The Recursive’s weekly roundup aims to cover key tech developments across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the growing impact of CEE-born founders on the global stage. Take a look at the latest news in funding, startup milestones, and emerging trends tied to the region’s innovation potential.
Two major funds reached closing in CEE this week: Morphosis Capital Partners sealed its second growth fund at €130M, exceeding its target with backing from EIF, EBRD, IFC, and leading entrepreneurs, while Siena Secondary Fund II closed at €50M with EBRD and SmartCap as anchor investors. Regional cooperation on AI took center stage as Poland and the Baltic states advanced joint initiatives, with notable AI updates also emerging from Albania.
CEE deals & fund updates
Growth capital firm Morphosis Capital Partners BV has closed its second fund at €130 million, surpassing its initial hard cap with the backing of the European Investment Fund (EIF), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as institutional asset managers and more than €50 million in entrepreneurial capital from Western European founders.
Siena Secondary Fund II, а VC direct secondaries fund focused on Central and Eastern Europe and the Nordics, announces a major closing with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and SmartCap, Estonia’s state-owned fund, joining as lead investors. Each of them are committing €10 million. The total fund size is €50 million.
Estonian AI startup Vocal Image has locked $3.6 (€3.07) million in a seed round led by Educapital, with participation from Specialist VC and Generations Fund. Vocal Image, launched in 2021 by Nick Lahoika, Maryna Shukiurava, and Mikalai Karaliou, is an AI-powered app that aims to enhance speaking skills with lessons, exercises, and personalized feedback.
MeetGeek secures a €1.6M funding round led by Early Game Ventures and Inspire Capital to scale its AI meeting assistant into a category-defining AI workspace. The funds will be spent on scaling product capabilities, expanding multi-agent AI, and evolving into a category-defining AI workspace.
AI news across the region
On 27 August, representatives of Poland, the Baltic states and European partners met in Warsaw as part of the Baltic AIGigafactory Steering Committee. During the meeting, key issues related to the development of the regional AI ecosystem were discussed, ranging from technology and infrastructure, through market and public sector needs, to the principles of cooperation within the consortium, including organisational, financial and legal issues.
It has been proposed to map state expenditure on AI in state-owned companies and administration and redirect it to a gigafactory, creating sovereign computing power for the Baltic states and Poland.
The European AI Forum is expanding its network, welcoming AI Sweden as a full member alongside three new associated members: AI Albania, the Georgian Artificial Intelligence Association, and the Serbian AI Association. With these additions, EAIF now connects more than 2,000 AI innovators through 10 member organisations and 3 associated members, making it the largest AI alliance in Europe.
In Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced plans to integrate AI into government and even appoint an AI‑run ministry to fight corruption and improve transparency; AI is already used to monitor public procurement, tax and customs, and to detect illegal cannabis plantations mezha.net.
The city of Czestochowa became the first in Poland to pilot the Polish Large Language Model (PLLuM) in administration; it uses AI to automate correspondence and document summarisation, and the government allocated 19 million złoty (€4.4 million) for implementation.
