LOOKS FOR

A founder who can say plainly what they believe that the market does not, and who has already changed their mind once on the how.

HELPS YOU WITH

The raise itself: what an institutional lead will actually underwrite, the numbers behind the story, and the sequence from first check to Series A.

Ben Leblois

GENERAL PARTNER

Founded Bricks4Schoolz, acquired by CLCN. 250+ investments as a venture and angel investor.

LOOKS FOR

A belief he does not hear every ten minutes, and a first move narrow enough to actually start. The vision has to be bigger than the wedge.

HELPS YOU WITH

Pressure-testing the story against 250+ investments, and the investor path: who to talk to, in what order, and what will make them walk.

Roberts Bernans

PARTNER

Co-founded Nordigen as CPO, acquired by GoCardless. Leads the intelligence layer behind the portfolio.

LOOKS FOR

Product decisions made from a real read of the customer rather than the momentum of the roadmap, and a claim that can be checked.

HELPS YOU WITH

What to build next and what to cut. Developer and API-led products, and taking infrastructure out of one market into a regulated European category.

Niklavs Macko

HEAD OF FUND OPERATIONS

Runs fund operations, contracting and reporting. Compliance and AML sit under this function.

HELPS YOU WITH

Closing without friction: structure, paperwork and the compliance questions, so the round closes on your timeline rather than the fund's.

Investment decisions are made by the Investment Committee, with documented votes and conflict-of-interest protocols. A non-executive board provides oversight, and carry is shared across the investment team.

How the fund is structured and run.

Aligned interests, a documented decision process, and reporting that stands up to an audit. We would rather an investor see how the fund is run than take our word for it.

STRUCTUREEU-domiciled, regulated fund

DECISIONSInvestment Committee, documented

ALIGNMENTGP commitment; carry shared with the team

RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENTWritten RI policy; EIF Restricted Sectors observed

REPORTINGInvest Europe standard; IPEV valuation

BACKED BYEU ERDF, administered by ALTUM

Reach a partner directly.

We work with a small group of institutional investors, family offices and strategic partners. If we have spoken, or someone we both know pointed you here, request the materials and a named partner will follow up.

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