Domino Ventures: New opportunities needed to attract global funds for South Caucasus and Central Asia startups

The South Caucasus and Central Asia region needs broader opportunities to attract global venture capital for early-stage startup financing in order to increase its investment appeal, Yagiz Karadeniz, Managing Partner at Domino Ventures, said during a panel discussion titled "Expanding Beyond Central Eurasia" at the Fifth INMerge Innovation Summit, organized by PASHA Holding.

"There are very few opportunities to directly invest 1, 2, or 5 million [currency not specified] in startup development. With such capital, we could support one or two projects, rather than distributing funds across ten. Not every startup delivers results, so we tend to focus on later-stage investments in projects that have already proven successful. However, this creates a gap, and this is why access to the global market is so important. Large venture funds invest in bigger amounts-3, 5, or 10 million-and primarily evaluate the customer base. They assess it directly. In my view, if you are not in FinTech, local delivery, or operational businesses, but represent a digital company, and your local market accounts for more than 60–70% of revenue, such investors simply will not be interested," Karadeniz said.