Istanbul, Turkey · Venture Capital Bek Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm backing exceptional founders with roots in Europe, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. Founded in 2013 as the Earlybird Digital East Fund and rebranded to Bek Ventures in late 2024, the firm manages roughly $600 million across its funds, including a $250 million Fund III closed in 2024. Led by managing partner Cem Sertoglu and with offices in Istanbul, London, and New York, the Turkish-founded team has generated billions of dollars in returns over the past decade and is associated with one of the greatest venture investments in European history. Bek Ventures backs technical founders building global category leaders, with around half of its portfolio companies operating from the United States.
Valencia & Madrid, Spain · Venture Studio Founded 2013. Talent incubator that forms teams and builds startups from idea stage in a 6-month program, with up to EUR 100K pre-seed from its fund. Expanded to multiple European cities; reports 78% survival across 40+ companies. Scope: International.
Lisbon, Portugal · Venture Capital Faber is a Lisbon-based venture capital firm founded in 2012, investing in early-stage deep tech and climate technology companies at the intersection of science and technology in Southern Europe. The firm has backed notable startups including Unbabel, SWORD Health, Codacy, and Smartex, typically writing cheques of €100,000 to €2.5 million. Its latest fund, Faber Tech III, has a target size of €60 million and is anchored by the European Investment Fund and the NATO Innovation Fund.
Valencia, Spain · Accelerator Lanzadera is a philanthropic, non-equity startup accelerator founded in 2013 by Juan Roig, chairman of Mercadona — Spain's largest supermarket chain — and housed at Marina de Empresas, a 10,000 m² entrepreneurship campus on Valencia's port that also hosts EDEM Business School and Angels Capital. The programme admits roughly 120 startups per cohort across two annual intakes and four maturity tracks (Start, Traction, Growth and Scale Up), each running a minimum of six months.
Rather than taking equity, Lanzadera offers flexible loans from €1,000 up to €500,000 at favourable terms, alongside a dedicated project director, mentorship, training grounded in Mercadona's Total Quality Model, and access to Angels Capital. Since 2013 it has accelerated over 1,700 companies and recorded 19 exits including the IPO of Place to Plug; the Financial Times ranked it the #1 startup hub in Spain and #7 in Europe in 2025. Notable alumni include Paack, encrypted-cloud provider Internxt, pet-health platform Barkibu, eSIM provider Holafly and robotics startup Keybotic (acquired by defence-AI firm Helsing in 2026).
Sofia, Bulgaria · Venture Capital Morningside Hill Capital Management is a Sofia-based privately owned investment firm founded in 2014. Its venture capital fund, launched in 2019 with €38.5 million under management (co-financed via EU structural funds), focuses on post-seed and Series A investments in Bulgarian startups. The fund is sector-agnostic and targets companies where at least 50% of revenue, staff, or assets are based in Bulgaria. It has made investments including a €3 million+ deployment into four Bulgarian startups.
Warsaw, Poland · Startup AI assistant for small business owners that automates website operations and digital marketing workflows, focusing on generating leads and managing core online presence tasks with minimal manual setup.