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BaltCap’s Latvia Venture Capital Fund |
BaltCap, the leading private equity and venture capital firm in the Baltic republics, has broken new ground with the closing of a venture capital fund in cooperation with the European Investment Fund (EIF). The €30 million BaltCap Latvia Venture Capital Fund is the first private fundraising in emerging Europe to be established under the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (Jeremie) project. Jeremie was established by the European Commission in conjunction with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EIF to promote increased access to finance for the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU over the period 2007-13. Jeremie-related projects have been planned in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia too.
The BaltCap fund is also the first structured venture capital fundraising in the Baltic states since the onset of the global economic crisis. The fund, which will provide start-up and expansion capital, is likely to target 15 to 20 different ventures, with equity stakes ranging between €300,000 and €3 million. The EIF acted as anchor investor of the new fund with a commitment of €20 million. The €10 million balance was sourced from local private investors including Parex Asset Management, Hipo Fondi, LKB Krajfondi, Pirmais Slegtais Pensiju Fonds and high-net-worth individuals.
Richard Pelly, chief executive of the EIF, says: “This is a hugely important transaction for the EIF and for Latvia. It is one of the first in the European Union and comes as a result of excellent collaboration between the Latvian ministry of economy, BaltCap and the EIF to help enhance access to finance for Latvian SMEs.”
Seed funds
In other Jeremie-related projects in Latvia, Imprimatur Capital Baltics has been selected to manage seed and start-up capital funds totalling €20.4 million. SEB banka has been chosen to manage a €60 million funded risk sharing (FRS) instrument that will enable it to grant SMEs investment and working capital loans. Swedbank will manage an FRS instrument with total available funds of €44 million.
Dagnis Dreimanis, a partner at BaltCap, says: “We are glad to provide expansion financing to Latvian SMEs, and help support the Latvian economy by investing in such crucial sectors of the economy as manufacturing and services. BaltCap is sure this is the right time for investments, as we currently see a strong pipeline of investment cases with growth potential.” BaltCap has also been chosen by the EIF as the manager of a similar fund for Lithuania.
Since it was founded in 1995 BaltCap has managed four private equity and venture capital funds, with total capital of €130 million.
