News

Livonia Partners to acquire Santa Monica Networks in Latvia and Lithuania together with management

Livonia Partners, a pan-Baltic private equity firm, and Santa Monica Networks management, agreed to acquire Santa Monica Networks Latvia and Santa Monica Networks Lithuania, leading providers of network and IT security solutions in the Baltic region, from Santa Monica Networks Group. In a related transaction, Elisa Corporation of Finland has entered into an agreement to acquire Santa Monica Networks companies in Finland and Estonia.

“Santa Monica Networks has been a long-term trusted technology partner to customers in the region. The company operates in a high-growth business area benefiting from data traffic surges on the back of on-going systems integration and development of cloud and IoT solutions, as well as cybersecurity gaining in importance,” says Kristīne Bērziņa, a founding partner at Livonia.

The Santa Monica Networks investment is the third for Livonia Partners Fund I, whose strategy is to invest in medium-sized companies in the Baltics that are well-managed and growing. The fund acquired Estonia-based sauna manufacturer Ha Serv in February last year, and in October invested in Hortes, Estonia’s leading home and gardening retail brand.

Santa Monica Networks in Latvia and Lithuania had revenue of 23.4 million euros in 2016. The company’s 52 employees include many top Baltic networking and security experts. Santa Monica Networks provides solutions to large telecommunication, IT and media companies, public sector organizations, financial institutions and industrial companies, among others. The company works with several leading global networking, data centre and security infrastructure vendors, such as Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks.

The transaction will give Livonia a controlling stake in the Lithuanian and Latvian operations of Santa Monica Networks, with management retaining a significant stake. “This is very much a people business and we’re proud to team up with an experienced management team and their outstanding dedicated team to continue developing the business in line with its growth potential. That is Livonia’s approach,” Mindaugas Utkevičius, Livonia’s founding partner in Lithuania.

“Our partnership with Livonia creates great conditions for our continued growth and development, also in terms of the know-how and networks that the fund and its partners can share,” says Uģis Bērziņš, Chairman of the Board of Santa Monica Networks Latvia.

For further information contact:

Kristīne Bērziņa, Partner, Livonia Partners

+371 2834 4808, kristine.berzina@livoniapartners.com

Mindaugas Utkevičius, Partner, Livonia Partners

+370 6207 1777, mindaugas.utkevicius@livoniapartners.com

Uģis Bērziņš, CEO and founder, Santa Monica Networks SIA

+371 2920 9944, ugis.berzins@smn.lv

Livonia Partners is a private equity investment firm based in the Baltics, currently managing €83 million as part of the Livonia Partners Fund I and the Livonia Partners EIF Co-Investment Fund. Run by founders Kaido Veske, Kristīne Bērziņa, Rain Lõhmus, and Mindaugas Utkevičius, its investors are domestic and international financial institutions. Livonia was partly originated through the Baltic Innovation Fund (BIF), a common initiative of the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania and the European Investment Fund.

www.livoniapartners.com

Santa Monica Networks is the Baltic region’s go-to provider for network integration, design and installation services, as well as IT security and data centre solutions. Clients include large business, government and financial institutions, among others. The company works with leading global vendors of networking, data centre and security infrastructure.

www.smn.lv

www.smn.lt

BaltCap is planning to launch a regional investment fund worth €50 million in cooperation with Kredex and Baltic pension funds to offer growth capital to SMEs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

BaltCap is planning to launch a regional investment fund worth €50 million in cooperation with Kredex and Baltic pension funds to offer growth capital to SMEs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The fund is meant for local and Baltic businesses that want to launch new products and services, expand their operations through purchase and takeover deals and whose ambition is to grow and become market leaders, Baltcap said.

The new fund will be created in cooperation with BaltCap, the European Investment Fund (EIF), Kredex and local pension funds, which allows pension funds to invest in Baltic companies to strengthen their equity capital. The planned size of the fund is €50 million.

According to Martin Kõdar, a managing partner at BaltCap, there are excellent growth opportunities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in traditional as well as new branches of economy. "The region's SMEs need investments to retain their competitive ability and increase productivity," he added. "We see that the demand for growth capital is still big in Baltic countries."

Kodar noted that equity capital investments in the private sector in the region amount to 50 percent of the EU average. "With risk capital investments, the ratio has improved in the past few years thanks to international investors, but there is still not enough growth capital," he said.

EIF: BaltCap a leading fund manager in region

According to deputy chief executive of EIF Roger Havenith, BaltCap has proven itself as a leading fund manager in the region and the new fund will expand the scope even more. He said that the Baltcap Growth Fund being prepared by Baltcap is the fifth fund that will be brought to the market with support from EIF in the framework of the Baltic Innovation Fund initiative, adding that the EIF is happy with BaltCap's positive impact on the regional capital market.

The creation of the fund will soon be complete. BaltCap has entered into initial agreements with institutional investors to attract more than €40 million worth of assets. Among bigger investors are Swedbank's pension funds and, through the Baltic Innovation Fund, EIF and Kredex as well.

The establishment of the fund must be approved by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority and the fund must be entered into Estonia's commercial register. The application to set up the fund has already been submitted to the Financial Supervision Authority.

The startup founded by former security engineers at Skype and Swedbank is developing a powerful analytics software solution for rapid processing of unlimited amounts of data.

SpectX has announced raising investment from Karma Ventures for product development and growth. The startup founded by former security engineers at Skype and Swedbank is developing a powerful analytics software solution for rapid processing of unlimited amounts of data. The product will be publicly launched in autumn 2017.

The company’s technology innovation enables handling of machine generated data in its original location rather than loading it into separate tools and databases for processing. It enables analysts to work and experiment with data faster than is possible with existing tools without fear of errors halting their mission.

SpectX’ CEO Renee Trisberg says that the investment is used mainly for product development. “We have offered SpectX’ solution for testing to several technology companies and government organisations experiencing similar restraints in log and data analysis as we were seeing during our previous career. Their feedback is active and positive, showing strong demand for enhanced features and scalability,“ Trisberg noted.

According to Margus Uudam, founding partner of Karma Ventures, the investors were impressed by the elegant technology behind SpectX. “There is no other product in the market as fast and flexible as SpectX for analysing large unstructured data sets. The professionalism of the team and the initial product they have built show significant potential,” Uudam said.

