Early Warning System

Regions

Europe and Central Asia

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Specific Location

Southeastern Europe

Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.

Financial Institutions

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Approved

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Feb 24, 2026

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

LAUNCHub Fund III Coöperatief U.A.

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Finance

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Equity

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 11.77 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 10
Converted using 2026-02-24 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 82.42 million

Bank Documents

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS May 7, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Mar 9, 2026

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of an equity investment of up to EUR 10 million in LAUNCHub Fund III, which is targeting to raise EUR 70 million in total commitments. The Fund will focus on equity investments in early-stage technology-driven businesses primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, with the core focus on Southeastern Europe. The project will form part of the Bank's Early-Stage Innovation Facility II ("ESIF II"), a EUR 200 million facility through which the EBRD selectively invests in commercially oriented early-stage venture capital funds.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Categorised FI (ESP 2024). Environmental and Social (E&S) Due Diligence, conducted via questionnaire, reviews of the indicative pipeline and publicly available information, demonstrated that the Fund Manager complies with EBRD's Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) 4 and 9. The Fund will not invest in Category A projects.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

An equity investment of up to EUR 10 million in LAUNCHub Fund III (the "Fund"), which is targeting to raise EUR 70 million in total commitments.

Financial Intermediary

A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.

LAUNCHub (Financial Intermediary)

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

LAUNCHub Fund III Coöperatief U.A. is a cooperative with exclusion of liability to be established under the laws of the Netherlands.

LAUNCHub is a leading early-stage venture capital fund focused on investing in startups in South-Eastern (SEE) and Central-Eastern (CEE) Europe.

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Irina Dimitrova
irina@launchub.com
+359896731317
https://launchub.com/
Sofia Center, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd 21, 1504 Sofia, Bulgaria

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html