Romanians establish VC fund focused on software and services start-ups

Gap Minder is a recently-established venture capital fund that is focused on start-ups developing software products and services. The fund, which was launched at the end of 2017, currently has EUR 26 million available for start-ups in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe. The fund will invest in start-ups in the areas of digital transformation, medtech, and cybersecurity, Dan Mihăescu,a founding partner and the director of Gap Minder, told start-up.ro. At the same time, a quarter of the fund is meant for hardware, software, and artificial intelligence projects. The fund received EUR 20 million from the European Investment Fund, a European Union agency supporting SMEs. The rest of the sum was raised from several private investors looking to back local businesses. Start-ups in an acceleration phase can receive in between EUR 50,000 and EUR 200,000, while start-ups looking for seed financing can receive funding worth in between EUR 200,000 and EUR 6 million. The team of Gap Minder is listed here. Another fund for IT start-ups launched last year is Fribourg Digital, with EUR 20 million available. The fund was launched by Fribourg Capital, the main shareholder of online retailer Elefant.ro. Fribourg Capital is controlled by Ion Sturza, a former prime minister of the Republic of Moldova. editor@romania-insider.com