BlackPeak Capital announces €125 million first close of Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund II
9 November 2026 - BlackPeak Capital (“BlackPeak”), a leading private equity firm focused on investing growth equity in Southeast Europe, today announced the first close of BlackPeak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund II SCSp (“BPSEEF II” or “the Fund”) at €125 million. At first close, BPSEEF II has nearly matched its predecessor’s €126 million final size. The Luxembourg-domiciled Fund is targeting €150 million, with a hard cap of €200 million, and expects to hold its final close in 2027.
BPSEEF II will invest €7 - 20 million per transaction in fast-growing companies across Southeast Europe, with Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia as its primary markets. The Fund may also invest opportunistically across the wider Central and Eastern European region, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Baltic states and other Western Balkan markets.
The Fund will take significant minority or majority stakes, partnering with founders and providing the capital, network and expertise to scale their businesses into regional and global leaders. Generalist by design, BPSEEF II will focus on broad investment themes including e-commerce, healthcare, digitalisation, sustainability, and others. Within these themes, it will back the leading companies in their respective niches. The Fund expects to build a portfolio of 10 to 12 companies, well diversified across countries, sectors and end markets.
Track record
BPSEEF II builds on the established strategy of its predecessor, BlackPeak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund I SCSp (“BPSEEF I”), which started in 2021 and had a final size of €126 million. BPSEEF I invested in 11 companies and completed 16 add-on acquisitions, helping the portfolio deliver revenue growth of 34% annually over the last five years. The predecessor fund has already returned a significant part of the invested capital following the successful exit from euShipments.com to Austrian Post and two further partial exits from GenePlanet and Wiser Technology.
Investors
BPSEEF II is backed by returning anchor investors from BPSEEF I, including the European Investment Fund (“EIF”), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”), Erste Asset Management and the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector. The EIF has committed €35 million comprising €10 million under the Romania Recovery Equity Fund and €25 million under the Bulgaria Recovery and Resilience Plan. The EBRD and IFC have committed €30 million and €20 million respectively.
The Fund also welcomes a diverse group of new investors. These include HBOR, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Universal Pension Fund “Doverie”, Bulgaria's largest pension fund, together with regional private investors.
Ivailo Gospodinov, Managing Partner at BlackPeak Capital, commented: “Five years ago we spent much of our time explaining the investment case for Southeast Europe. Today, the region remains one of the fastest growing in Europe and its success stories increasingly make that case on their own. We see a new generation of ambitious founders who have built leaders in their specific niches. What these companies lack is growth capital at the scale they need and expertise to expand internationally. BPSEEF II is specifically designed to address that gap.”
Rossen Ivanov, Managing Partner at BlackPeak Capital, noted: “With BPSEEF I, we scaled our team regionally and demonstrated that our strategy of investing in minority growth deals with a strong buy-and-build focus, both regionally and globally, delivers excellent results. With BPSEEF II, we benefit from an already strong pipeline and deep insight into sectors where we believe structural growth is ahead.”
Niklas Pichler, Managing Partner at BlackPeak Capital, added: “Our goal is to help ambitious regional businesses become international leaders. We combine growth capital with practical support in entering new markets, making acquisitions and strengthening management teams. As an active partner, we work closely with founders, supporting their vision while helping them build the capabilities needed for the next stage of growth.”
BlackPeak expects to make its first investments from BPSEEF II at the beginning of 2027.
About BlackPeak Capital
Established in 2014, BlackPeak Capital is a leading private equity firm focused on investing growth equity in Southeast Europe. We invest €7 - 20 million tickets in fast-growing companies across Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, and opportunistically across the wider Central and Eastern European region. The Team partners with ambitious entrepreneurs to build regional and global leaders through organic growth and add-on acquisitions. BlackPeak Capital has raised over €280 million in cumulative commitments across three funds and has on-the-ground presence in Sofia, Bucharest, Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana and Vienna. As a certified B Corporation, BlackPeak Capital remains committed to making a positive economic, social, and environmental impact.
BlackPeak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund II is backed by leading international institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector, as well as other European institutional and private investors.
The EIF's investment is made through the Recovery Equity Fund of Funds – Romania (REF Romania) and the Recovery Equity Fund of Funds – Bulgaria (REF Bulgaria), two investment instruments co-financed by the European Union under the NextGenerationEU programme and managed by the EIF as part of the respective national Recovery and Resilience Plans.