BlackPeak Capital, a Bulgarian private equity firm, today announced the first close of BlackPeak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund II SCSp (BPSEEF II) at €125 million to invest in fast-growing companies across Southeast Europe, with Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia as its primary markets
BPSEEF II is backed by returning anchor investors from BPSEEF I, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Erste Asset Management and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The EIF has committed €35 million comprising €10 million under the Romania Recovery Equity Fund and €25 million under the Bulgaria Recovery and Resilience Plan. The EBRD and IFC have committed €30 million and €20 million respectively.
The Fund also welcomes HBOR, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Universal Pension Fund Doverie, Bulgaria’s largest pension fund, together with regional private investors.
Ivailo Gospodinov, Managing Partner at BlackPeak Capital, says: “Five years ago we spent much of our time explaining the investment case for Southeast Europe. Today, the region remains one of the fastest growing in Europe and its success stories increasingly make that case on their own. We see a new generation of ambitious founders who have built leaders in their specific niches. What these companies lack is growth capital at the scale they need and expertise to expand internationally. BPSEEF II is specifically designed to address that gap.”
BlackPeak’s new fund follows other European investment fund closes in 2026, including fellow Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures’ €65 million first close to support early-stage startups across Central and Southeast Europe, and Warsaw-based Montis VC’s €50 million first close targeting energy and industrial technology.
Elsewhere, Paris-based SlateVC raised €132 million, while UK-based Molten Ventures secured €203 million for its growth fund. Together with BlackPeak’s €125 million, these closes represent €575 million.
EU-Startups previously covered BlackPeak’s €7 million investment in Croatia’s Fasal Bio, illustrating its existing investment activity in the region.
Rossen Ivanov, Managing Partner at BlackPeak Capital, adds: “With BPSEEF I, we scaled our team regionally and demonstrated that our strategy of investing in minority growth deals with a strong buy-and-build focus, both regionally and globally, delivers excellent results. With BPSEEF II, we benefit from an already strong pipeline and deep insight into sectors where we believe structural growth is ahead.”
Established in 2014, BlackPeak Capital has raised over €280 million in cumulative commitments across three funds and has on-the-ground presence in Sofia, Bucharest, Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana and Vienna.
At first close, BPSEEF II has nearly matched its predecessor’s €126 million final size. BPSEEF I started in 2021 and had a final size of €126 million. BPSEEF I invested in 11 companies and completed 16 add-on acquisitions, delivering revenue growth of 34% annually over the last five years. The predecessor fund has reportedly already returned a significant part of the invested capital following the successful exit from euShipments.com to Austrian Post and two further partial exits from GenePlanet and Wiser Technology.
The new Fund is targeting €150 million, with a hard cap of €200 million, and expects to hold its final close in 2027.
BPSEEF II will invest €7 – 20 million per transaction. The Fund may also invest opportunistically across the wider Central and Eastern European region, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Baltic states and other Western Balkan markets.
The Fund will take significant minority or majority stakes, partnering with founders and providing the capital, network and expertise to scale their businesses into regional and global leaders. Generalist by design, BPSEEF II will focus on broad investment themes including e-commerce, healthcare, digitalisation, sustainability, and others.
The Fund expects to build a portfolio of 10 to 12 companies.
Niklas Pichler, Managing Partner at BlackPeak Capital, says: “Our goal is to help ambitious regional businesses become international leaders. We combine growth capital with practical support in entering new markets, making acquisitions and strengthening management teams. As an active partner, we work closely with founders, supporting their vision while helping them build the capabilities needed for the next stage of growth.”
BlackPeak expects to make its first investments from BPSEEF II at the beginning of 2027.
