TILIA IMPACT VENTURES LAUNCHES A NEW IMPACT SEED FUND
Tilia Impact Ventures, a leading Czech seed-stage impact venture capital firm, is proud to announce the successful €26 million first closing of its second fund. This milestone marks a major step towards supporting visionary founders in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region dedicated to addressing some of the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.
Tilia Impact Ventures’ second fund marks a pivotal moment in the fund’s growth, enabling it to scale its impact and continue to support entrepreneurs dedicated to making a difference.
With the new fund officially underway, the team anticipates a flurry of activity, with several deals in advanced stages and yet to be announced.
“’Systemic change’ is the key concept for us. We are investing in technologies and business models which can transform entire industries and systems, rather than only bringing temporary benefit” – Andrew Gray, General Partner.
“This second fund represents a real milestone in our evolution. We launched the first impact fund in the region but over time we found that the capital we had available was not enough to support the sheer volume of incredible change-makers in the region. With Pavel and Andy joining and the larger fund size, we now have the potential to make a real difference, at scale.” – Silke Horáková, General Partner
Investor Support: Tilia Impact Ventures’ second fund is financed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) – backed by the InvestEU programme – as a major investor, as well as Česká spořitelna Bank. Many notable Czech business leaders have also lent their support to the fund, including RSJ’s Libor Winkler and Martin Ducháček, LINET’s Zbyněk Frolik, Credo’s Ondřej Bartoš, Pale Fire Capital’s Jan Bárta, Siko’s Tomáš Vala, Benefit Plus’ Václav Kurel, and many more prominent figures in the Czech business community.
“The last 12 months have presented a challenging fundraising environment, so the institutional support of the EIF has been fundamental in anchoring the fund to get us off the ground. It is a great confirmation of our mission to have Česká spořitelna join us as an investor. Moreover, we are honoured to have so many of Czech’s greatest business minds in our corner as investors.” – Pavel Petřek, General Partner
Launch Party Celebration: To celebrate the launch of the fund, Tilia hosted a memorable event in Prague, playfully named “Brace for Impact.” The event brought together esteemed impact investors and founders from across the region, featuring inspiring speeches by Cyril Gouiffès from the European Investment Fund and serial impact entrepreneur Ryan Grant Little.
Fundraising Process: Tilia Impact Ventures recognizes that impact investing remains an emerging asset class, predominantly attracting family offices and high-net-worth individuals who share the mission of generating positive change alongside financial returns.The CEE region has historically faced a scarcity of institutional capital in the venture capital space, particularly within the impact investing sector. In this context, the commitment from Česká spořitelna and the EIF, is especially noteworthy.
“In promoting the concept of financial health, we place a major emphasis on sustainability, environmental impact, and deepening overall education. Joining forces with the Tilia Fund thus fits into our overall strategy,” – Jan Seger, Financing and Advisory Director at Česká spořitelna.
Investment Focus: Tilia Impact Ventures adopts a balanced approach, allocating 50% of the fund’s resources to initiatives focusing on “people” and the remaining 50% dedicated to “planet.”
Tilia Impact Ventures is committed to driving positive change in the following areas:
- Climate & Sustainability: Decarbonising the grid, electrifying transportation, sustainable food production, nature conservation, industrial sustainability, carbon reduction through innovative solutions, and circularity.
- Education & Training: Supporting EdTech initiatives and addressing employability and skills gaps.
- Social Inclusion & Civic Empowerment: Promoting social inclusion and employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups, while advancing civic empowerment and transparency.
- Health & Wellbeing: Ensuring access to healthcare, investing in MedTech and assistance solutions, and promoting mental health and preventive care.
Background and Mission: Founded in 2018, Tilia Impact Ventures already has a history of championing social and environmental change. Its inaugural fund made impactful investments that tackled issues ranging from countering food waste (Munch, HU) and improving materials recycling (Cyrkl, CZ) to combating corruption in public spending (DatLab, CZ) and enabling alternative pre-school education models (The Village, PL).
“Our region is long known for its technical talent. But more recently we are seeing a wave of entrepreneurs who are putting their minds towards solving some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges of our time. We are glad to be able to offer patient capital, guidance and a network to propel these founders on their journey to make global change” – Petr Vitek, General Partner
