The Czech-Slovak venture capital family office ZAKA VC, which started active in the Baltic region and recently invested in four startups, intends to continue ambitious investments in promising high-tech companies in Lithuania, Estonia and in Latvia. ZAKA VC plans to continue paying close attention to the Baltic countries, known as the unicorn region, where many world-changing achievements have been created recently.
ZAKA VC closed the year 2022 with 22 new investments, the total value of which exceeded 3 million. euros. Over the past two years, ZAKA VC has invested 30 million from its management. EUR more than 5 million EUR has already invested in 32 startups in 5 continents and 20 countries, becoming one of the most active venture capital companies in Europe.
"The Baltic countries have a very mature startup ecosystem. We've made some very interesting local investments in companies like Alpha3D, Miros.ai, Rendin, Supliful and Startup Wise Guys. It is already obvious that the startup ecosystem of the Baltic countries is several years ahead of Central and Eastern Europe. We see a lot of local business angels who support new start-ups and their first steps in the market. The venture capital ecosystem that supports and helps startups grow is also very mature and connected to other regions. Despite the fact that the Baltic countries are small, the startups created here aim to sell their products on a global scale from the very beginning, because focusing on the local market is economically unprofitable. Therefore, we believe in the growth of the startup ecosystem of the Baltic countries and want to be a part of it", says Andrejus Petrus, head of the ZAKA VC investment committee.
In 2022, the venture capital company ZAKA invested a total of EUR 800 in Baltic start-ups, including the following companies:
- Alpha3D (Estonia) is an artificial intelligence-based platform that allows users to automatically transform 2D object images into 3D digital format (https://www.alpha3d.io/ ).
- "Rendin" (Estonia) is a startup that has created a solution that helps you easily perform all the steps related to renting: check the past history of real estate, insure and conclude digital contracts (https://rendin.ee)
– Supliful (Latvija) is a platform that allows you to start selling food supplements with a private label or create an electronic store (https://supliful.com).
- Miros (Estonia) is a solution offering a new shopping experience on the Internet, which reflects the intentions and expectations of buyers and presents them with the most suitable products available from the seller (https://www.find.fashion).
"We consider the Baltic region to be particularly promising not only because of the unique, exclusive innovations created here, experienced founders, but also because of the high culture of startups. It is especially fascinating how clearly the Baltic startup developers think. They understand that, in addition to the product itself, it is necessary to constantly focus on growth and scale-up, market development and raising the necessary funds," notes Natalija Mikusova, CEO of ZAKA VC.
ZAKA VC, a family office founded by two successful entrepreneurs, operates in various business areas: marketing, communication, innovation management, real estate, energy and utilities, hospitality, finance, retail and e-commerce. Founders provide startups with long-term support, even up to 12 years. In addition, start-up companies can benefit from the support of the network of 65 companies in which ZAKA has already invested and the experience of their 2600 employees, support for testing new products or projects. Before accepting a new startup into its network, a venture capital office always looks for synergies that would benefit all growing companies.
