LAUNCHub Ventures Hits EUR65M First Close of Fund III

TL;DR

LAUNCHub Ventures, the Sofia-based pre-seed and seed firm that has spent fourteen years backing founders across Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, has secured a EUR65 million first close on its third fund, on the way to a EUR75 million-plus target. The fund is backed by the European Investment Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with the International Finance Corporation, an LP in Fund II, reportedly considering joining the second close. Alongside the raise, the firm promoted long-time team members Raya Yunakova and Petar Tsachev to General Partner, adding to a leadership bench that has been largely intact since the firm's 2012 founding. Fund III has already led rounds in three companies, Nanogram, Lenz, and 1Club, and will target roughly 25 pre-seed and seed investments over a five-year deployment period.

Key Takeaways

This is closer to a flat raise than a step-up, and that is worth saying plainly. LAUNCHub's second fund closed at EUR74 million in December 2021. A EUR75 million-plus target for Fund III, with EUR65 million already in hand, is essentially treading water in nominal terms over roughly five years, not the kind of multiple-expansion raise other regional funds have posted this year. In a CEE fundraising market that has gotten tougher, holding fund size steady while extending runway and promoting from within is itself a signal of discipline rather than stagnation.

Two internal promotions, not lateral hires, extend the General Partner bench. Raya Yunakova and Petar Tsachev are being promoted to GP rather than brought in from outside, keeping LAUNCHub's investment committee staffed entirely by people who came up through the firm or have been with it for years. That continuity is a deliberate contrast to funds that bring in outside growth-stage hires to scale a GP team.

The track record numbers are consistent across two funds, which is the real pitch to LPs. Close to 100 companies, 18 exits, roughly 75% of pre-seed and seed investments going on to raise a follow-on round, and about 40% reaching Series A, are the same figures the firm has pointed to across its fundraising cycles. For a regional specialist fund, repeatable follow-on and Series A conversion rates matter more to LPs than any single headline exit.

Public development finance is still doing a lot of the work in CEE/SEE venture. Beyond the EIF and EBRD, Fund III draws on the EU's NextGenerationEU programme, the Romanian government's Romania Recovery Equity Fund, and Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan. That is a heavier reliance on public and quasi-public capital than you would see in a comparable Western European seed fund, and it reflects how much of the region's venture infrastructure is still being built with policy-driven capital rather than pure private LP demand.

Fund Overview

Fund Name: LAUNCHub Ventures Fund III
Fund Size: EUR65 million first close; targeting EUR75 million+
Stage: Pre-seed and seed
Check Size: EUR300K to EUR3 million initial tickets; can lead or co-lead rounds up to EUR7 million, with reserves for Series A follow-on
Geography: Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe, including Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, and the Western Balkans, plus the regional diaspora
Focus: Generalist pre-seed and seed investing, with recent first checks skewing toward AI-native products
Key LPs: European Investment Fund, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, family offices, regional entrepreneurs, more than ten exited LAUNCHub portfolio founders, and public programs including NextGenerationEU, the Romania Recovery Equity Fund, and Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan; the International Finance Corporation, an LP in Fund II, is reportedly weighing participation in the second close

Why This Fund Matters

LAUNCHub has been one of the few consistent, multi-fund seed specialists covering Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe since before the region had much institutional venture infrastructure at all. Founded in 2012, the firm has now raised three funds while most of its original leadership, Todor Breshkov, Stanislav Sirakov, Rumen Iliev, and Irina Dimitrova, has stayed in place the entire time. That kind of continuity is unusual in a market where regional funds often don't survive to a second vehicle, let alone a third with internally promoted GPs.

The fund-size trajectory tells its own story about the state of CEE/SEE venture capital. Fund II closed at EUR74 million in December 2021, near the peak of the last venture cycle. A Fund III target of EUR75 million-plus, raised over a much harder fundraising environment, is not the dramatic step-up narrative that characterizes many fund announcements this year, and LAUNCHub's own GP, Stanislav Sirakov, has been candid in press interviews that the capital was harder to raise than in prior cycles even though the market itself has matured. Holding fund size roughly flat while the broader fundraising climate tightened is arguably a more honest outcome than funds posting large headline increases off a much smaller base.

The reliance on development finance institutions and EU recovery programs is a structural feature of venture investing in this region, not a one-off. EIF and EBRD backing, layered with NextGenerationEU-linked national recovery funds from Romania and Bulgaria, reflects a policy view that pre-seed and seed capital in CEE/SEE needs continued public-sector scaffolding to compete with Western European and US ecosystems. LAUNCHub's three-fund run is effectively a test of whether that scaffolding can produce a self-sustaining venture manager, and the 18 exits and strong follow-on rates to date suggest the model is working, even if private LP demand alone still isn't sufficient to fully fund the strategy.

The decision to promote from within for the two new GP seats also reflects a broader pattern among regional specialist funds: rather than compete for name-brand lateral hires against larger Western European or US funds, LAUNCHub is betting that institutional knowledge of the region, carried by people who have already spent years sourcing and supporting its portfolio, is a better scaling strategy than importing outside pedigree.

