Moldovan investor launches investment fund for IT start-ups

Investment fund Fribourg Capital will launch the Fribourg Digital division, which will manage a new EUR 20 million investment fund for IT start-ups. Fribourg Capital is the main shareholder of online retailer Elefant.ro, and is controlled by Ion Sturza, former Republic of Moldova prime minister. Fribourg Digital will invest in innovative start-ups that need support to accelerate their activity, which either have a minimum viable product or are still in the seed stage, but can prove that they’ve attracted users or that there is a market for their products. Depending on the accelerating or seed level of the start-ups, Fribourg Digital will invest between EUR 20,000 and EUR 250,000 in a first round of funding. Investments can continue in consecutive rounds of "growth" if projects are validated. "From our observations, most start-ups fail not because of the idea or the product, but because they fail to turn them into a viable business,” said Ion Sturza. Eligible companies are those developing technology or other products with a major technological component. editor@romania-insider.com