As the size of digital universe is doubling every two years, data-based decisions are becoming an inescapable necessity for enterprises and governments. Extracting information from machine generated data poses its challenges because of its high volume, volatile structure and scattered storage. There are many log analysis and business intelligence solutions in the market but most of them are priced by data volume and offer limited analytics features compared to SpectX.

SpectX’ solution is currently used by several successful technology enterprises, among them Starship Technologies, a company developing small self-driving robotic delivery vehicles. Its speed, flexibility and ease of use is praised by data scientists, security incident handlers as well as system administrators.

Documents are made freely available in the hope that they will help to educate the Estonian startup community, speed up foundation, team-building and early stage investment process, and lower the legal costs.

Startup Estonia and Estonian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association promote industry-standard legal documents in Estonia so startups and investors can focus on company and deal specific matters. These documents are made freely available in the hope that they will help to educate the Estonian startup community, speed up foundation, team-building and early stage investment process, and lower the legal costs.

However, these documents should be seen as starting point only and should be tailored to meet specific circumstances because no two companies or investments are the same.

The documents have been drafted by a working group of EstVCA Legal Committee headed by Antti Perli (Ellex Raidla) and including Kristel Raidla-Talur (Cobalt), Maivi Ots (Eversheds Sutherland), Valter Võhma (Hedman Partners), Toomas Prangli (Sorainen), Kuldar-Jaan Torokoff (Fort Legal), Ulla Helm (Glimstedt) and Ergo Blumfeldt (Triniti).

Neither Startup Estonia, EstVCA nor any member of its committees or working groups takes any responsibility for the content of the documents or the consequences of using them and none of the documents should be construed as legal advice for any particular facts or circumstances.

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT LEGAL ADVICE IS SOUGHT BEFORE USING THE DOCUMENTS!

We are certain that the documents can be improved and, to that end, would welcome feedback from as many market participants as possible. Using the feedback and continuing experiences in the market we intend to update these documents. We encourage providing feedback directly into the Google Docs versions of the documents. General comments and questions on the documents may also be sent directly to Antti Perli, the main author of the model documents.

By downloading or accessing any document, you agree that the document you download or access may only be used by you for your personal or business use and may not be sold, redistributed or republished (including on another website) without the express written consent of Startup Estonia.

VIEW DOCUMENTS HERE

Livonia Partners together with LHV Pension Funds and Ambient Sound Investments, agreed to invest in Cgates, a leading Lithuanian provider of cable television and internet services.

Livonia Partners, a pan-Baltic private equity firm, together with LHV Pension Funds and Ambient Sound Investments, agreed to invest in Cgates, a leading Lithuanian provider of cable television and internet services.

The investor consortium led by Livonia Partners will invest into a significant minority stake in Cgates to support growth of the company and further network and technology upgrades. The transaction is pending regulatory approval.

“In the growing Lithuanian market, Cgates as a leading player has proven its ability to grow organically and through acquisitions,” says Mindaugas Utkevičius, a founding partner at Livonia.

With nearly 300 employees and consolidated sales of €19.5 million in 2016, Cgates is Lithuania’s second-largest cable network operator. It provides cable and digital television, fixed telephony and fibre-optic broadband internet to more than 270,000 subscribers in 18 cities. The Vilnius-based company is currently owned by the founders of former Cgates’s parent Starman, which was bought out by Elisa Corporation of Finland earlier this year.

“The new investors support our strategy of becoming the product leader, strengthening our brand and the organisation, and seeking further consolidation opportunities. We aim to become the best in class platform to a wider audience and look forward to partnering with Livonia for their expertise in this sector,” says Cgates CEO Petras Kirdeika.

“This transaction successfully completes the series of steps we have taken over the course of the past two years to restructure our telecom operations in the Baltics,” says Indek Kuivallik, the Chairman of Polaris Invest. “Lithuanian market has vast potential and we are now uniquely positioned to make the most of it.”

The investment is the fourth for Livonia Partners Fund I, whose strategy is to invest in medium-sized companies in the Baltics that are well-managed and growing. Last year the fund acquired Ha Serv, an Estonia-based sauna manufacturer, and Hortes, Estonia’s leading home and gardening retail brand, and earlier this year Livonia invested in IT network and security firm Santa Monica Networks in Latvia and Lithuania.

“This is the fund’s second investment in telecoms and technology, an attractive sector for investments,” Utkevičius notes. His partners Rain Lõhmus and Kristīne Bērziņa formerly held roles with Starman and Lattelecom, respectively. Utkevičius also welcomed the participation of Ambient Sound Investments, the investment firm originated by the founders of Skype.

For further information:

Mindaugas Utkevičius
Partner, Livonia Partners

+370 6207 1777
mindaugas.utkevicius@livoniapartners.com

Livonia Partners

Livonia Partners is a private equity investment firm based in the Baltics, currently managing €83 million as part of the Livonia Partners Fund I and the Livonia Partners EIF Co-Investment Fund. Run by founders Kaido Veske, Kristīne Bērziņa, Rain Lõhmus, and Mindaugas Utkevičius, its investors are domestic and international financial institutions. Livonia was partly originated through the Baltic Innovation Fund (BIF), a common initiative of the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania and the European Investment Fund.

www.livoniapartners.com

LHV Pension Funds Estoninia

LHV Pension Funds Estonia are one of the largest Baltic pension fund managers with more than 170,000 clients and €1 billion assets under management. It is part of Estonia’s financial group LHV, whose shares trade on the Nasdaq Baltic market.

www.lhv.ee/en/pension/fund-management

Ambient Sound Investments

Ambient Sound Investments is an independent investment vehicle established in 2003 by the four founding engineers of Skype Technologies. The company now managers €100 million of its partners’ assets with a focus on technology-related firms.

http://www.asi.ee/

Cgates

Cgates is one of Lithuania’s largest cable entertainment and communication companies. Established in 1991, it now provides cable and digital television, fixed telephony and broadband internet to more than 270,000 customers in 18 cities.

http://www.cgates.lt

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

The largest Baltic private equity firm BaltCap launched a new regional fund, BaltCap Growth Fund (BGF) to provide growth capital to small and medium-sized companies in all three Baltic countries.

