Estonian Startup Wise Guys closes first €25M round
Estonian accelerator Startup Wise Guys (SWG) has closed the first € 25M round of investments from founders of Lithuanian unicorn Vinted, Estonian tech company Nortal, and Estonian wellness service marketplace Stebby.
Austrian Uniqa Ventures (a venture arm of the Austrian insurance group Uniqa), Czech venture company Presto Ventures, German fund of funds Multiple Capital and the UK manufacturer of custom metal fabrications Fractory also participated in this round. In total, Startup Wise Guys aims to attract €45M.
SWG aims to back at least 200 companies, based in southern Europe, Africa, and Latin America during the next few years. In Europe, it will focus on Spain and Italy. The accelerator’s main interest will be B2B startups from the SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, and sustainability areas. Also, it plans to invest in industry 4.0 (cloud-based and AI-powered tools in manufacturing) later this year.
The investments will be distributed between five funds. For example, one of the funds will focus on the startups from Africa, and another one - on the companies from SWG’s existing portfolio. Depending on the fund, the amount of pre-seed funding will be from €65K to €100K, and follow-on investments - up to €300K.
According to SWG, startups from these regions lack financing, and local markets lack specific expertise in the ecosystem. At the same time, the companies show talented tech specialists with a willingness to grow globally.
In 2022, the Estonian accelerator backed 120 companies in the early stage, most of them from Italy, Ukraine, Estonia, Turkey, and Kenya. By the end of January 2023, it had already backed 12 startups.
Launched in 2012, Estonian Startup Wise Guys is an accelerator that invests in early-stage startups from Estonia and Central European, and African regions. It has invested in more than 350 startups and had 13 exits. It invests money from more than 150 investors. The company typically invests up to €500K per startup through various funds that manage in total €45M. Within two years, Startup Wise Guys plans to increase the volume of its funds to €100M.
UPD: Among other investors of Startup Wise Guys was Czech fund Zaka МС. In 2022, the fund invested a total of €800K in Baltic startups, including the following companies: 3 Estonian startups, Miros.ai, Alpha 3D, and Rendin, and one Latvian startup - Supliful. In 2023, Zaka vc plans to invest €30M in total in Baltic startups.
