“We expect to close the minimum size in the autumn and start operations, with the remainder of the financing amount to be raised soon thereafter,” Demetrios Zoppos, the co-founder of 33East, the VC firm selected to steer the Cyprus Equity Fund’s capital has told CBN.
He was speaking to CBN soon after The Bank of Cyprus made a €2 million investment in the 33East Investment Fund (www.33east.vc).
“We have so far raised around half the amount of the private financing, around €5m in commitments,” Zoppos continued in statements to CBN, adding that his team also expects “other institutional investors to join but also individual private investors. Details will be announced once public.”
33East was selected by the Cyprus Finance Ministry, in collaboration with the European Investment Fund (EIF), to manage the Cyprus Equity Fund, which draws €27 million from Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRP) and residual funds from the JEREMIE programme, with the manager tasked to raise another €10,5 million. 33East’s mandate is to invest in pre-seed and seed startups, filling the risk financing gap of the local early-stage scene.
Also read: Bank of Cyprus becomes founding financier in the 33East Investment Fund with a €2m investment
Also read: How the Cyprus Equity Fund will stitch the elements of the island’s startup ecosystem together