The first hybrid Investment Fund of 27 million euros will enable rapid growth and development of Macedonian innovative companies
The Fund for Innovations and Technology Development, with the support of the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, has created the first hybrid Investment Fund of 27 million euros. On that occasion today, a panel discussion was held on the topic: “Everything you need to know about the Investment Fund” within the “Global Entrepreneurship Week 2021” and organized by Startup Macedonia.
Speakers at the event were: Kosta Petrov, director of FITD, Igor Andreev, co-founder of X Factor Accelerator, Igor Madzov, Investment Facilitator at Swiss EP and president of Startup Macedonia, Ivana Stankovic, advisor at FITD and Gogo Rafajlovski, CEO of SEEU Tech Park.
The goal of the Investment Fund is to develop the capital market and open new opportunities for investment in startups, in order to transform the Macedonian startup ecosystem but also to create new conditions for the development of venture capital in the country.
“Given the activities of FITD in the past year, the establishment of the Investment Fund is a logical sequence in order to support the startup ecosystem and enable faster development, easier access to finance and easier entry to global markets. We are taking a step forward in dimensioning the Fund’s support from direct to indirect by creating favorable conditions for those who offer support to startups,” said Kosta Petrov, director of the Fund for Innovations and Technology Development.
Petrov added that the country will participate in the Investment Fund with 10 million euros, while the remaining 17 million will be private capital from international financial institutions. The Fund’s investments will range from 100 thousand euros to 1.5 million euros, and will be invested in Macedonian and regional startups.
“The start of the new Fund will be a huge impetus for even stronger development of the Macedonian startup scene. Especially important for us as a private accelerator is that the intention is to increase the entry of private investors in supporting the growth of companies globally. Given the fact that we are investing at an early stage, with amounts of up to 100 thousand euros, for innovative startups that have global growth potential, the overall support for further development in the next round of investments will be of great importance,” summarized on the panel discussion Igor Andreev, co-founder of X Factor Accelerator.
According to the president of Startup Macedonia, Madzov “innovative and promising companies are always looking for new and alternative sources of funding to grow. We see this Fund only as a beginning in the right direction for providing greater support and development of investment through shares in the country.”
The Fund, which is expected to start operating next year, will be managed by an internationally selected Fund Management Company, which is registered in accordance with the EU Law on Alternative Investment Funds.
“This set of support from the Fund is expected to further stimulate private capital by significantly reducing the risk of investing in startups and enabling knowledge transfer from already proven EU investment funds,” explained Gogo Rafajlovski, CEO of SEEU Tech Park.
With the involvement of experienced private investors and successful entrepreneurs, the support from the Investment Fund will consist not only in finance but also in transferring business experiences, networking, building successful business models, etc.