Flyer One Ventures Secures €50M Fund V Backed by IFC and EBRD

KYIV, Ukraine – 10 July 2025

Flyer One Ventures (F1V), the Kyiv-based early-stage venture capital firm, today announced the launch of its fifth and largest fund to date — a €50 million vehicle backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The milestone makes F1V the first Ukrainian VC to receive backing from both institutions, a move that signals growing trust in Ukraine’s entrepreneurial capacity despite wartime conditions.

Fund V will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in software startups across Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe, with check sizes of up to $1.5 million per company. F1V says the new fund allows it to double down on what it does best: backing gritty, capital-efficient founders solving real problems from the region.

“We are the first Ukrainian VC backed by both IFC and EBRD,” said Vital Laptenok, general partner at F1V, in a post on LinkedIn. “These are two of the most serious institutions out there. And now they’ve decided to bet on founders from Ukraine and CEE.”

To date, the firm has invested nearly $45 million in more than 90 startups, including Fintech Farm, which builds neobanks in emerging markets; Liki24, which improves last-mile delivery of health products; Competera, an AI pricing platform for retail enterprises; Jome, an AI solution that simplifies home buying; and Mate academy, which trains people in tech for global jobs. It has also recorded two exits: VOCHI, acquired by Pinterest, and Greenscreens, acquired by Triumph Financial.

The EBRD has committed €6.5 million to Fund V, with an option to increase its stake to €10 million. IFC is contributing another €5 million, of which €3 million comes from Japan’s Economic Resilience Action program aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s digital economy.

“We are proud to support F1V’s new fund and, in doing so, help local founders turn their ideas into reality,” said Matteo Patrone, EBRD vice president for banking. “This partnership will help promising companies take the next step — and that’s exactly what innovation needs. It’s what the whole region needs.”

Ines Rocha, IFC’s division director for Europe, added: “By strengthening the local venture capital market, we hope to help keep talented people in Ukraine and draw more private investment into its growing technology sector.”

“Investment from top financial institutions like EBRD and IFC sends a huge signal to the international community: our region matters, and world-class companies can be built from here,” said Oleksii Yermolenko, co-founder and partner at F1V, in a LinkedIn post.

For Laptenok and his team, the institutional validation carries symbolic weight.

“I’ve always said it: look at what entrepreneurs build from here with limited access to capital — that’s pure dollar DNA,” he wrote. “I want to live in a world where founders from this region can stay, raise, and scale without moving to SF or pretending to be someone they’re not. That feels a bit closer today.”

The announcement also marks a full-circle moment for partner Elena Mazhuha, who joined F1V in 2019.

“My first task was to find strong Ukrainian founders. I was cold-messaging everyone I’d ever met,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Most days, we swung between ‘everything’s gonna work out’ and ‘we’re screwed.’” She nearly left for graduate school in the United States but chose to stay. “Now we’re here: the first Ukrainian VC backed by both IFC and EBRD.”

F1V was launched in 2018 inside Genesis, the Ukrainian product tech company co-founded by Laptenok. Today, it operates independently with a team that includes Mazhuha and Yermolenko — both of whom have been recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. Beyond capital, the fund provides hands-on support in hiring, marketing, business development, and fundraising, with more than half its portfolio having already advanced to Series A or later.

While the Ukrainian tech ecosystem has drawn growing attention since 2022, local founders still face significant capital constraints and structural challenges. Institutional commitments like those from IFC and EBRD are rare — and potentially transformative.

“This trust means the bar has moved,” Laptenok said. “I’m excited.”