Eleven Ventures launches the second edition of Alpha program, and Romanian technology startups can receive funding of 300,000 euros

• After the success of the initial program, Eleven Ventures is launching the second edition of Eleven Alpha, to support early stage business founders in the SEE region.
• The selected startups receive funding of 300,000 euros, against 10% of the total capital, but also a personalized business plan and access to all the resources and know-how accumulated by Eleven.
• The process is simple and fast: it takes less than two months from the application to the signing of the contract.
• Applications are open until March 7. The selected companies will start activities in the program in May 2024.

Eleven Ventures, the Bulgaria-based venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed investments in Southeast Europe, announces the debut of the second edition of Eleven Alpha, a three-month program aimed at outstanding early stage entrepreneurs in developing their own businesses.

The program also represents an initiation into the world of Eleven – entrepreneurs work alongside experts to create a clear path from product to market, having access to the vast expertise of the company and the community formed around the brand. These come with the primary benefit, an investment of 300,000 euros for 10% of the capital, but also with a series of terms and conditions favorable to the founders, namely with a two-month waiting period between the application and the signing of the contract.

The application process is very simple and quick, so founders can stay focused on their business. It is necessary to fill out a short application form (where a pitch must also be attached), then a meeting with Eleven’s investor team follows. Afterwards, there is a meeting with the members of the selection committee, if the startup successfully passes the preliminary stage.

Who is Eleven Alpha for?

Eleven Ventures actively invests in Romanian startups, with plans to increase the number of local partnerships. Currently, companies such as Frisbo, Pluria, Nestor, Flaminjoy (ex-ProductLead) or SuperOkay benefit from the support of the venture capital firm. The Eleven Alpha program is geared, in the pre-seed stage, to dedicated founders who currently care about the idea, the product and the company they manage. That can also mean having a bright idea and an early prototype, or already an incipient community of paying customers. Eleven’s four pillars – Fintech, health, the future of jobs and sustainable food – remain priorities. From Alpha to Beta After entrepreneurs sign the list of terms and conditions, they get access to the full package of resources and know-how offered by Eleven.

The team provides constant support and works closely with each founder to create a customized business plan so that the business can reach the next level.

The program is thus divided into three stages:

• I. Discovery, where founders will better understand their target customers, talk directly with them and find out what needs the startup needs to address. In this stage the foundations of the company are laid.
• II. Design, where the founders will define the added value they bring to customers, but also where they will learn to create a product that their customers want. This is also where the creation of the business model takes place, as well as learning how a hypothesis can be tested and validated.
• III. Delivery, where the founders create a go-to-market strategy, start sales, lay the foundations for further growth and prepare all the details of the fundraising strategy.

How did the first edition of the program go?

In search of the creators of the future, during the first edition of the program, the Eleven Ventures team analyzed more than 450 projects from 25 countries. After a rigorous analysis, the fund selected four companies: Flataway and TrueInsights from Bulgaria, MyTeam from Greece and Perfeqt from Slovenia.

Throughout the journey of the Eleven Alpha program, the teams have made remarkable progress. One of the companies achieved a 10-fold increase in annual revenue over the course of a year, and another grew its user base 7-fold. A third startup has made significant improvements to the product it offers.

“It was not a standard program, where all participating companies take part in the same discussion. For us, it was particularly important that everything we learned and applied during the workshops was carefully prepared for the specifics of our business and the niche in which we operate”, said Boris Pavlov, co-founder and CEO of FlatAway.

Ivaylo Simov, Managing Partner of Eleven, spoke about Eleven Alpha: “For us, the first edition of Eleven Alpha was a return to Eleven’s origins. I searched for the “creators of the future”, met many of them and invested in the projects of the best. Now, we are ready for version 2.0, which is much better than anything we have prepared in the last 11 years.”