In addition to the rebranding, the fund has also expanded its management team: Magdalena Surowiec, previously associated, among others, with the VC Leonarto fund and former president of LemonSky, has joined Unfold.vc. As managing partner, she will bring to the company her many years of experience in developing business strategies and building effective teams, especially in the technological environment.
Software? Not only
So far, the fund has focused on supporting IT projects, especially in the SaaS model. Now the refreshed strategy of Unfold.vc assumes, among others, the expansion of investment categories, as evidenced by the recent investment in the Wroclaw company Poley.me, developing technology – the so-called bar of the future – in the RaaS model (Robot as a Service). Unfold.vc simultaneously invests in projects without a specified time horizon and at various stages of development: pre-seed and seed, as well as at a later stage by investing in share buyouts.
– We are expanding our investment objectives. So far we have focused on software companies and companies selling services in a subscription model, but as Unfold.vc we are opening up to new areas. We do not exclude larger investments if we see great potential in the project. We are willing to support startups within the next few rounds of financing. Our involvement in the company amounts to 4.5 million PLN. What makes us different? We do not have a specific investment horizon. We can be with a given company for the whole decade or even longer. We are looking for leaders who build long-term value for their clients. We know this takes time. We review several hundred potential investments a year and in reality we invest in several projects so that we can devote enough attention to the leaders from our portfolio’, emphasises Rafał Sobczak, managing partner at Unfold.vc.
Quality rather than quantity
For the last 4 years, the fund from Wroclaw, has been intensively building its portfolio and actively supporting companies in the development of their businesses. Currently, Unfold.vc has almost 20 technological companies under its wings, among them there are many internationally recognized projects with great potential for development and growth. These are innovations from the sectors of medtech, biotech, martech, foodtech, but also gaming companies. Thus, the Fund supports, among others: Timecamp, Brand24, Sundose, Infermedica, Primetric, PixelRace, Exit Plan Games or Giblib.
– In recent months, with this in mind, we have invested in 7 projects – 3 new investments and 4 follow-up rounds – enumerates the president of Unfold.vc.
We are talking about investments in Boostsite, a startup from Wroclaw, with its own software for automatic SEO analysis of websites; the capital put up for PixelRace, which creates a studio with virtualproduction technology for video production; or the investment in Poley.me from Wroclaw, with its own “bar of the future”.
The listed Unfold.vc has also completed further successful multi-million dollar investment rounds in Exit Plan Games, Primetric, Giblib and Intelliseq, confirming an unchanging element of the fund’s strategy whereby it supports portfolio companies in several successive rounds of financing.
Last year, the Wrocław-based VC ended the year with a profit of nearly PLN 46 million, which is a six-fold year-on-year increase.
Next plans
The latest investment of Unfold.vc is a capital support for German neurocaregroup. The company develops Digital Therapy Platform (DTP), which integrates advanced processes and technologies for the treatment of patients suffering from mental illnesses. Neurocaregroup also supports the development of research on personalized medicine and neuromodulation. The company is currently valued at nearly $100 million.
– We estimate that 5-7 new companies will appear in our portfolio this year. A foreign round or a debut on NewConnect is taken into account even bioinformatIntelliseq, in which we have been investing since 2018 – emphasizes Jakub Sitarz.
Fund committed
For Unfold.vc, development is not only a consistent increase in the value of assets. It is also a real contribution to the startup and VC community while building international relationships – so as to support portfolio companies in key areas for building their value.
– Our support goes far beyond an equity investment. We are constantly expanding our network of contacts in order to offer companies real added value. I have just returned from a few months stay in the United States, during which I established several promising relationships. International networking has also resulted in new investment contacts in Germany. We believe that such activities really strengthen the companies we are betting on – says Rafał Sobczak from Unfold.vc.
On a daily basis, the Unfold.vc team shares its managerial and investment know-how and broad experience with students, participating in educational programs supporting aspiring young leaders.
– We cooperate, among others, with Wrocław universities, which have launched their own startup programs for students. We also run classes in one of the acceleration programs for women planning to launch their own businesses, Shesnovation – says Magdalena Surowiec. – Due to the current geopolitical situation, we have decided to take another step which is part of our social involvement strategy. From now on, we will systematically transfer a donation to a chosen charity. This year’s amount will cover the account of a selected program supporting people coming to our country from Ukraine – concludes the manager of Unfold.vc.
The new name of the Fund – Unfold.vc – will be formally voted on at the next General Meeting of Shareholders.
