Credo Ventures, one of Central and Eastern Europe’s most established early-stage venture capital firms, has announced the launch of its fifth fund, Credo Stage 5 (CS5). The fund managed to raise its $88 (€74.85) million tarobtain in the first close.
Founded in 2010, the fund is headquartered in Prague and Krakow. Over the past 15 years, the firm has invested in more than 100 companies across four funds, including two standout global success stories, UiPath and ElevenLabs, both of which Credo backed at the pre-seed stage.
Doubling down on pre-seed in CEE
With Credo Stage 5, tarobtains the pre-seed segment once again, where it believes its deep regional expertise and founder-first approach create a significant competitive edge.
The new fund will focus on:
- Initial investments ranging from $1M to $5M
- Approximately 30 portfolio companies
- Around 7–8 new investments per year
- A sector-agnostic strategy, prioritizing exceptional founders over specific verticals
Credo will continue to tarobtain founders from Central and Eastern Europe, while also actively investing in diaspora entrepreneurs building companies in major global hubs such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Credo Stage 5 is led by partners Maciek Gnutek, Jakub Krikava, Max Kolowrat-Krakowsky, Matej Micek, Ondrej Bartos, and Jan Habermann.
Backing global outliers
Credo’s track record includes early bets on category-defining companies. The firm co-led the pre-seed round of UiPath, which went on to IPO on the NYSE at a $35 billion valuation in 2021, and led the pre-seed round of ElevenLabs, recently valued at $11 billion.
Beyond these headline successes, Credo has backed a broad portfolio of high-growth startups, including Productboard, Resistant AI, Betterstack, and Manta (acquired by IBM), among others. Several of its funds have delivered top-tier returns, with two achieving performance exceeding 10x.
The firm’s portfolio companies have attracted follow-on investments from leading global venture firms such as Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, Index Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins.
Approximately two-thirds of Credo’s capital comes from institutional limited partners, including Adams Street, RSJ, Sequoia, Isomer, and Marktlink. Notably, the firm operates without public funding, reinforcing its indepconcludeence and market-driven approach.
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