The Team

Stanislav Sirakov, Rumen Iliev, Raya Yunakova, and Petar Tsachev hold the title of General Partner, per the firm's own team page; Yunakova and Tsachev were promoted into that role alongside the Fund III first close. Todor Breshkov is Founding Partner, and Lyuben Belov holds the dual title of Founding Partner and Venture Partner. Irina Dimitrova is Partner and Chief Operating Officer. Stephane Gantchev continues as Venture Partner. Vedran Blagus joined as Associate Partner, covering Croatia, Slovenia, and the Western Balkans from the firm's Zagreb office, and Nikoleta Popkostadinova joined as Head of Marketing. The team also includes Todor Valev (Investor), Ivelina Nikolova (Ops Manager), and Mariya Alecsa (Financial Analyst), who the firm credits with keeping deal flow, reporting, and day-to-day operations running.

Early Portfolio

Across its first two funds, LAUNCHub has backed close to 100 companies, including Ampeco, FintechOS, Colossyan, Giraffe360, Veridion, and Ferryhopper, and counts 18 exits, among them SPLX's acquisition by Zscaler, FITE's sale to Triller, and OfficeRnD's acquisition by Blue Star. Portfolio companies have collectively raised more than EUR700 million in follow-on funding from investors including Founders Fund, Sequoia, Index Ventures, and Insight Partners. Fund III has already led its first three rounds: Nanogram, an AI-powered platform that turns text prompts into playable social games; Lenz, an independent verification layer for fact-checking AI-generated content; and 1Club, an AI-native platform for the sports and activities industry built by the team behind OfficeRnD.

What This Means for Founders

Pre-seed and seed founders in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, the Western Balkans, or the regional diaspora now have a confirmed, capitalized local lead investor writing first checks of EUR300K to EUR3 million, with the ability to lead or co-lead larger rounds up to EUR7 million and follow on at Series A. The firm's 75% follow-on rate and roughly 40% Series A conversion rate across its portfolio are a reasonable data point for founders assessing whether a regional specialist can actually help them raise a next round, rather than just writing a first check and disappearing.

Founders building AI-native products appear to have an edge in the current deployment cycle. All three of Fund III's first investments, Nanogram, Lenz, and 1Club, are AI-first companies, suggesting that's where the firm's near-term thesis emphasis sits even though its mandate remains generalist pre-seed and seed across the region.

Fund Momentum Take

We respect the honesty embedded in this raise. A Fund III that lands roughly flat against a Fund II closed near the top of the last cycle, rather than claiming a multiple step-up, is a more credible signal about fundraising conditions in CEE/SEE than many of the headline numbers we cover. Combined with 18 exits and consistent follow-on and Series A conversion rates across two funds, LAUNCHub has the kind of repeatable track record that regional LPs and development finance institutions can underwrite with real confidence, which is exactly why EIF and EBRD are back and IFC is reportedly circling a return.

The internal-promotion approach to GP succession is the more interesting long-term bet. Betting on continuity, Yunakova and Tsachev coming up through the firm rather than lateral GP hires, is lower risk in the near term but raises a real question about how LAUNCHub builds the next generation of regional-specialist fund managers once its founding cohort eventually steps back. Fourteen years in, that succession question is closer than it might appear from the outside.

Our main reservation is the continued dependency on public and quasi-public capital, EIF, EBRD, NextGenerationEU-linked national funds, to anchor each vintage. That is not a criticism of LAUNCHub specifically; it is a structural reality of the region. But it does mean the firm's ability to keep raising larger funds over time is partly hostage to EU and national recovery-fund budget cycles rather than purely to its own track record, and that is worth watching as Fund III deploys and LAUNCHub eventually comes back to market for a fourth vehicle.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much has LAUNCHub Ventures raised for Fund III?
LAUNCHub has secured a EUR65 million first close, with a target of more than EUR75 million.

How does Fund III compare in size to LAUNCHub's previous fund?
Fund II closed at EUR74 million in December 2021. Fund III's EUR75 million-plus target is roughly flat against that prior fund rather than a significant step-up.

Who are LAUNCHub Ventures' General Partners?
Stanislav Sirakov and Rumen Iliev have been General Partners since the firm's founding era; Raya Yunakova and Petar Tsachev were newly promoted to General Partner alongside the Fund III first close.

What geography and stage does LAUNCHub invest in?
The firm invests at pre-seed and seed across Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, including Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, and the Western Balkans, as well as the region's diaspora.

What is LAUNCHub's track record across its first two funds?
The firm has backed close to 100 companies with 18 exits, including SPLX's acquisition by Zscaler, FITE's sale to Triller, and OfficeRnD's acquisition by Blue Star. About 75% of its pre-seed and seed investments go on to raise a follow-on round, and roughly 40% reach Series A.

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