The Bulgarian accelerator and Venture Fund Eleven has just announced the beginning of a new investment era on their blog. The launch of their 11th batch of applications has been chosen as the perfect and symbolic timing to mark this transformation. As Eleven puts it, they will now “invest more money and time in less companies”.
In numbers, this means that instead of the current investment limit of 200.000 Euros, Eleven will soon invest up to 1 million Euros per company. This significant increase of investment money, however, will not offset their focus on being the first to invest in the company. Their main tactic will still be starting with small amounts of about 50.000 Euros and then gradually growing through follow-on rounds. Another novelty in the investment strategy is the rolling application process. New projects sourcing and selection will not be seasonal, although there will be a final deadline every couple of months. The application deadline for the 11th batch is April 30, 2016.
Imge credit: goaleurope
Additionally, the standard 3-month-long accelerator program will be replaced with a lifelong learning approach that will be more individual to each company according to their needs. The reason behind this, as Eleven points out, is the unique character of every startup.
The Fund plans to invest about 15 million euros more in the years to come, carefully selecting around 15 startups per year and focusing the rest of their funds on the best players in their existing portfolio. Detailed information about the overall investment activity are available on the updated Eleven infographic page.