VC Profile: Elevator Ventures

Elevator Ventures is the Venture Capital entity of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI). The team is investing from a €50 million commitment and built a portfolio of 15 growth companies in the Fintech space. Elevator Ventures leverages RBI Group’s expertise, network, and corporate strength to help its portfolio expand across this dynamic region and beyond. So far, Elevator Ventures invested in 14 companies, including 3 successful exits, and holds two Fund of Funds positions.

What is Elevator Ventures' primary focus when it comes to investments? Why does it specifically target early-stage and growth investments in Fintech and related enabling technologies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)?

We focus on late-seed, Series A, and Series B startups, basically early-stage companies that are growing beyond their validation point. As for verticals, we are interested in FinTech and what we call FinTech-adjacent verticals, and we’ve done deals in logistics, PropTech, RegTech, and data analytics.

As the CVC of a major financial institution in CEE, it comes naturally that we seek investments in this area for the potential synergies it poses for both sides, but also since we can tap into a large pool of subject matter experts that fortify our analyses. We aspire to be a bridge between East and West.

The region itself offers a wealth of talent and opportunities, which, when combined with the footprint of RBI, can be a strong springboard for “beyond the money” value creation.

The uniqueness of CEE lies in its challenges: market fragmentation, and diverse languages and cultures, rank among the top challenges and are the most cited by aspiring founders as their premise for growth and defensibility.

Can you elaborate on the criteria or attributes that Elevator Ventures looks for in Fintech companies when considering them for investment?

The core topics of focus are the business model, traction, and the team. The business model must not hinder scalability and offer a breadth of options for monetization and growth.

Traction must be visible and on an upwards trajectory. The team must be composed of individuals who have a demonstratable professional track record. Entrepreneurial experience is a plus, and diverse teams are highly attractive.

How does Elevator Ventures leverage the expertise, network, and corporate strength of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) to support and help scale promising Fintech companies?

RBI is the first door to knock for us as a team when seriously considering an investment opportunity, and the same goes once we make an investment. Here the true strength lies in RBI itself, where a culture of forward-thinking and innovation have already been cultivated successfully, making it easy to approach our colleagues within the bank with collaboration opportunities.

A plus here is that RBI is a large banking group with diverse activities across many countries, presenting us and our portfolio companies with numerous avenues for collaboration.

Can you provide examples of how the partnership between Elevator Ventures and RBI has facilitated the expansion of Fintech scaleups in the dynamic CEE region?

For one, our portfolio company Tarfin has expanded into Romania recently and has secured a credit facility for its operations in the Romanian market.

Another was our portfolio company, Kompany360, which offered its solution to RBI on an enterprise level and then proceeded to grow in the region until its acquisition by Moody’s.

Out of the whole portfolio, we already have 6 successful collaborations between our portfolio and RBI, whether as vendor/client relationships, joint ventures, or credit facilities.

Are there any specific sub-sectors or emerging trends within Fintech that Elevator Ventures finds particularly interesting or promising?

We are keeping a close eye on trends such as earned wage access, climate tech, data analytics, and the cross between financial propositions and MedTech.

What role does Elevator Ventures play in helping portfolio companies navigate regulatory challenges and adapt to local market conditions in different CEE countries?

In addition to the experience of our team members, we always have a trusted source of information with our colleagues at RBI, who provide us with practical advice to assist our portfolio companies when navigating the CEE. We also maintain strong ties to local VCs and entrepreneurial actors who have a vested interest in promoting startups in their localities and who, in turn, provide invaluable experience to the founders in our portfolio.

How does Elevator Ventures measure the success and impact of its investments in terms of growth and value creation for portfolio companies?

At the end of the day, the best measures are the tangible financial ones, and we keep our eyes on the prize by focusing on that (i.e. IRR, TVPI, and the likes) and on all activities that enable our portfolio to maximize their value, raise more funds for their growth journey, and hit their milestones successfully.

Are there any strategic partnerships or initiatives that Elevator Ventures has established to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the Fintech sector in the CEE region?

No partnerships or initiatives are in place; we act as an investment fund and keep close ties to all actors in CEE as well as those interested in CEE from Western Europe, MENA, and North America. We aspire to be a bridge between East and West.

We ourselves are signatories to the UN PRI and hope that this brings a strong awareness around ESG to our portfolio companies.

What excites Elevator Ventures the most about the future of Fintech in the CEE region?

The excitement about the whole venture industry now stems from the strides that were recently made around data analytics models, data monetization, and computing power scale. This, combined with an improved regulatory environment and a rapidly modernizing CEE economy, are an ideal springboard for startups that wish to test and scale financial propositions in the region.

Any final thoughts or messages for aspiring Fintech entrepreneurs or the start-up community in CEE?

Be loud and be bold. The region already caught the eyes of major investors and will only continue to grow if you generate enough rightful attention to it.