The largest Baltic private equity firm BaltCap launched a new regional fund, BaltCap Growth Fund (BGF) to provide growth capital to small and medium-sized companies in all three Baltic countries.

The new BGF with a target size of EUR 50m will provide growth capital to 15-20 companies to create regional market leaders and increase exports, being a brand-new instrument in a market with such an investment focus. BGF held its first close at EUR 40m and it is managed by the experienced pan-Baltic investment team, in which Heidi Kakko and Marek Kiisa are the newest additons to the BaltCap team in Estonia.

According to BaltCap’s estimation, the demand for growth capital remains high in the Baltic states while the opportunities for growth are very good in both traditional and new industries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The SMEs of the region are in need of investments to maintain their competitiveness and increase their productivity.

BGF Partner and Investment Committee Member Heidi Kakko commented that demand for a new type of fund to enter the market is very high. “Until now, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have had scarce opportunities to finance the growth of companies with a turnover of 1-5m EUR per annum. At the same time, there has been a need for capital for further growth for such companies and this is where BGF will fill a significant gap,” she said.

Another new Partner of BGF, Marek Kiisa added that the new fund will focus mainly on investments ranging from 0.5 to 3m EUR. “It is also important to mention that finally local pension funds will be able to make direct investments to small and medium-sized enterprises in the Baltics,” Kiisa said.

Martin Kõdar, the Managing Partner of BaltCap admitted that one of BaltCap’s biggest strengths is highly professional experienced team. “We are glad to welcome two new investment professionals – Heidi and Marek – to join our team and launch the new fund. Our dedicated growth investment team, led by Kornelijus Celutka in Lithuania and Martins Jaunarajs in Latvia in addition to the new team members in Estonia, is certainly one of the main reasons why pension fund investors have trusted BaltCap to manage this new fund. We are also grateful for EIF’s continued support to BaltCap and BaltCap Growth Fund,” he said.

BaltCap Growth Fund is a continuation of growth capital strategy for BaltCap. In 2001, BaltCap established its first growth strategy fund, the Baltic SME Fund, which was followed by two JEREMIE initiative funds in Latvia and Lithuania, established in 2010-2011.

BaltCap Growth Fund is the fifth fund introduced to the market by BaltCap with the support of the European Investment Fund within the framework of Baltic Innovation Fund’s initiative, a programme supported by the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania and the EIF, as well as local pension funds.

Roger Havenith, Deputy Chief Executive of EIF, stated, “BaltCap’s record and proven capabilities as investors in this region are unmatched and the establishment of the new fund would extend their reach further. This is the 5th commitment issued by EIF under Baltic Innovation Fund initiative and represents a significant milestone in the implementation of this unique pan-Baltic cooperation project. Being both the architect and key investor in the Baltic Innovation Fund alongside our National Promotional Institution partners, EIF is confident in the positive market impact the launch of this fund would have.”

About EIF

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.

About Baltic Innovation Fund

The Baltic Innovation Fund is an innovative investment initiative created by cooperation between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania and EIF that is unique in its nature across Europe. The Baltic Innovation Fund will invest EUR 130 million into private equity, mezzanine and venture capital funds focused on the Baltic States during 2013-2017. It is a key initiative with EIF partnering with three important national agencies – Altum (Latvia), KredEx (Estonia) and Invega (Lithuania). This unique trans-national process provides a real opportunity to further develop the Baltic PE & VC market.

Additional information:

Heidi Kakko
Partner and Investment Committee Member of BaltCap Growth Fund
Phone: +37256249959
heidi.kakko@baltcap.com
www.baltcap.com

Photo by Artem Verbo on Unsplash

BaltCap has launched BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BIF) with the planned size of €100 million. The fund will invest into infrastructure development across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

BaltCap, the largest private equity investor in the Baltic region, has launched BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BIF) with the planned size of €100 million. The fund will invest into infrastructure development across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

BaltCap Infrastructure Fund will primarily focus on providing development capital for transport, energy, and energy efficiency infrastructure projects in the Baltic States.

“Infrastructure development is one of the key priority areas for the region to improve its competitiveness and independency. Baltic countries are facing infrastructure funding gap of €6 billion over the next 5 years which is expected to become even larger post 2014-2020 EU funding program. Physical infrastructure such as electricity, heating, railways, roads, ports and airports suffer from a substantial deficit in terms of capacities and efficiencies,” says BaltCap Infrastructure Fund partner Šarūnas Stepukonis.

“With the strong support from international financial institutions and local pension funds we are able to address the infrastructure funding gap and help Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to realise their infrastructure investments programs. It is the first time in the region when the local pension fund assets will be deployed to develop infrastructure for future generations,” added Stepukonis about the purpose to launch a new fund.

The anchor investor of the fund is the European Investment Bank, which has commited to invest €20 million into the fund. This EIB support is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a central element of the Juncker’s Commission Investment Plan for Europe launched to overcome the current invetsment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments.

Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, whose responsibilities include EFSI, said, “Mobilising private financing for strategic investments is the main goal for EFSI and we welcome therefore the cooperation with the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund, as it is the first infrastructure fund in the Baltics with the goal to catalyse private investors to finance infrastructure projects. This Fund is an answer to the rising investment needs in transport, energy efficiency, and renewable energy sectors in the region. Particularly, it addresses the continuing and potentially growing demand for equity capital for the implementation of infrastructure projects. It thus encourages economic growth by promoting the competitiveness of the Baltic region and improving the business environment. What is equally important, the fund will create new jobs and by its focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency – significantly contribute to the climate change agenda.”

European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said, "Investment in infrastructure in Europe is improving, but we still need to do more. This agreement to support the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund is a positive example of what we can do through the EFSI in order to mobilise such investments. I am particularly pleased that this agreement will support projects involving energy infrastructure, renewable energy and energy efficiency. By supporting investments in these sectors, we are helping to lay the foundation for future economic growth."

