Practica Capital launches new venture capital fund to invest in the Baltic ventures

Practica Capital announces €22m first close of Practica Venture Capital II fund, which will invest in the Baltic innovation- and technology driven ventures. „Invega“ has committed €15m with the rest committed by Practica Capital team and a number of other local and international investors. The fund will make several investments soon after the closing. Over the next 3-12 months, Practica Capital will hold the subsequent closing of the fund targeting €40m (max €50m) in total commitments from investors.

The new fund will focus on early stage venture capital (“VC”) investments in the Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and Baltic-origin (e.g. Baltic diaspora, other Baltic connection) ventures in/from the rest of Europe. It will also invest in the neighbouring EU and ventures from the Eastern neighbours relocating to the Baltics. The fund will invest and follow-up from €200k to €2m+ in seed, early and growth stages being a cross-industrial investor focusing on backing great teams behind the innovation- and technology-driven ventures.

„Invega“ will invest through the Business Financing Fund, a fund of funds managed by „Invega“  and established by the Ministry of Economy together with the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania as part of the Operational Programme for the EU Funds’ Investments in 2014-2020.

“This financial instrument will be targeted to facilitate the start-up and business development needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Through the implementation of new risk capital fund we will enhance the supply of investment capital in Lithuania, enabling ambitious companies to grow faster, create more work places and contribute to the growth of the national economy. Companies will be able to receive not only the funds necessary for business development, but also additional knowledge and necessary contacts from the investors”,– said the Minister of Economy Virginijus Sinkevičius.

 “This is our third fund under management with a natural evolution towards regional Baltic-focus VC investment strategy. We are excited to see „Invega“ as a cornerstone investor in the new fund. Also, we would like to thank the Ministries of Economy and Finance for their policies aimed at supporting innovative businesses, VC fund initiatives and for being the main investor in all of our funds under management”, said Silvestras Tamutis, partner at Practica Capital.      

The Baltics are Emerging Nordics with dynamic economies outgrowing the rest of Europe over the past two decades, rapidly converging with advanced economies and the Nordics. Supporting innovative businesses, proactively improving business and investment environment, the region is an emerging tech hub with favourable ecosystem and top quartile rankings in indexes globally (e.g. 2019 World Bank Doing Business Ranking: #14 Lithuania, #19 Latvia, #16 Estonia) and one of the centres of gravity for talents in Europe.

“With an established platform and the local team of experienced VC professionals, we are a trusted Baltic VC partner for investors into our funds and entrepreneurs seeking to build scalable technology-driven businesses by investing and supporting them across stages. We are happy that more than 40 teams chose us as their partner”, said Tomas Andriuškevičius, partner at Practica Capital.

For more details regarding the opportunity to invest in the subsequent closing of the fund or receive an investment for the fund, please get in touch with Practica Capital team.

About Practica Capital:

Established in 2011, Practica Capital is a dedicated Baltic VC focusing on investments in the Baltic and Baltic-origin seed, early stage, select growth stage technology ventures. The firm also manages Practica Seed Capital and Practica Venture Capital funds from the 2012 vintage with €24m under management, 40+ investments and 12 realisations to-date. The funds were launched under the JEREMIE initiative, which is administered by the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and financed by the EU Structural Funds under 2007-2013 Economic Growth Operational Programme of Lithuania. Practica Capital has been recognised with several international industry awards and nominations. For more information visit http://practica.vc.

About Business Financing Fund and „Invega“:

Risk capital financial instrument Practica Venture Capital II fund is one of the several risk capital financial instruments, which uses public funding and leverages additional private financial resources.  This financial instrument is implemented from the Business Financing Fund - Fund of Funds, financed by the 2014-20 European Union (EU) Structural and Investment Funds programme and managed by „Invega“.

Investment and Business Guarantees („Invega“) was established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in 2001 and acts as a national financial institution promoting funding for business and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Economy. „Invega“ implements and manages a range of financial instruments aimed at enhancing financing available to businesses, using funding available from the European Union Structural and Investment Funds programme, the national budget and funding already used and repaid to national or other funds.

¹„Invega“ has been advised by the EBRD during the process, for more information visit: https://www.ebrd.com/news/2016/ebrd-and-invega-join-forces-for-risk-capital-funds-in-lithuania.html