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# LAUNCHub Ventures raises €65M in first close of new €75M+ fund
- URL: https://www.therecursive.com/launchub-ventures-raises-eur65m-in-first-close-new-fund-2026/
- Published: 2026-10-01T07:01:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T07:01:07.000Z
- Description: The Bulgarian VC firm is targeting a final fund size of €75M+ and plans to make around 25 pre-seed and seed investments over the next five years.
- Author: Yoana Stanislavova
- Tags: News, Investors, LAUNCHub Ventures, fund

[LAUNCHub Ventures](https://launchub.com/?ref=therecursive.com) has announced the first close of **Fund III, with €65 million** in commitments against a target of €75+ million. The fund will invest at the pre-seed and seed stages across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Southeast Europe (SEE) and the region's diaspora.

> *"Fourteen years in, our conviction about this region gets stronger and the results we see further support our thesis. *Close to 100 companies, 18 exits*, and around 40% of our pre-seed and seed investments reaching Series A. Fund III lets us keep backing founders here at the point where it matters most, and what Fund II has produced tells us the approach works,"* 

— says **Stanislav Sirakov**, General Partner at LAUNCHub Ventures.

The fund plans around **25 investments over a five-year investment period**, with initial checks between **€300K and €3M**. It will lead or co-lead rounds of up to €7M and keep reserves for follow-on investments at Series A. 

Most of the capital will go to LAUNCHub's core markets: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and the wider Western Balkans. The rest will go to the broader CEE region.

**Part of the capital in Fund III is coming from LAUNCHub's own track record.** More than 10 founders who built and exited companies with LAUNCHub's backing are now investing in the new fund as limited partners. The LP base also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), family offices and regional entrepreneurs. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an existing investor in Fund II, is considering participation in the second closing.

Across two funds, LAUNCHub's portfolio companies have raised more than €700 million in follow-on funding, and around 75% of them have secured a follow-on round. Its exits include SPLX, acquired by Zscaler in 2025, as well as FITE, acquired by Triller, and OfficeRnD, acquired by Blue Star. Companies from the portfolio include Ampeco, FintechOS, Colossyan and Lace. Later rounds for these companies have attracted investors such as Founders Fund, Sequoia, Index Ventures and Insight Partners.

## The first investments

Fund III has already led its **first three rounds**. Two of the three investments are in companies founded by entrepreneurs who have built companies with LAUNCHub before. 

[Lenz](https://lenz.io/?ref=therecursive.com) is an independent verification tool that checks factual claims in AI-generated content before it reaches users or gets published. It was founded by **Kosta Jordanov**, who co-built Wiser Technology and FITE, one of LAUNCHub's 18 exits. His co-founder is **Victoria Dodeva**, FITE's VP of Marketing.

[1club](https://1club.ai/?ref=therecursive.com) is AI-native software for the sports and activities industry. It brings memberships, scheduling, payments, marketing, websites and a mobile app into one system. It was founded by **Miroslav Miroslavov** and **Martin Kirov**, the founders behind OfficeRnD, another LAUNCHub portfolio company acquired by Blue Star.

The third company, [Nanogram](https://nanogram.app/?ref=therecursive.com), is an AI-powered social gaming platform that lets users turn a text prompt into a playable game and share it through a personalized feed. It was founded by **Albert Brotherton, Arnaud Poupier, Boris Radulov and Ognian Trayanov**. The company is headquartered in the US, and its core product and engineering team is in Sofia.

## The people behind the fund

As LAUNCHub launches Fund III, **Raya Yunakova and Petar Tsachev have been promoted to General Partners**. Both have worked across LAUNCHub's previous funds and have operated or founded technology companies themselves.

Yunakova joined LAUNCHub seven years ago with 15 years in technology and investment behind her, including time on Microsoft's developer experience team and her own years as a founder. Tsachev joined five years ago from sales, business development and operations roles in technology companies.

*"It is a privilege to step into the General Partner role and help lead LAUNCHub into its next chapter,"* says Yunakova*.* 

> *"Having been a founder myself, I can appreciate the amount of effort and dedication required to get a business off the ground, and I have immense respect for those deciding to take on the challenge. Eastern European founders have the grit, tenacity, and talent to create category-defining companies, and I couldn't be more excited to support them with those pivotal first checks."*

**Todor Breshkov, Stanislav Sirakov, Rumen Iliev and Irina Dimitrova**, who have been with the fund since 2012, remain part of its leadership. **Lyuben Belov** and **Stephane Gantchev** will continue as venture partners.

The firm has also expanded its senior team. [Vedran Blagus joined as Associate Partner in May 2026](https://www.therecursive.com/vedran-blagus-joins-launchub-ventures/), covering Croatia, Slovenia and the Western Balkans from Zagreb. He brings 10 years of regional VC experience. **Nikoleta Popkostadinova** joined as Head of Marketing in June 2026, bringing 12 years in tech marketing and communications and experience as a social-impact startup founder.

"*Moving to a General Partner position at LAUNCHub is a real trust to carry, and the easiest bet I've ever made*," says Tsachev. 

> "I've watched this region go from producing one breakout company every few years to producing them every year. The talent was always here. The ambition and the proof points have now caught up. I believe the next decade will bring more outliers out of Central and Southeast Europe than the last one did, and I want LAUNCHub to bring this opportunity to a larger set of regional LPs."