There’s a new deeptech VC in town: Warsaw-based Radix has just announced it has raised an anchor €25m from the European Investment Fund for its first fund. The fund's target cap is €60m.
CEE is known for its strong and affordable tech talent — but there hasn’t been too much deeptech innovation coming out of the region. There also aren't many investors interested in the sector: local VCs are still mostly focused on B2B SaaS, rather than companies commercialising science and research.
There are, of course, exceptions: Poland’s OTB raised a €150m deeptech fund last year, and there are several investors, such as Aper, Sunfish and Altamira, that operate in the deeptech space, especially at the early stage.
“Many VCs in our region were founded by technology founders… They feel great in the digital space: software, ICT, B2B SaaS, but don’t have the tools to assess research-based companies,” says Paweł Bochniarz, general partner at Radix.
Radix’s three general partners — Bochniarz, Wojciech Ratymirski and Michał Urbanowski — were involved in a smaller Polish seed fund, ValueTech, which backed over a dozen early-stage deepetch ventures in Poland. Bochniarz also has experience in assessing spinout proposal and established the Polish chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum, an accelerator.
Where will the money go?
Radix plans to back 16 startups, from late seed up to Series B. Around a half of the fund will be reserved for follow-on investments. The tickets will range from €1.5m-9m, depending on the type of the round. It plans to co-invest with other VCs but also to lead rounds.
The VC wants to back software, hardware and materials deeptech startups — for the latter, think companies working on new types of plastic or conductors — which come from central and eastern Europe. It has venture partners in other countries of the region: Hungary, Romania and Ukraine.
“We’re interested in technologies that help the traditional economic sectors transform,” says Bochniarz, adding that such transformation will often mean meeting climate goals in sectors such as energy, industry, transport and mobility.
Who is Radix raising money from?
The fund is anchored by the EIF. It plans to raise the rest of the money from funds-of-funds and private investors, including individuals and corporates. It expects to agree a €40m first close this autumn, and the final close within one year.
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