The American venture fund GEEK Ventures has raised $23 million for investments. The focus is on startup founders who have immigrated to the United States. This was announced by Vadim Rogovsky, a partner of the fund.
Key facts
- The investors in the first GEEK Ventures fund are Adam Foroughy, founder and CEO of Applovin, Mikita Mikado and Sergiy Borisyuk, founders of PandaDoc, and Decile Capital.
- Every month, GEEK Ventures plans to invest in one or two startups founded by immigrants. The amount of investment ranges from $50,000 to $1 million.
- As of the end of August 2023, GEEK Ventures’ portfolio includes 35 companies. In total, the fund plans to invest in 30 more companies over the next 18 months.
Context.
Founded in December 2021, GEEK Ventures is a venture capital fund headed by Ihar Mahanek, a native of Belarus, in partnership with Odesa-based entrepreneur Vadym Rogovskyi. The latter, along with managing GEEK Ventures, also runs his own startup, 3DLOOK. It helps to try on clothes while online shopping, — Forbes Ukraine reports.
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the fund announced four new investments in startups with Ukrainian founders. These include Propertymate, a platform for searching for new buildings, Spokk, an insurance service, V-Art, a platform for displaying digital art, and Competera, which is developing a dynamic pricing system for retailers. The fund does not name its checks, but typically invests between $50,000 and $200,000 initially and up to $1 million over the course of a year. Currently, GEEK Ventures’ portfolio includes one-third of startups with Ukrainian funders. Along with SID Venture Partners, SMRR, and Hypra, it is among the most active investors in wartime.
Read more about venture funds: Ukrainian Fund Flyer One Ventures Outperforms the EU Market by at Least 50%
