CEE Tech Funding Shows Continued Resilience
What happened
The Central and Eastern European (CEE) tech sector is demonstrating robust funding activity despite broader market volatility. Recent investment rounds highlight a continued appetite for startups in the web3, data, and SaaS domains, signaling opportunities for hiring and product expansion for companies in the region, including Bulgaria.
Why it matters
- Sofia-based AMPECO, a cloud-based EV charging management platform, raised €24.7M in a Series B round in November 2024, with participation from BMW i Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures, to expand into North America and Western Europe. - Across the CEE region, venture capital investment into companies totaled €2.3 billion in 2024, a slight increase from the previous year, with late-stage funding nearly tripling after a drop in 2023. - Signaling a focus on engineering efficiency, Czech startup Navigara recently raised €2 million in seed funding to build out its data-driven analytics platform that helps companies measure the impact of AI and other development tools. - The total market capitalization of publicly traded CEE SaaS companies reached an all-time high of €2.11 billion in mid-2025, though regional revenue growth (5.1%) lags significantly behind US counterparts (16%). - While investor confidence in Bulgaria is strong, with projections of over €1.4M in available venture capital for 2024, the formation of high-quality startups has not kept pace, creating an ecosystem with an oversupply of capital. - A significant challenge for the region is talent and company retention, as nearly half of CEE scaleups relocate their headquarters—most often to the US (56%) and the UK (24%)—to gain better access to global markets and later-stage funding. - Web3, alongside AI and SaaS, was among the most funded industries in the CEE region in mid-2024, with notable rounds including a €13.6M Series A for RedStone, a Web3 data oracle provider. - By September 2024, Bulgarian AI companies had raised €52.7M for the year, a significant decrease from the €101M raised in 2023, with top rounds going to companies like Iris AI (€7.6M) and Evrotrust (€3.3M).
Key numbers
- Recent investment rounds highlight a continued appetite for startups in the web3, data, and SaaS domains, signaling opportunities for hiring and product expansion for companies in the region, including Bulgaria.
- - Sofia-based AMPECO, a cloud-based EV charging management platform, raised €24.7M in a Series B round in November 2024, with participation from BMW i Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures, to expand into North America and Western Europe.
- Across the CEE region, venture capital investment into companies totaled €2.3 billion in 2024, a slight increase from the previous year, with late-stage funding nearly tripling after a drop in 2023.
- Signaling a focus on engineering efficiency, Czech startup Navigara recently raised €2 million in seed funding to build out its data-driven analytics platform that helps companies measure the impact of AI and other development tools.
What happens next
- Sofia-based AMPECO, a cloud-based EV charging management platform, raised €24.7M in a Series B round in November 2024, with participation from BMW i Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures, to expand into North America and Western Europe.
Quick answers
What happened in CEE Tech Funding Shows Continued Resilience?
The Central and Eastern European (CEE) tech sector is demonstrating robust funding activity despite broader market volatility. Recent investment rounds highlight a continued appetite for startups in the web3, data, and SaaS domains, signaling opportunities for hiring and product expansion for companies in the region, including Bulgaria.
Why does CEE Tech Funding Shows Continued Resilience matter?
Sofia-based AMPECO, a cloud-based EV charging management platform, raised €24.7M in a Series B round in November 2024, with participation from BMW i Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures, to expand into North America and Western Europe. Across the CEE region, venture capital investment into companies totaled €2.3 billion in 2024, a slight increase from the previous year, with late-stage funding nearly tripling after a drop in 2023. Signaling a focus on engineering efficiency, Czech startup Navigara recently raised €2 million in seed funding to build out its data-driven analytics platform that helps companies measure the impact of AI and other development tools. The total market capitalization of publicly traded CEE SaaS companies reached an all-time high of €2.11 billion in mid-2025, though regional revenue growth (5.1%) lags significantly behind US counterparts (16%). While investor confidence in Bulgaria is strong, with projections of over €1.4M in available venture capital for 2024, the formation of high-quality startups has not kept pace, creating an ecosystem with an oversupply of capital. A significant challenge for the region is talent and company retention, as nearly half of CEE scaleups relocate their headquarters—most often to the US (56%) and the UK (24%)—to gain better access to global markets and later-stage funding. Web3, alongside AI and SaaS, was among the most funded industries in the CEE region in mid-2024, with notable rounds including a €13.6M Series A for RedStone, a Web3 data oracle provider. By September 2024, Bulgarian AI companies had raised €52.7M for the year, a significant decrease from the €101M raised in 2023, with top rounds going to companies like Iris AI (€7.6M) and Evrotrust (€3.3M).
