1,4 Milliarden Dollar in KI-Startups in der CEE-Region investiert, Kroatien führt mit Investitionen in Rimacs Robotaxis

A total of 1.4 billion dollars has been invested in startups in Central and Eastern Europe since the beginning of 2023, with Croatia standing out due to a $100 million investment in Rimac’s robotaxis, specifically the company Verne, as reported by the technology portal The Recursive in its latest report on investment in artificial intelligence in the CEE region. In Croatia, a total of $107 million was invested from January to August 2024, and besides Verne, other significant funding rounds went to AI startups Pythagora (€3.68 million) and Qubinets (€1.1 million).

Poland, Greece, and Croatia lead in investments

Tech startups in the CEE region have recorded significant activity this year, and the region has also gained its first AI unicorn – the Polish ElevenLabs which uses deep learning for human speech synthesis. There were 13 mergers and acquisitions, and since the last report from The Recursive, 23 new funds worth $1.2 billion have been launched.

In 2023, CEE region startups raised €850 million in investments, while from January to August 2024, they secured an additional €593 million. The largest investments went to Poland, Greece, and Croatia, with The Recursive particularly highlighting investments in the company Verne for the robotaxis of founder Mate Rimac – €180 million from the European Commission in 2023 and €100 million this year from TASARU Mobility Investments and the Saudi state fund.

Since 2021, €5 billion has been invested in AI companies in the CEE region, and the total investments in 2024, the report’s authors predict, could exceed last year’s €850 million.

While Greece, for example, records investment rounds distributed among a larger number of startups, Poland and Croatia attracted a smaller number of large rounds. The Recursive highlights, among these smaller rounds in Croatia, the investment in the AI startup Mindsmiths. The majority of seed investments, 55%, were raised.

Among the notable companies is the Croatian Cognism, as one of the AI startups that ‚plays an important role in the development and branding of the CEE region‘, due to a total of $119 million in external funding raised over the years. Calimero Network and Turneo are Croatian startups that ’should be kept an eye on‘, Protostar Labs is the first Croatian company to launch its software on a satellite, Photomath has been declared the third-best generative AI application, and Gideon together with Toyota Material Handling Europe is developing automated solutions. A total of 84 companies in the field of artificial intelligence in Croatia employed 15,500 people by the end of August 2024, with the largest growth recorded in the area of machine learning.

‚Cooling‘ of the market

The Recursive states that Big Tech companies are increasingly considering investments and acquisitions in the CEE region. For example, companies like IBM, Intel, WP Engine, and Box have recently acquired AI companies in Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, and Serbia, and Google Cloud and Oracle are also showing increasing interest.

However, after the surge in investments in 2021, driven by private and venture capital and financial support from the European Union, investment levels have steadily declined in the following years. The Recursive writes that many experts see the current situation as a ‚correction‘ of the market rather than a decline. Investment amounts are now returning to ’normal‘ levels, which is attributed, among other things, to geopolitical instability, rising interest rates, high inflation, low IPO activity, and challenges in fundraising.

Similarly, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia have distinguished themselves due to significant economic growth and low unemployment over the past five years. However, all these countries still face challenges such as underdeveloped capital markets and pension systems, which, according to The Recursive, could hinder further progress and green transformation. Additionally, a declining working-age population poses an extra challenge, prompting the report’s authors to recommend education in digital skills and artificial intelligence, as well as strengthening research and development.