By Ms. Tina Droc

With the opening of the new SCV Technology Fund III, South Central Ventures, the leading regional venture capital fund manager with offices in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Skopje, is increasing its management funds by € 70 million. Both, institutional and well-informed private investors invested in the new fund, among them the largest are the European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Slovenian investors Triglav d. d. in BTC d. d.

With the new € 70 million SCV Technology Fund III, South Central Ventures will invest in the Western Balkans early stage tech start-ups that needs funding to tackle global markets. Jure Mikuž, South Central Ventures partner sees the momentum an evolution of the current South Central Ventures strategy, while adding the Slovenian market that has not been directly covered so far. "Slovenia is one of the most developed countries in the region; the advantages of its technological entrepreneurship are foremost the number of successful tech companies and the export orientation of its entrepreneurs. We firmly believe in the strategy of investing in future technology winners from across the region, from which more and more successful technology companies are coming, while our successful investments from the previous ENIF fund confirming the correctness of our approach."

With more than 15 years of experience, Jure Mikuž is an experienced venture capital investor. He has participated in more than 30 tech projects, in Slovenia he is known for successful investments in Celtra, Daibau (platform Mojmojster.net), Sentinel Marine and Leanpay. Previous experiences and achievements, co-creation of technology entrepreneurship in the region and extremely high ethical and moral standards in asset management are prerequisites for long-term cooperation of South Central Ventures with renowned domestic and international investors.

"BTC d. d. fulfills its digitalization strategy also with integration into the tech companies' ecosystem in Slovenia and in the wider region. Entering the SCV Technology Fund III is allowing us to become an important part of this environment and at the same time is enriching our invested funds."

Damjan Kralj, M.Sc., Chief Executive Officer at BTC d. d.

"South Central Ventures has so far been an instrumental part of the start-up ecosystem development in the SEE region and a valuable partner to EBRD. Their investment track record is proving that the investment approach seems to be the right one for the regional start-ups on their mission to tackle global markets. We are glad to be part of their second consecutive fund and we trust we can build great businesses in the technology sector together."

Michael Parry, Associate Director, Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds, EBRD

South Central Ventures, leading venture capital fund manager in the region operates through four offices in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Skopje, with an experienced team of investment managers. Recently a partner in Belgrade, Goran Stevanovič, joined them: "Technology sector has an opportunity to fundamentally transform our region and for global success we need more local start-ups. With its unique position the South Central Ventures team can become a catalyst for this change, which is why I decided to join. I want to transfer my 20 years of experience in the software industry and my passion for entrepreneurship to this new venture."

South Central Ventures has also obtained a voluntary EU-wide marketing passport, which is offered by the European Venture Capital Fund (EuVECA) regulation to qualified fund managers in the European Union. Among others in practice this means higher criteria in asset management, which also include environmental, social and governance factors (ESG factors). South Central Ventures invests in early stage tech start-ups that have already developed product and needs funds for faster development of the sales function. The initial investment amount start at € 500,000 and the highest investments of the SCV fund can reach a total of up to € 5 million over their entire funding cycle.