Venture capital in Central and Eastern Europe is becoming increasingly competitive. With more investors entering the market and the promising local startups attracting global attention, early-stage funds are looking for ways to differentiate themselves—not just through capital, but through speed and access to founders.
With a €107M third fund—one of the four largest in the region—Inovo.vc has established itself as a key player in early-stage investing across Central and Eastern Europe. The firm has built a reputation for aggressive sourcing, rapid deal execution, and deep founder relationships, having already backed more than 60 companies, five of which have reached valuations over €100M. Inovo has also co-invested alongside global investors such as a16z, Google’s Gradient Ventures, and Insight Partners.
To build on this momentum, Inovo has already invested in 28 startups out of the third fund and plans to invest in another 10 in 2025 , targeting pre-seed to seed rounds with investment sizes ranging from €500K to €4M. However, capital alone is not enough to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded VC landscape. Speed and early access to high-potential founders have become critical differentiators.
To strengthen its ability to identify promising startups early, Inovo has developed an AI-driven sourcing tool. This proprietary platform is designed to track and assess founders before they become widely known, giving Inovo an edge in discovering and securing top deals across the region.
Responsible for shaping and executing this task is Karol Lasota, who was recently joined Inovo’s partner team, next to Tomasz Swieboda, Michał Rokosz, and Maciej Małysz.
Karol Lasota: A new partner, a familiar role
Lasota’s promotion to partner is a natural progression within the firm. “From a practical standpoint, not much has changed,” he says. “I’ve been leading my own deals for the last two years, so the transition feels quite smooth.”
However, the title does come with added advantages.
“Being a partner makes it easier to build relationships at the executive level, whether with founders, investors and enterprise executives. And your network and access to people, especially potential customers and next-round investors is the biggest value you can bring to your portfolio companies.”
His focus remains on scaling Inovo’s sourcing and investment strategy, ensuring that the firm continues to identify high-potential startups at an early stage. This approach has been central to Inovo’s success—especially outside of Poland, where the firm has been expanding its presence.
Building an AI-powered sourcing tool to identify founders first
Most venture capital firms build their pipelines through personal networks and referrals, with some using inbound applications as an important source of deal flow. Inovo complements this approach with a more proactive strategy, using its AI-driven sourcing tool to identify high-potential founders before they actively seek investment.
To achieve this, the firm initially explored existing sourcing platforms like Specter and Harmonic, which use AI to track startup activity. However, these tools didn’t fully meet Inovo’s needs, particularly when it came to recognizing founders from the CEE region.
“The biggest issue was how these platforms categorize startups,” Lasota explains. “For example, if a Romanian founder is building a startup in the UK, these tools label it as a British startup. But for us, it’s a Romanian startup—because we invest based on founder nationality, not just company headquarters.”
To address this limitation, Inovo built its own AI-powered sourcing platform.
How the system works
The platform is designed to scan and analyze with AI thousands of profiles weekly, looking for indicators that a founder might be working on a high-potential startup.
“We process about 1,000 founders and companies profiles per day,” Lasota says. “The system looks for signals— product hunt lunches, education, past exits, previous fundraising, startup experience, participation in top accelerator programs or traction on Github.”
Once a profile shows certain criteria, the system automatically flags the founders to meet.
“We’ve mapped out the process we used to do manually and automated it. Now, instead of spending hours searching for new startups, we get a weekly list of potential high-value founders to reach out to with basing AI reasoning and summary on top of that.”
Speed as a competitive advantage
While identifying startups early is important, acting quickly is just as critical.
“When we see a promising founder, we don’t wait. We reach out immediately, set up a call, and if the conversation goes well, we’re often on a plane the next day to meet them in person,” shares Lasota.
This proactive approach to sourcing and relationship-building has helped Inovo secure deals in markets outside of Poland before even local investors became aware of them.
“There have been cases where we spotted a startup before the local ecosystem even caught wind of it. That’s a huge advantage in a competitive market.”
Inovo’s ambition extends beyond Poland. Already half of their third fund portfolio are companies founded by founders from the Balkans, Baltics or Eastern Europe, especially in Croatia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
Currently, the firm has a 13 person team, divided between investment professionals and a support team that assists portfolio companies. Looking ahead, Inovo is considering hiring another team members outside Poland after Stefan Krstevski who’s based in Macedonia to strengthen its position in key CEE markets.
“We want to be a truly regional fund. We’ve already expanded into the Balkans, Baltics, and Ukraine, and we’re thinking about hiring someone locally—maybe in the Baltics or another person in the Balkans—because our goal is to have a strong presence across Central and Eastern Europe.”
Investment plans for 2025
After closing 14 deals in 2025, Inovo aims to maintain its investment pace this year, targeting 10 new investments in 2025.
“Our strategy remains consistent—source aggressively, move fast, and support founders early. With the systems we’ve built and the regional network we’ve developed, we’re well-positioned to continue backing the next wave of top CEE startups.”
Regarding their investment thesis, Lasota is open minded.
“To be honest, I don’t care that much about the industry. What matters is the founder—how ambitious they are, how well they execute, and whether they can build something big. A great founder will figure out the market. So far this year we have 2 investments in very diverse industries – social media and dev tools.”
As we can observe, the VC space is getting more competitive, and it’s no longer just about writing checks—it’s about finding the best founders early and helping them grow. Some firms are expanding into new markets, others are using technology to spot startups faster, and many are strengthening their networks to stay ahead.
With the startup scene in CEE targeting the sky, the big question is: what’s the best way for VCs to identify top founders and give them the support they need to build the next big thing?
