SeedBlink said in a recent report that its community of investors backed European tech startups with EUR 58 million over the past three years, raising a total of EUR 150 million together with VCs and angel investors.

Its annual report, released this week, analyzes market trends, key players and the platform's impact in Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, and was produced together with Horvath Consulting.

Since its launch in 2020, SeedBlink has funded 67 European tech startups, including 49 from Romania (of which ten this year). This year's largest investment rounds on the platform included Druid, Brio, Finqware from Romania, and regional startups such as Alcatraz AI (Bulgaria), Brainhero (Austria), Hunch (Serbia), and PD Neurotechnologies (Greece).

In 2022, SeedBlink strengthened its infrastructure and expanded its presence in Central and Eastern Europe with offices in Bulgaria, Greece and Benelux (through the acquisition of Symbid). In Greece, SeedBlink raised EUR 16.8 million, while in Bulgaria, the amount of investment attracted was EUR 2.69 million.

SeedBlink's current portfolio numbers 67,500 investors from 75 countries: 70% are from Romania & Diaspora, and 30% are international.

The average investment ticket is EUR 5,500, and the average portfolio value is EUR 17,500. According to its report, 30% of all active investors within the community are sophisticated investors with an average investment ticket of EUR 6,400 and 70% are retail investors with an average investment ticket of EUR 4,700.

Half of the investors financed at least one company, and up to 10% of them funded more than 10 companies, diversifying their portfolios. 40% of the total invested amount is formed out of investment tickets of EUR 10,000, and the largest investment ticket is EUR 100,000.

The largest portfolio value is over EUR 500,000 with 30 investments made through SeedBlink's platform.

The SeedBlink report also said that, in the first ten months of the year, the level of funding for tech startups in Romania reached EUR 226 million, up 36% from EUR 166.4 million in 2021, despite high inflation and macroeconomic challenges.

"Investments in Romanian tech startups are growing yearly, showing us that the ecosystem is maturing. Despite the decrease in the number of funding rounds, the 36% increase in the level of funds attracted in the first ten months of the year reflects an advance. At the same time, CEE is one of the fastest-growing regions in Europe for venture capital funding. The forecast for 2023 indicates that investment in the region will continue to grow, highlighting the region's untapped potential," said Andrei Dudoiu, Managing Partner SeedBlink.

In Europe, there are 31 new unicorn companies this year, most from the UK, France, Sweden and Germany (over 60%). Despite the recession, high inflation and falling rounds, over EUR 100 billion were invested in 2022 for the second year in a row in European tech startups, but down from the previous year (-16%).

As for the CEE market, SeedBlink said it is one of the fastest-growing regions in Europe in terms of venture capital funding, and investments will continue to grow in 2023. The level of funding for Pre-seed rounds has decreased over the years, but SeedBlink believes there is a steady increase in Seed and Series A rounds.

Over EUR 1.3 billion in funding is expected to be raised by FinTech startups by the end of this year, the same source said. Meanwhile, investments of around EUR 443 million are expected this year for the Food Tech industry - one of the few industries to see a steady increase in funding volume and rounds every year. Meanwhile, 59% less funding is expected for the Enterprise Software industry, ending the year with significantly less funding than in 2021.

SeedBlink is a tech-specialized venture investment platform that enables business leaders to fund top-tier European tech startups and scale-ups alongside established institutional investors.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: SeedBlink)