“We are very honoured to be able to contribute to this important infrastructure fund which will benefit the economic and environmental development in all three Baltic states. From 1990, NEFCO has financed over 100 environmental projects in the region within the public and private sectors. This equity investment is, however, our first project in the Baltic States after re-entering that market recently, and we are especially pleased that the projects involve all three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” says NEFCO’s Executive Vice President Kari Homanen.

Other investors of the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund are Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, pension funds of SEB, Swedbank, and LHV, Swedbank Life Insurance, as well as other institutional investors. It is the largest combined local pension funds commitment to the Baltics focused private equity fund to date.

BaltCap Infrastructure Fund investment strategy is based on the highest environmental, social and governance standards and climate change mitigation criteria. The fund has a duration of 20 years.

This is a second fund launched by BaltCap this year. Recently BaltCap Growth Fund with the target size of €50 million was established to provide growth capital across the Baltic region for small and medium-sized (SME) companies.

For more information:

Šarūnas Stepukonis
BaltCap Infrastructure Fund partner
sarunas.stepukonis@baltcap.com
Phone: +370 6866 6201
www.baltcap.com

Alicja Chytla
EIB Press officer
a.chytla@eib.org
Phone: +352 43 79 88233 / Mobile: +352 621 45 92 61
Follow us on Twitter @eib

Background information:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth.
It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. On 14 September 2016, the Commission proposed extending EFSI by increasing its firepower and duration as well as reinforcing its strengths.

Photo by Tulen Travel on Unsplash

In 2016 EstVCA members invested €74m compared to €19,2m in 2015. 385% growth in investments is driven by Baltic Innovation Fund. BIF funds have raised €325m with €132m coming from local pension funds. EstVCA member AUM is €636m. There are 93 active portfolio companies with total number of employees reaching 12 383 people and combined turnover is €1,3bn.

ESTVCA has published Estonian Private Equity & Venture Capital Review 2016.

2016 market highlights:

Market welcomes new player - Karma Ventures with its €40m early stage fund

Government signs €100m fund of funds called EstFund

Government approves the proposals of ESTVCA to ease the taxation on employee stock options

ESTVCA hosts high-level Baltic VC Summit with more than 200 participants in Pärnu
Baltic Venture Capital Market unites under single flag - ESTVCA, LVCA and LT VCA sign the agreement to establish Pan-Baltic VCA
Reorganisation of SmartCap
In co-operation with ESTVCA, government designs new Limited Partnership fund regime which was enacted with the New Investment Fund Act in December

2016 in numbers:

Investment activity surged 385% to %74m

35 investments of which 16 were new and 19 follow-on

€49m was invested to companies registered in Estonia

PE/VC AUM reached €636m
93 active portfolio companies
12 383 employees in portfolio companies
combined turnover €1,3bn

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Photo by Tasi Zoltán on Unsplash

One of the most important and prestigious M&A and Private Equity events in the Baltics is taking place in Vilnius at Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva on 4-5 October.

Since its launch in 2010, the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum has developed an excellent reputation among private equity and venture capital funds, investment bankers, lawyers, other advisers, company managers and shareholders, gathering 200+ participants each year. The Forum offers a platform for establishing new contacts, finding new business opportunities, sharing experience, and spending time with peers.

Forum will focus on the following key topics:

Baltic economies and transaction market: bound to grow?
Consolidation trends and practice: will the pace intensify?
Private equity & venture capital: hunting season continues – and what about exits?
M&A as a strategic tool: how to use it properly?
Case studies from recent transactions in the Baltics

In addition, the Forum will also feature the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Awards and multiple networking opportunities.

Confirmed speakers:

Tomasz Czechowicz, Managing Partner, Founder at MCI Capital (Poland),
Normunds Stanevics, CFO at Food Union Europe, Chairman of the Board of Rīgaspienakombināts (Latvia),
Sebastian Król, Partner of Enterprise Investors (Poland),
William Wells, Managing Director at Rothschild (UK),
Tamas Szalai, CEE Equity Advisor Investment Director, regional private equity investor (Hungary),
Klaus Konrad, Founder and Co-CEO of BrainCode, former investment director of Intel Capital (Germany),
Bjorn Tremmerie, Head of Venture Capital and Impact Investing at EIF (Luxembourg),
Jonas Butautis, Chairman of the Management Board of Magnetic MRO (Estonia),
Nikita Sergienko, CEO at Bitė Group (Lithuania),
Kaia Kivistik, Head of Finance at Olympic Entertainment Group (Estonia),
Gediminas Kvietkauskas, CEO at East West Agro (Lithuania),
Vytautas Plunksnis, Head of Private Equity at INVL Asset Management (Lithuania),
Šarūnas Keserauskas, Chairman of the Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuania),
Andres Agasild, CEO and Co-Founder of Markit (Estonia),
Daivis Švirinas, Head of the Sorainen Competition and Regulatory Team in Lithuania (Lithuania),
Magnus Toftgård, Senior Associate at JLT Risk Solutions (Sweden) and others.

Registration:

EstVCA members get a special rate. Please follow this link to register.

Today BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BInF) signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Axis Technologies to develop the first infrastructure project financed by BInF – a 48MW biomass plant in Vilnius. The deal was signed in Vilnius during the Pan-Baltic Infrastructure Summit 2017.

EPC agreement, worth Eur 16 million, states that a 48MW biomass plant near Gariūnai should be built and become operational by the beginning of 2019. According to estimates, this power plant will generate nearly 10% of Vilnius heat demand.

“Advanced pipeline of potential infrastructure investments accumulated over the last few years enabled us to sign the first transaction right after the first close of BInF. This new biomass plant will change the balance of the heat supply in Lithuania’s capital – after its commissioning over half of required heat supply in Vilnius will be produced from renewable sources. The biomass plant will be built without any subsidies and it will also let to reduce heating prices and CO2 emisions in Vilnius,” said Šarūnas Stepukonis, the Partner of BaltCap Infrastructure Fund.
Heat energy in the plant will be produced by two water heating boilers of 19.5MW nominal thermalcapacity, as well as two 4.75MW flue gas condensing economizers. A double flue gas cleaning system using multicyclone and electrostatic precipitator will be installed in the plant.

