They are a pre-seed and seed VC based in Sofia, Bulgaria with a focus on entrepreneurs from South Eastern Europe. Eleven is one of the pioneers in early-stage investments in Eastern Europe, comprising a team of entrepreneurs and investment professionals passionate about the world of technology and innovation. With 150 collective investments of their partners over 5 years, they have gained the unfair advantage of how to transform a startup into a scaleup in a capital efficient way.
Eleven started in 2012 with an EUR 12 million acceleration and seed fund, which was fully invested in 115 startups over three years.
In sync with their sizeable portfolio and maturing ecosystem, they gradually shifted their strategy and focus on supporting slightly more mature startups in an attempt to address the demanding needs of founders. Still, their favorite stage is pre-seed where they are the first institutional investor. They see an increasing number of founders who invest their energy into building an MVP before looking for an experienced partner like Eleven to guide them through the messy stage of building a startup into a scale-up and beyond.
Today they have their second fund - the Founders Fund. With first closing at EUR 6 million. It is entirely private investment fund by some of the most successful local tech entrepreneurs and executives. It’s a leaner and meaner successor of their first fund, building upon the great community of founders, mentors, and investors to become the preferred first-round investor for all aspiring entrepreneurs in South East Europe.
Why they do this
They deeply believe that the day of tomorrow will be shaped not by someone else, but by Local Heroes - the next generation of founders who are unflinchingly positive, tireless, change driven entrepreneurs, and who stop at nothing in pursuing what they believe is the future. They may be starting from the local stage, but have a bold global vision, inspiring others along the way and causing creative disruption with their work.
Where they fit in
Their mission at Eleven is to provide exceptional founders with exceptional support. They mobilize all the necessary human infrastructure, know-how, experience, global networks and access to capital. All of this is organized in a proprietary VC platform, a tailored growth machine in order to help you turn your idea into an investable and ready for growth business.
What they do
They initially invest pre-seed tickets of EUR 100 000 for 10-12%. The fund itself has the ability to follow with up to EUR 200 000 more. Together with the investors in the Founders Fund, comprising some of the most active angel and seed investors in the region, they can fully subscribe funding rounds of EUR 500 000+, thus allowing their portfolio companies to focus on building their business and not waste too much time on fundraising.
On the other side, they understand that capital itself is not enough, so they have on-demand support mechanisms to help their companies grow, including:
