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, product milestones, and emerging trends tied to the region’s potential:
Southeastern and Central Europe
Czech-founded Kontext, an AI-powered contextual advertising platform, has officially come out of stealth mode with a $10 (€8.61) million seed round, positioning itself as strong player in the emerging AI chatbot advertising market.
“We are excited to lead the charge in powering the next advertising frontier – GenAI consumer companies,” wrote Andrej Kiska on LinkedIn, adding that the platform already processes tens of millions of daily ad impressions for major consumer brands.
WiseBee, headquartered in New York with R&D center in Sofia, has raised $2.5 (€2.14) million in pre-seed funding from Frontline Ventures and BrightCap Ventures to scale its AI-powered cyber defense platform, which autonomously monitors, detects and fixes threats for mid-sized organisations.
Bulgarian Black Peak Capital, a private equity firm, has announced a strategic investment in Romanian Affinity Life Care, a private network of elderly care facilities in Romania, with the aim to support high-growth businesses across Southeast Europe.
“Affinity represents the first investment by a private equity fund in Romania’s senior care sector, and we see it as a big responsibility towards current and future residents, employees, and the industry,” shared Virgil Chitu, Romania Lead with BlackPeak Capital.
From the Baltics
Estonian smart building automation company Bisly has secured €4.3 million in new funding to support its expansion throughout Central and Western Europe. The investment round was led by 2C Ventures, with continued backing from existing investors.
Bisly was founded in 2018 by Siim Vips and Ants Vill with the aim to leverage AI to deliver scalable smart automation solutions for buildings.
Estonian renewable energy company Sunly has secured €85 million in loans from the EIB, EBRD, and SEB to develop the Risti solar park, set to be the largest in the Baltics by 2027. The 244 MWp solar park, built with local partner Metsagrupp, will supply clean energy to over 80,000 Estonian households. Founded in 2019, Sunly develops renewable projects in the Baltics and Poland and aims to reach 1 GW in operational and in-progress capacity by 2026.
Latvian biotech startup Cellbox Labs has raised €3.3 million, partly from the EU’s “Tech4Cure” healthcare initiative, to advance its product portfolio. The Riga-based company develops organ-on-chip models, focusing on personalized gut systems and AI-driven drug discovery. Its platform enables real-time monitoring and supports efforts to reduce animal testing and enhance drug development with AI.