In July 2017, BaltCap launched BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BInF) with the planned size of €100 million. The fund will invest into infrastructure development across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Investors of the BInF include all of the biggest pension funds of the Baltics, a life insurance company and international financial institutions. 60% of the funds are raised from the pension funds of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - it is the largest combined local pension funds commitment to the Baltics-focused private equity fund to date. The anchor investor of BInF is the European Investment Bank that has commited to invest €20 million. This EIB support is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a central element of the Juncker’s Commission Investment Plan for Europe launched to overcome the current invetsment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments.

Contacts for enquiries:

Sarunas Stepukonis
BaltCap
Partner of BaltCap Infrastructure Fund
Tel: +370 5254 6713
sarunas.stepukonis@baltcap.com
www.baltcap.com

On November 17, 2017, Europe’s fintech scene will gather in Tallinn, Estonia, to tackle the question of how to make the digital single market dream come true by leveraging financial technology.

Our partner organisation FinanceEstoia is delighted to announce that on 17th November 2017, Europe’s fintech scene will gather in Tallinn to tackle the question of how to make the digital single market dream come true by leveraging financial technology.

Fintech and digital market experts are more optimistic than ever that there will be a truly digital single market for the European financial sector in the future, enabling fintechs to scale up and to expand throughout Europe. This would trigger and support the growth of European fintech industry, while promoting competition and allowing financial services to be closer, better and easily accessible more than ever before.

While Estonia holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union there is no better time to seek an answer to the question whether €500 billion added by single EU Financial Market is actually a dream or possibility.

The list of speakers is packed with prominent fintech and digital market experts and key players:
Andrus Ansip, Vice-President, European Commission
Chris Skinner, CEO, TheFinanser.com
Sylvain Bouyon, Centre for European Policy Studies
Zeeshan Feroz, CEO, Coinbase
Emma Heimonen, Head of Innovation, Digital Banking, Swedbank
Rain Rannu, Founder, Fortumo
Norris Koppel, CEO and Founder, Monese
Rain Lõhmus, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, LHV
and many more.

FinanceEstonia is inviting you on November 17th to take part of the Forum and share your thoughts with other participants. Don’t miss the opportunity to get early bird discounted delegate fee, which applies to all bookings paid for by 16th October.

Please use this link for registration and to get more information about the Forum.

ESTVCA is looking for an intern to join their team and help with PR, marketing & events and general administration of the network. Great opportunity to work alongside the leading industry professionals and learn first hand how Private Equity & Venture Capital functions.

Your responsibilities will include:

Managing website & social media channels
Drafting press releases and other marketing materials
Assisting in organising the events (seminars, networking events, trainings)
Taking minutes of the board meetings, preparing documents & other materials
Maintaining ESTVCA data base & documentation

What we offer:

Part-time internship with flexible working hours and possibility to work remotely
Opportunity to work with the industry leading professionals
Opportunity to learn firsthand how Private Equity & Venture Capital market works
Opportunity to participate in developing and shaping the market together with the Government and other international institutions like European Investment Fund and European Bank of Reconstruction & Development
Access to the network of Private Equity & Venture Capital market players & decision makers

Access to industry events, conferences & trainings

What we expect:

You are pro-active & solution-oriented
You are well organised and get things done
You are fluent in Estonian, English & Social Media
You are eager to learn about Private Equity & Venture Capital world
You are obtaining degree preferably in Business Administration, Finance or Marketing/PR
You have a basic knowledge in Excel, Word, Powerpoint/Keynote

Interested?

Please send your CV and a motivational letter to:

Kristiina Koort
Managing Director of ESTVCA
kristiina@estvca.ee

Finnish legal tech startup TrademarkNow has raised €3m, led by Karma Ventures, Balderton Capital and Montiko.

Finnish legal tech startup TrademarkNow has raised €3 million led by Karma Ventures, Balderton Capital, and Montiko. The company also received a €2 million loan from Finnish government agency Finnvera.

Trademark Now builds tools to help companies and law firms to manage their trademarks and compliance. It recently relaunched its NameCheck product for trademark clearance searches with the addition of 15 new databases from Middle Eastern countries.

“Our clients operate in an increasingly demanding marketplace and our emphasis is strongly on continuing to evolve and improve our products to help them meet those demands even more easily,” said Mikael Kolehmainen, CEO of TrademarkNow.

“We are very excited with TrademarkNow’s disruptive solution powered by deep technical differentiation and excellent execution,” added Margus Uudam, partner at Karma Ventures. Significant and quickly growing global customer base is a great proof of the value that TrademarkNow has created.”

Source: Tech.eu

Kristjan Kalda is partner at BaltCap. He also serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BaltCap portfolio companies TREV2 Group, Fitek and Magnetic MRO which was recently named Estonian Company of the Year and Estonian Exporter of the Year.

ESTVCA has elected Kristjan Kalda, partner at BaltCap, as a new Chairman. Kristjan also serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BaltCap portfolio companies TREV2 Group, Fitek and Magnetic MRO which was recently named Estonian Company of the Year and Estonian Exporter of the Year.

New Management Board of ESTVCA, that was elected for the next 2 years, has increased to 11 people and consists in addition to Kristjan now of:

Kalmer Kikas (BPM Capital)
Margus Uudam (Karma Ventures)
Heidi Kakko (BaltCap Growth Fund)
Kaido Veske (Livonia Partners)
Martin Hendre (Tera Ventures)
Sille Pettai (SmartCap)
Antti Perli (Ellex Raidla)
Kadri Kallas (TGS Baltic)
Mihkel Kolk (Estonian Association of Fund Managers)
Kristel Raidla-Talur (COBALT)

Kristjan says that ESTVCA members, owning companies and employing people in different countries, have a very good understanding of Estonian competitive advantage. “We are well positioned to help improve the investment and entrepreneurship climate in Estonia and increase the competitive advantage by sharing our experiences and participating in developing legal environment”, added Kristjan.

ESTVCA is the representative body of Estonian Private Equity & Venture Capital Indutry and was established in 2009. Goal of ESTVCA is to develop a sustainable and attractive ecosystem for the benefit of entrepreneurs, fund managers, institutional investors and to increase the output of innovative and high-growth potential companies in Estonian economy. ESTVCA has 15 members and 23 Associate Members. Combined assets under management of Private Equity & Venture Capital houses is €880m and the goal is to reach €1bn by 2020. There are total of 93 active portfolio companies employing more than 12 000 people. Revenue of those portfolio companies reached €1,3bn at the end of 2016.

