Eastern European Startups and their Markets

In the last year or so, I have started participating in various initiatives across Europe, from tech competitions to mentoring, and even joining as Expert the European Commission’s SME Instruments. It has been a re-continuation of the various projects I was involved in my university years.

Eastern Europe is not just home, but a region in which I identify the potential for growth on the continent, a place for abundant talent and possibilities.

In my travels to various cities, I became painfully aware of the challenging journey most technology entrepreneurs face, and just how different that is for some of my London based portfolio companies.

Investors in the VC and PE space who identify the potential of this region should at least understand some of the challenges many of the entrepreneurs face, and potentially the way in which they can approach sourcing.

First, while the ten-country region had the backing of many European programmes, the reality is that most of the investment cumulated does not even compare with the UK or Germany.

The catalytical market building function in my view lacks or at best is lagging behind.

The few micro funds are servicing various areas, create limited market capacity, mostly spraying capital at pre-seed and seed…