BADideas.fund launches €22M fund to back bold early-stage founders across CEE

BADideas.fund, a founder-first investor syndicate of 250+ unicorn builders, has launched a €22M fund to back early-stage startups across Central and Eastern Europe. The fund has already approved four investments, marking a fast start to its next chapter.

This announcement follows BADideas.fund’s first exit — RoomPriceGenie — which secured a $75M growth investment from Five Elms Capital in February 2025.

“We’re backing underdog founders solving real problems in overlooked markets,” said Raimonds Kulbergs

Since launching three years ago, BADideas.fund has invested in 30+ startups and grown a global operator community with extensive startup experience — from Wise and Deel to Printify and Shopify.

With this new €22M fund, the team doubles down on its mission: support pre-seed and seed-stage teams across the Baltics and CEE with capital, operator mentorship, and community-driven support.

The fund is led by a newly formed full-time team:

Arta Abāšina, Chief Operating Officer — seasoned in scaling global teams, leading people ops, and driving operational growth across fintech and startup ecosystems.
Mārtiņš Pjalkovskis, Head of Investments — experienced across VC and private equity, with a strong background in early-stage investing and corporate finance.
Jurģis Kalniņš, Marketing & Community Manager — background in edtech, NGO, and public sector, focused on brand, community, and ecosystem building.
Pēteris Pūpols, Compliance Officer — regulatory and risk specialist with experience in finance, government-backed funds, and advisory.

Moving forward, BADideas.fund will invest up to €250K in pre-seed and up to €1.5M in seed-stage companies.

“We’ve gone from a scrappy founder community to a full-stack VC fund — without losing what made us different. Now we’re playing on a bigger stage, but staying just as real,” said Kulbergs.

If you’re a founder with big ambitions → send us your deck.

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