Members of ESTVCA are Ambient Sound Investments, BaltCap, BPM Capital, Eften Capital, European Investment Fund, Invesco Finance, Karma Ventures, KredEx, LHV Asset Management, Livonia Partners, SmartCap, Swedbank Investment Funds, Tera Ventures, United Partners and UP Invest.

More information:

Kristiina Koort
Managing Director
+372 5750 2049
kristiina@estvca.ee
www.estvca.ee

Photo on home page by Ryan Holloway on Unsplash

BPM Mezzanine Fund provided financing for Tahe Outdoors

BPM Mezzanine Fund SICAV-SIF, SCA (BPM) provided mezzanine financing to one of European leading water sport equipment manufacturers Tahe Outdoors (Tahe). Tahe specializes in design, marketing and production of kayaks, canoes and paddling gear. The CEO of Tahe Outdoors Janek Pohla commented: „Tahe Outdoors has heavily set foot on the European market and our product quality is well known all over the world. We are constantly growing, aiming to be the leading water sport equipment manufacturer in Europe. Due to expansion of Stand-up Paddleboard sector in the world, we were looking for investment possibilities in this sector".

“Tahe is very successful exporter having strong brands and positions in different geographical areas. Our investment creates significant opportunities for sales growth. Tahe Outdoors has well-known brands and strong market shares in its field of activities,” said Priit Veering, Partner of BPM Capital.

For further enqueries, please contact:

BPM Capital:
Priit Veering
tel: +372 605 0074
e-mail: priit.veering@bpmcapital.eu

Tahe Outdoors:
Janek Pohla
tel: +33625576133
e-mail: janek@taheoutdoors.com

More information about BPM Capital

BPM Capital (www.bpmcapital.eu) is an independent investment manager operating out of two offices, in Tallinn and Warsaw. It has been founded and is managed by Kalmer Kikas, Martin Reinson, Paweł Zabrzycki and Priit Veering. BPM invests in small and medium-sized enterprises and lower midcap companies in the Baltic region and Poland. BPM Mezzanine Fund, managed by BPM Capital, is supported by prominent international and domestic institutional investors. BPM was originated through the Baltic Innovation Fund (BIF) initiative created by cooperation between Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the European Investment Fund.

More information about Tahe Outdoors and Hiss-Tec

Tahe Outdoors (www.taheoutdoors.com) was founded in 1989 in Estonia, and has at present subsidiaries in France and Germany. It operates under 5 main brands of paddle sport equipment (Tahe Marine, Zegul, Artistic, Egalis and Robson) and has two factories in Estonia and one in France. Tahe Outdoors exports its products to 35 international markets. Tahe Outdoors supports professional kayakers, youth kayaking teams and different expeditions all over the world.

BaltCap Infrastructure Fund has aquired 75% of Anaerobic Holding shares for €9.45 million. Anaerobic Holding owns and operates three biogas plants in Latvia with a total installed capacity of 4.9MW.

BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BInF) has aquired 75% of Anaerobic Holding shares for €9.45 million. Anaerobic Holding owns and operates three biogas plants in Latvia with a total installed capacity of 4.9MW.

Anaerobic Holding group consists of three biogas plants with a total installed capacity of 4.9MW, namely Agro Iecava, RZS Energo and AD Biogazes Stacija, as well as two biogas raw material supply companies – BGGS Serviss and Aizkalnu Tehnika. Both of the latter secure all organic raw materials required for biogas plant operations. Before the acquisition the largest shareholder of the group’s companies has been Latvian entrepreneur Nils Aleksa, who will stay on as a joint venture partner with BInF.

‘Anaerobic Holding has developed the most efficient biogas plant portfolio in Latvia, not only generating electricity but also providing excess heat to business consumers and municipalities. This renewable energy investment fits into fund’s portfolio due to long term useful asset life that enables us to provide double-digit returns for pension funds which have invested into BInF,’ says Šarūnas Stepukonis, BaltCap Infrastructure Fund Partner.

‘BaltCap is the largest private equity manager in the Baltics with an impressive investment portfolio and significant value add. Attracting BInF with its strong institutional investor base as a long term partner in Anaerobic Holding will enable us to finance future developments in renewable energy field,’ said Nils Aleksa.

‘This is the first case in Latvia where the pension savings of a large part of the Latvian and Baltic population will directly benefit from the investment in the local renewable energy infrastructure. We hope this will facilitate further pension saving investments in the local economies,’ comments Matīss Paegle, BInF Investment Director in Latvia.
It is the second BInF investment this year. In November the fund signed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to develop 48MW biomass plant in Vilnius. The plant should be built and become operational in the first quarter of 2019. According to estimation, the biomass plant will generate nearly 10% of Vilnius heat demand.

In July 2017, BaltCap launched BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BInF) with the planned size of €100 million. The fund will invest into infrastructure development across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Investors of BaltCap Infrastructure Fund include all of the biggest pension funds of the Baltic states, a life insurance company, and international financial institutions. 60% of the funds are raised from the pension funds of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - it is the largest combined local pension funds commitment to the Baltics-focused private equity fund to date. The anchor investor of the fund is the European Investment Bank, which has commited to invest €20 million. This EIB support is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a central element of the Juncker’s Commission Investment Plan for Europe launched to overcome the current investment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments.

Additional information:

Šarūnas Stepukonis
Partner
BaltCap Infrastructure Fund
sarunas.stepukonis@baltcap.com
Tel.: +37068666201

Matiss Paegle
Investment Director
matiss.paegle@baltcap.com
Tel.: +37126688868

Photo credit: Milo Mcdowell

BaltCap together with minority shareholders sells 100% of the shares in Magnetic MRO to Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology for €43m. Largest exit transaction in BaltCap's history.

BaltCap together with minority shareholders sells 100% of the shares in Magnetic MRO to Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology (“Hangxin”) for €43 million (equity value). Magnetic MRO is a full-service aircraft maintenance company headquartered in Tallinn. Indicative closing date is planned at the end of March after all regulatory requirements and other closing conditions have been fulfilled.

