Silicon Gardens Fund

Slovenian founders who have already sold their own companies run this early-stage technology fund. They describe themselves as people behind exits such as Outfit 7, Zemanta, Klika, iconomi, Mimovrste, Domenca and Cosylab, and say the fund is a way of giving back to the community. Silicon Gardens Fund II has been investing in Slovenian and international startups with high potential since November 2019.

What the fund offers founders

The stated aim is to give entrepreneurs in early-stage technology startups valuable experience, coaching and business connections. The fund's view is that pairing top local talent with a strong international investor network can lead to outstanding outcomes.

Portfolio companies on its site

The range is broad, taking in software, consumer products and food technology:

• Blub Blub, a subscription business that began in speech and language development and offers screen time for children aimed at parents who want quality content.
• Influee, an influencer marketing and content creation platform that connects brands with creators.
• Mediately, a mobile drug directory used by doctors in the region.
• Coherence, a tool for building scalable, persistent multiplayer worlds with editor integration for Unity and other game engines.
• Mimo, which teaches app-making, website-building and other digital skills in lessons that take a minute or so.
• Bird Buddy, a smart bird feeder that notifies owners of visitors and captures and organises their photos.
• Juicy Marbles, a food-technology company using a patented printing-like process to make plant-based steaks.
• Flower and Spice, a premium natural skincare brand built around botanicals.
• Securities Grid, a white-label platform that lets banks offer asset tokenisation to corporate customers.
• tasq.ai, a platform that breaks images and video into micro-tasks for human labelers and then aggregates the results into validated datasets.
• 57hours, which connects clients with mountain guides in the United States and selected international destinations.

Reading the portfolio

Several of these companies serve the same group: consumers using apps, and businesses needing infrastructure. The fund says it backs them from the early stages, using its founders' own experience of building and selling companies to coach the teams it works with.

Silicon Gardens Fund is an early-stage technology fund created by a group of founders with successful exits. The team includes people behind companies such as Outfit 7, Zemanta and Cosylab. They want to give back to the startup community.

Products and services

• Early-stage investment: funds young technology startups with high potential.
• Coaching and experience: advice from operators who have built and sold companies.
• Business connections: access to a wider investor network.

Who it serves

Slovenian and international startups. Portfolio companies described include a children's app maker, an influencer marketing platform, a drug directory for doctors, a game-server platform, a coding education app, a smart bird feeder and a plant-based food producer.

Key facts

• Based in: Slovenia
• Second fund: investing since November 2019