500 Emerging Europe set for EUR 70m fund close by year-end

Fund II has so far raised more than EUR 50m of its hard-cap target of EUR 70m, he said. It has attracted investments from more than 80 investors including IFC, Turkish Treasury, Industry and Development Ministry of Turkey, as well as corporate investors like Eczacibasi Holding, Akfen, Yildiz Holding and high-net-worth-individuals and entrepreneurs, Ozkula said.

The firm began fundraising for the Netherlands-domiciled vehicle in 3Q20 and held a first close in January 2021 at EUR 17m.

It did not work with any placement agents to raise the fund. Its lawyers were Turkey's BASEAK and Netherlands-based Van Campen Liem (VCL).

The VC recently changed its name from 500 Istanbul as part of a rebranding effort to reflect its expanded focus on Central Emerging Europe (CEE) and the Baltics (Emerging Europe), as well as Turkey.

500 Emerging Europe is part of the global VC firm 500 Global, a US-based investor with USD 2.7bn in assets under management. It invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies, as per a company press release.

Investments
Fund II has so far made 14 investments and plans to add another 16 and reach 30 investments, according to Ozkula. Some 70% of the fund will be used in Turkey and the balance in the Eastern Europe, he noted.

The VC plans add two to three more investments until the year end, he noted. It invests in pre-seed and seed rounds in emerging countries in Europe, with first tickets as high as EUR 2m and high reserves for follow-on rounds. It has a staff of nine people.

Fund I
Established in 2016, 500 Emerging Europe set out to invest in globally-focused founders from Turkey and Eastern Europe with a USD 10.5m fund. Its investment thesis was to back startups that leverage local talent to create internationally facing businesses.

The fund, deployed across 40 globally-focused companies from Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine and Poland, has three unicorns in its portfolio, (Singapore-based Insider, US-based Carbon Health and Billion to One), Ozkula said, adding that it expects to add one more, soon.

"Today, our portfolio companies in aggregate generate more than USD 600m in revenues and have raised USD 1.1bn in follow-on funding from international investors, showing resilience to region-specific events," he said.

Fund I has exited five businesses so far but does not have a timeline for new ones, Ozkula said. If the market conditions become available in the 2023-2024 window, the large portfolio companies could opt for an IPO, he said.

Other than the three unicorns, US-based Firefly, Vivoo and Massive Bio, UK-based Plum and Turkey-based Lifemote are other significant companies with high growth potential in the portfolio, he noted.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Venture
• CEE
• Exclusive
• Turkey
• Venture