“Magnetic MRO management has been actively looking for opportunities to expand into Asia, the highest growth market in aviation,” said the CEO of Magnetic MRO Risto Mäeots. “Hangxin’s location and service portfolio is complementary to Magnetic MRO, creating substantial synergies and new business opportunities. For the management Hangxin is a perfect match and we are thrilled to start working with their higly professional and energetic team.”

“During BaltCap’s ownership Magnetic MRO has grown from small regional player to a profitable global company,” said Kristjan Kalda, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Magnetic MRO and Partner of BaltCap. “This is the largest exit transaction in BaltCap’s history and proves our ambition to create highly competitive Baltic companies. I would like to thank the fantastic team in Magnetic, this strategic move is definitely a huge leap for the company.”

“We are very pleased to welcome Magnetic MRO to the Hangxin team. Magnetic MRO and their team have developed a high-quality, reliable, customer-focused MRO business,” said Mr. Lv Haibo, Vice President of Hangxin. “We fully support the existing strategy and executive management team, and will support Magnetic MRO’s focus on continuing to deliver value to their existing customers as well as expanding global MRO presence.”

Magnetic MRO sales increased exponentially in 2010-2017 and are expected to grow with the same rate over the upcoming years. The number of employees has increased from 160 to over 440.

The sellers were advised by Superia Corporate Finance, Seabury Securities and law firm COBALT.

Magnetic MRO is an EASA and FAA-certified total technical care and asset management organisation headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, offering integrated MRO services. The company has a well-established reputation in innovative solutions in digitalised MRO services and proven track record as a one-stop total technical care organization for airlines, asset owners, OEMs and operators. In 2017, Magnetic MRO received Company of the Year and Exporter of the Year awards in Estonia.

Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology is a privately-owned company providing aircraft component maintenance services, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in China. Hangxin services components for over 20 aircraft types. Hangxin serves over 50 airlines in Asia, Middle East, Europe and North America. Hangxin is listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange and has market capitalisation over €700 million. Management controls 46% of the shareholder votes and, along with employees, 61%.

Additional information:

Kristjan Kalda
Partner, BaltCap
Chairman of The Supervisory Board, Magnetic MRO
kristjan.kalda@baltcap.com
Tel.: +372 665 0280
www.baltcap.com

Risto Mäeots
CEO, Magnetic MRO
risto.maeots@magneticmro.com
Tel.: +372 552 7735
www.magneticmro.com

BPM Mezzanine Fund provided mezzanine financing to Network Assets for an acquisition of 100% shares of Corle OÜ. Network Assets is owned by Priit Uuemaa. Corle constructs electricity and telecommunication networks.

„Corle is a high quality network construction enterprise with a very good reputation in Estonia. Taking into account the explosive growth of IT services and IoT solutions, I see great growth potential in this sector,” commented Priit Uuemaa, 100% owner and CEO of Corle.

“We are proud that the company founded by us is now owned and managed by a professional and experienced person and we believe that Corle will make a huge step forward and will change from a local medium sized company into a larger regional player in telecommunication network construction and maintenance,” commented Aleksander Leonov, one of the previous shareholders of Corle. Kaido Kornak, the other founder of the company, added that Corle is efficient organization with optimal size and a good platform for growth.

“We see a lot of growth potential in telecommunication infrastructure construction and we are convinced that Corle will continue to execute successfully its current contracts and become a leading telecommunication infrastructure building company in the Baltics and Scandinavia under the management of Priit Uuemaa,” said Priit Veering, Partner of BPM Capital.

Priit Uuemaa has previously managed the energy production and development unit of one of the leading energy producers in Estonia being, among other, responsible for construction of electricity and telecommunication infrastructure. Priit Uuemaa has a PhD degree in Electrical Power Engineering from Tallinn University of Technology. He has attended the Executive Program for Growing Companies at Graduate School of Business of Stanford University.

For further enquiries, please contact:

BPM: Priit Veering, tel: +372 605 0074 e-mail: priit.veering@bpmcapital.eu
Corle: Priit Uuemaa, tel: +372 5565 0605 e-mail: priit@corle.ee

BPM Mezzanine Fund SICAV-SIF, SCA (BPM), managed by BPM Capital, is supported by prominent international and domestic institutional investors. BPM was originated through the Baltic Innovation Fund (BIF) initiative created by cooperation between Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the European Investment Fund. BPM Capital (www.bpmcapital.eu) is an independent investment manager operating out of two offices, in Tallinn and Warsaw. It has been founded and is managed by Kalmer Kikas, Martin Reinson, Paweł Zabrzycki and Priit Veering. BPM invests in small and medium-sized enterprises and lower midcap companies in the Baltic region and Poland.

Corle OÜ (www.corle.ee) was founded by Kaido Kornak and Aleksander Leonov in 2006. The company constructs ca 500 km of telecommunication networks per annum. Today, Corle is an international company having operations in Estonia and Finland. Corle is an important partner to state and private infrastructure companies. Corle has 32 employees and is generating ca 6m euros in sales per annum. The networks built by Corle help to bring fast Internet connection to homes.

Photo by Axel Antas-Bergkvist on Unsplash

Tera Ventures announces a new fund to be closed in 2018, Tera Ventures Fund II with a target size of €55 million. The fund will invest in about 30 seed stage technology startups in Estonia, Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Tera Ventures announces a new fund to be closed in 2018, Tera Ventures Fund II with a target size of €55 million (1st closing targeted for early this year). The majority of the capital has been committed by some of the most prolific Estonian, pan-European, and global investors. The fund will invest in about 30 seed stage technology startups in Estonia, Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The Tera team members have invested in early stage tech since 2009 and our relationships spread across highly lucrative regional tech hubs with untapped potential.

