ffVC partners, Maciej Skarul and Mariusz Adamski | Image credit: ff Venture Capital
New York and Warsaw-based ff Venture Capital, a tech VC that invests in cybersecurity, AI, machine learning, drones, and cloud software, announced on Thursday, May 1, that it has launched a new €60M fund, ff Red & White, to support Central European startups.
ffVC opened its first CEE-focused fund in 2020 and has since created a portfolio of roughly 20 European firms, making it the first US-based VC firm to open its first European headquarters outside of London.
The current fund, its second in Europe, will target entrepreneurs from seven European countries including Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary.
Maciej Skarul, partner at ffVC, says, “This fund will open up a previously unexplored market for Central European startups, and grants Japanese corporations access to cutting-edge European frontier enterprise technologies.”
“We believe there is a unique opportunity for startups aggressively tackling pressing challenges in both regions – ageing populations, changes in global trade and its impact on manufacturing economies, as well as energy dependence,” says Skarul.
Investors supporting the new fund
The new fund has secured a majority of its capital from several Japanese multinational corporations and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan’s policy-based financial institution, in collaboration with JBIC IG Partners, a Japanese investment advisory firm.
JBIC IG Partners and ff Red & White have formed a global joint venture.
Mariusz Adamski, partner at ffVC, says, “With Japan, our strategic presence now extends to the world’s three largest economies, barring China. That reach means we can source better deals, our portfolio companies can grow faster and we are able to create more exit options.”
“This setup allows us to provide Central European pre-Series B startups with unparalleled global opportunities,” Adamski adds.
Everything you need to know about the “ff Red & White” fund
The second European fund from ffVC aims to support startups looking for Series A and late seed investments that are in line with issues that businesses and society are experiencing, such as digital transformation, resource optimisation, and sustainable transformation.
According to ffVC, the new fund focuses on enterprise solutions because of the complexity of difficulties that modern firms face. Due to this, startups need to innovate in areas like supply chain management, energy scarcity, inflation management, and lowering carbon emissions to achieve climate crisis objectives.
Startups in Central Europe are in a special position to use their knowledge and abilities to flourish in these technologies, but they frequently lag behind their global counterparts in terms of access to financing and worldwide visibility. The new fund looks to fix this gap.
In addition to addressing this need and giving funding to startups with global ambitions, ffVC’s latest fund looks to bridge the gap between Central European firms and key global markets.
Also, with ffVC’s US networks, corporate Japanese investors in the new fund will provide access to collaboration prospects with Japan-based global firms, allowing startups to commercialise their industrial enterprise solutions anywhere in the globe.
ffVC claims it has previously built a structure for European businesses to commercialise in the US, which it will expand to this project to ensure that both the startup and corporate sides benefit.
Masayuki Ohta and Taro Hizume, both from JBIC IG Partners, have been appointed as new Japanese partners and will relocate to Warsaw to strengthen ffVC’s new Japanese bridge.
Ohta says, “JBIC IG Partners has identified Central European startups as ideal partners for Japanese multinationals, given the similarity of the economic structures they operate in, the issues they are trying to solve, and the problem-solving profile of its founders.”
“With its presence on the ground on both sides of the Atlantic and track record of building bridges, ffVC was the standout choice of partner to build this new connection between Europe and Japan that will make optimal use of opportunities in both regions.”
Brief about ffVC
Founded in 2008, ff Venture Capital is focused exclusively on investing in early-stage technology and technology-enabled companies.
“We invest across emerging industries with a strong focus on fintech and insurtech, applied AI, drones and robotics, where the team has deep domain expertise.”
Since its inception, ffVC has built a worldwide portfolio of more than 90 firms with a total enterprise value of over $15B, including over 30 exits. The firm claims that its investments are five times more likely to raise a Series B than the average venture-funded startup.
