GapMinder, the investment fund of €36M, is in the process of selecting the startups of the Techcelerator third cohort

Cristina Blanaru Business, Start Up

26 tech startups from 185 that applied to enter the third round of the Techcelerator  acceleration program are in the final stage of the selection that will take place from 4-5 April at a boot camp organized in Bucharest. Techcelerator is the first accelerator in Romania to provide also financial support to Romanian technology newly established companies through its strategic partner, GapMinder Venture Partners BV, co-financed through the Competitiveness Operational Program 2014-2020 and implemented by the European Investment Fund.

The selected start-ups to become part of the third cohort of Techcelerator will benefit from a first investment round of € 50,000 from the GapMinder Venture Partners BV fund, in exchange for a stake in the company, followed shortly by convertible note.

GapMinder has recently reached a threshold of € 36 million as fund size.

In one year we managed to attract new investors and additional 10 million euros, with which we now have a fund size of 36 million and we hope to reach 40 million by the middle of this year. We grant 50,000 euros for each of the startups we select for the third round of Techcelerator, to which we can add up 50,000 to 100,000 euros depending on the performance of the companies during the acceleration program. Moreover, beside the five investments already made in seed and A series companies, for the next period we plan to invest in other businesses at this level of development

Dan Mihăescu,

GapMinder Venture BV Founding Partner 

Techcelerator targets companies that are at least in the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) phase, with a strong team structure, solutions with a high market impact, and innovative technologies. Out of the applicants for the third round of the program, 69% are in MVP, pre-commercial or commercial phases, while 21% are in Proof of Concept (POC) phase.

With regard to the areas of interest for Techcelerator, 15% of the preselected startups have solutions from the MedTech area, and a similar percentage come from Property Tech (including smart homes), 13% are from FinTech segment, 11% – Retail / e-commerce, followed by Social solutions Engagement – 9%, Marketing Automation – 8%, AgriTech & Food – 6%, HR Tech – 6%, EduTech – 5%, software development – 5%, CleanTech & energy – 3%, gaming – 2%, cyber security – 1%.

The companies selected for the new round of acceleration will also benefit from the involvement of the partners Banca Transilvania, Globalworth and EY Romania, which will focus on three specific areas: FinTech, PropertyTech and Digital Transformation (& Automation).

GapMinder Venture Partners BV is an investment fund set to provide capital for early stage companies with traction and for developing technology SMEs in expansion phase both on local or international level. The focus is on technology and services, sectorial diversification, product-centric and team-centric targets. GapMinder invests in Series A, Seed, and pre-Seed rounds.

Fund’s partners have a hands-on approach as investors, enhancing companies’ organic growth via direct involvement in operational streamlining, corporate governance, financial discipline, and coaching management.

Techcelerator is an acceleration program targeting Romanian technology start-ups. Headquartered in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca, Techcelerator is the first accelerator in Romania to allocate funds for the development of companies in the (pre)acceleration phase. Thanks to the strategic partnership with GapMinder Venture Partners, are targeted for acceleration and investments young innovative companies with high potential for international development and expansion in growing industries such as: FinTech, PropTech, software, cyber security, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, IT solutions for health, AgTech and others.

European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group and is the main venture capital for SMEs in Europe, via venture capital instruments, guarantees and microfinance. In Romania, the EIF implements financial instruments funded through structural and investment funds: JEREMIE 2007-2013, SME Initiative and financial instruments from PO Competitiveness, Regional Operational Program and NRDP.