“We will explore new technologies and business models to support founders building the infrastructure that will deeply impact the future of our digital lives. This will complement our efforts with our current portfolio companies – we are proud to work with some of Europe’s fastest growing and most innovative startups such as; Monese, a challenger bank; Lingvist, an AI based language learning app; and Jobbatical, a platform to help techies and creatives find jobs around the world.” said Andrus Oks, Founding Partner. “We are also proud of our exceptional founders, who led the exits of GrabCad, Modesat, and Vitalfields among others. Seed-stage capital is still scarce, but our region is a global innovation powerhouse, over-populated with successful startups, scale-ups and exits. Many later-stage Tier-1, global VCs have recognised this, including those who have invested in our portfolio companies”

Tera Ventures was established in 2016 in Tallinn, Estonia, by three Founding Partners. Andrus Oks, Stanislav Ivanov both have entrepreneurial backgrounds and have managed three early-stage funds creating over €150 million in enterprise value in nine exits to date; and, James McDougall, who has extensive operational experience as CEO and Managing Director for several early-stage, private and public companies where he has raised over €250 million for his companies from an extensive global network of investors. Complementing the team are California-based Venture Partner, Erik Anderson, who cultivated multiple cohorts of early-stage startup teams at Techstars in London and later Wise Guys in Tallinn and Operating Partner, and Martin Hendre, who has extensive institutional equity investor and asset management company management experience. In May of 2017, Tera Ventures closed Fund I through winning the bid for re-organization of the funds already managed by team members under SmartCap; the 2008 vintage fund has currently global top quartile performance.

For questions or interview requests, contact Andrus Oks at Andrus@tera.vc

About Tera Ventures

Tera Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Tallinn, Estonia and focused on exceptional founders from Estonia, Scandinavia and CEE disrupting digital space globally. Tera builds presence and networks in the markets where our portfolio companies want to expand to – the UK, the US, and Asia. With presence in Estonia, Finland, and California, Tera Ventures is supported by a global advisory network and provides portfolio companies with access to expertise and hands-on support necessary to grow from seed stage to successful exit. For more information go to: www.tera.vc

Trind Ventures has concluded the first closing of its new fund at 21 million euros. The three largest investors in the fund are European Investment Fund (EIF) under the Juncker Plan, LHV pension funds (LHV) and Trind Ventures’ team itself.

The fund shall invest into early stage ICT companies in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and the rest of Central and Northern Europe. It will help to address the increasing demand for seed capital by early stage teams and improve the capacity of regional syndication for early stage funding.

The fund will provide seed capital starting from €100’000 and do follow-on investments of up to €3 million per company. The fund can invest alone, but is keen to co-invest alongside local business angels and/or other early stage funds. The fund plans to invest in up to 10 new portfolio companies per year.

Ivar Siimar, Partner with Trind Ventures said, “We are happy to have our new fund closed. It can now start investing and our team is already talking to many aspiring entrepreneurs in the region. The quality of investment targets is getting better every year thanks to the positive feedback loop created by the regional success stories. It is also great to have a bit more capital available in the early stage – a development which will increase the success rate of the local companies and provide longer runways for entrepreneurs. We will now be able to syndicate larger financing rounds locally.”

Taavi Lepmets, Partner of Trind Ventures noted, “While our fund will no doubt increase the economic activity and innovation in the target markets, we also aim to provide a great long-term return to our committed investors like EIF and LHV. Our team has previously achieved a net return of 8 times money invested. So, the bar is set high, but we hope that our investment horizon of over 10 years will help us reach it.”

Trind Ventures is supported by InnovFin Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help companies across Europe gain access to financing and attract private investors to support innovative and strategic projects by providing a guarantee to the EIB Group.

EIF Chief Executive, Pier Luigi Gilibert said: “EIF is pleased to be contributing to the establishment of a new team in the Baltics' venture capital ecosystem, to reduce the financing gap that limits the growth potential of start-up companies in the region. Trind Ventures will help to establish a direct funding link between the business angel and institutional investor community creating a more targeting funding approach for companies in the Baltics.”

European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, responsible for the Digital Single Market, added: "Improving access to finance for Europe's vibrant digital startup sector is at the top of the EU's agenda. The European tech industry creates jobs faster than any other industries, so it's vital we do what we can to give early-stage companies a helping hand. I am very proud that the EU is supporting Trind Ventures in its quest to provide seed capital to digital businesses across central and Northern Europe".

According to LHV Fund Manager Kristo Oidermaa, with the given investments, LHV’s pension funds will continue to develop the local investment market. ‘We are investing in a fund that supports the emergence of new information technology companies. The ICT sector has been one of the most stable and strongest contributors to the growth of the Estonian economy, which is why we believe that our clients will also value the benefit and potential of the investment. We wish to continue being good partners to specialised funds when it comes to realising bigger investments and projects,’ said Kristo Oidermaa.

“This is a seminal step for early-stage investing in Europe and we are delighted to have supported Trind Ventures from the beginning within the framework of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe,” said Candace Johnson, President of EBAN, the European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players. “Trind Ventures represents the symbiotic relationship between Business Angels and Venture Capital at its best. Several our network members across Europe and the world look forward to doing co-investments with Trind Ventures in their target markets,” concluded Johnson.

About Trind Ventures:

Trind Ventures is an early stage tech investor established by Joel Aasmäe, Ivar Siimar, Kimmo Irpola and Taavi Lepmets. The team has invested in Norther and Central Europe since 1999 and made over 30 investments. As of 2018 it has returned over 80% of invested capital with an 8x net return for investors and is currently investing out of a 21 million EUR fund. The lead investors in the current fund are the European Investment Fund, LHV pension funds and the team itself. Trind Ventures is domiciled in Tallinn, Estonia.

About EIF:

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops both venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

About the Juncker Plan:

The Investment Plan for Europe, or Juncker Plan, focuses on breaking down barriers to investment, providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects and making smart use of new and existing financial resources. More information on EIF's work under EFSI is available here. The projects and agreements approved for financing under EFSI so far are expected to mobilise more than €264 billion in total investments across 28 Member States and to support around 589 000 SMEs. More information on the Juncker Plan website.

For further questions, please contact;

Trind Ventures: Ivar Siimar, tel: +372 5029 029, e-mail: ivar@trind.vc

EIF: David Yormesor, tel: +352 42 66 88 346, e-mail: d.yormesor@eif.org

LHV: Kristo Oidermaa, e-mail: kristo.oidermaa@lhv.ee

EBAN: Candace Johnson, e-mail: president@eban.org

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash