Second Fund of Business Angels starts activities

The founders of the first Fund of Business Angels, in cooperation with UAB Investicijų ir Verslo Garantijos (INVEGA), have established the second Fund of Business Angels that together with business angels will invest in small and medium-sized enterprises set up in Lithuania and focused on performance enhancement and export markets. The size of the Fund is EUR 10.49 million. The new Fund will assign up to EUR 0.6 million per investment, and it expects to more than double the amount attracted from business angels.

‘The aim of this investment fund is to increase the funding supply for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises and make alternative business funding more dynamic. Entrepreneurs will not only get access to funds required for the development of their business, but they will also have an opportunity to adopt the practices of business angels and the Fund’s managers that will help them in the successful development of their business’, claims Kęstutis Motiejūnas, Chief Executive Officer of Invega.

‘While managing the first Fund, we gained valuable experience in different industrial sectors, both in traditional manufacturing and consumer goods sectors and the knowledge- and investment-intensive IT, biotechnology, laser and other high-tech development sectors. It is no less important to create an investment ecosystem of business angels in cooperation with investors of the Lithuanian business angel network LitBAN. We plan to expand the international investment practice as well, especially with the Fund’s partner in Poland’, claims Arvydas Strumskis.

The Fund’s management will focus on progress-oriented companies in different sectors that develop their sales markets outside Lithuania.

The Fund’s management team includes Arvydas Strumskis, Daiva Rakauskaitė and Jacek Blonski. To this end, a management company, UAB Verslo Angelų Fondo Valdymas, has been establish to manage the investment limited partnership Business Angel Fund II. The activities of the Fund are supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. The legal adviser for the establishment of the Fund was the Law Firm GLIMSTEDT.

The first Business Angel Fund has invested more than EUR 20 million in 29 enterprises together with business angels.

The Fund’s management are to invest the money of the 2014–2020 European Regional Development Fund, including additional personal contributions. The instrument is being implemented through the fund of funds Business Financing Fund financed from the European Regional Development Fund. Established in April 2016, the fund of funds is managed by Invega.