Looking Back on 2021: A Year in Review


Amid another year of pandemic and uncertain times, many quality startups have emerged, as well as investors who want to support innovation. That played nicely into our cards. At DEPO Ventures, we have strengthen our processes and communication so that we can achieve greater results.

DEPO VENTURES

A year 2021 in review

Last year has been an active year when it comes to new investments. 11 investment deals in one year is really something. Read about the individual investments and what else succeeded. At the same time, we still have room for improvement and we look forward to what the new year 2022 will bring us.

Looking back on 2021

  • 8 Investments from DEPO Angels Fund I. (Grouport)
  • 3 Investments from DEPO Angels Fund II.
  • 6 Investment syndications
  • 3x more members at the DEPO Angels Network
  • 2nd DEPO Angels Fund has been launched and funded
  • 1st DEPO Seed Fund has been launched

Big year for VC

2021 was a big year for European VC and surpassed even what we experienced in 2020. According to the most recent Atomico Report, European startups raised $120bn in funding this year — which is almost 3x higher than last year. Read the detailed report commentary by Petr Sima, DEPO Ventures partner. We are no exception. Last year has been an active year when it comes to new investments. 11 deals total and a wide range of areas, such as Fintech, Marketplace, Impact, etc. They are:

Fond I (Grouport)

Bikefair - The first fair and fun online marketplace with used bikes.

Pulse - Platform that allows you to see sport experiences through the eyes of athletes.

Encubate - Mobile application for the training of starting entrepreneurs.

Neuronix.AI - Technology that accelerates performance when processing computer vision outputs.

Augmented Robotics - Combines the best of the physical and virtual worlds of games and toys with augmented reality.

Evitado - Automating airport operations by building an automation platform.

Oxus AI - Effortlessly monitor 100% of your team's sales calls and provide instant feedback that genuinely improves performance.

Mileus - An automated combination of taxi & ride-hailing services and public transport for a comfortable and sustainable commute.

DEPO Angels fund II.

Gitgut - game voice assistant, which uses artificial intelligence to help players of e-sports games.

Blockmate - uses a unified API to access financial data from cryptocurrency accounts of various global services.

Ringil - modular cloud platform for use in logistics
 

Our growing community

Our community of investors is growing. In 2021, we have tripled the number of members at our international network and worked on new benefits, including memberships, resources, etc. And we can’t forget about the knowledge base and Investor toolkit where you can find valuable information. In addition, we are still working on new features to create a better place for investors.

Events

We’ve organized many exciting events throughout the year. You may remember our Engaged Investments conference in October 2021 which was an overwhelming success for us. For the first time, we have welcomed investors from abroad. The feedback from participants we received was unanimously positive.

And last but certainly not least we have startup pitches every month. What an opportunity for new startups to present! This is where it all starts and we hope that we can support new entities during the next year as well.