Are you a team with a product?
Fil Rouge Capital provides seed funding for startups. Seed funding is the earliest stage of venture funding. It pays your expenses while you’re getting started. Apply to our Accelerator program and get up to €50K investment.
What You Get
Fundings
Each company receives up to €50K (fifty thousand Euros) investment to get you going. Use this money to structure your company and start with initial investments.
Mentors & Coaching
Full access to the mentor network and their Office Hours. You will get one dedicated FRC partner as a Lead mentor during the program. You will get 10 seminars led by our Experts in Residence and full access to them during the program.
Residential program
Three months of program where you will attend the Founder’s dinner events; attend weekly conferences; have access to the FRC partner, have access to sponsors and a co-investor network; become a part of our Alumni network; present yourself and pitch on FRC Demo Day at the end of the program. You will also receive Answers to 30 business questions.
Growth Capital
Privileged access to FRC Growth Program and the ability to raise up to €1M investment.
You
01
You need a professional team to assist you in accelerating your development
02
You are determined to expand internationally
03
You need to develop your product and market approach
04
You have a Minimum Viable Product (even a basic one)
05
You think you can generate x20 valuation growth
06
You have a clear exit value, even if exit path is still not obvious
07
You have a compelling business concept or an innovation
08
You are committed and passionate founders
FAQ
How to apply for the FRC program?
To apply, please visit to our application form (click on apply button) and fill in the information set within the form.
When applying, please follow the guidelines below:
– All application forms must be in English language, no other languages are accepted
– You should detailly describe your idea (product/service), applications that are lacking in content will have a smaller chance of receiving the money.
We review EVERY application and respond to each one; sometimes the response is not the one you were hoping for, but we reply to every application we receive.
When applying, please follow the guidelines below:
– All application forms must be in English language, no other languages are accepted
– You should detailly describe your idea (product/service), applications that are lacking in content will have a smaller chance of receiving the money.
We review EVERY application and respond to each one; sometimes the response is not the one you were hoping for, but we reply to every application we receive.
What are the investment criteria?
It is never black or white. We look at the product, the market size and the market segment, the business model, the company’s early traction, and of course, above everything else the TEAM that should be cohesive, credible and passionate. We love early traction but also consider smaller traction with passionate (small) user base.
What sectors does FRC invest in?
We are generalist and rather agnostic looking mainly for disruption but our sweet spots are: SaaS, cloud services, marketplace, e-commerce, AI, deep tech, Fintech, Logistics, IOT, industry 4.0, 5G applications, B2B, B2C, etc.
If we are not from Croatia, do we have to move to Croatia to qualify for investment?
If you are not from Croatia, you will need to open a company here and employ a certain number of key staff in that company. Fil Rouge Capital will be able to advise you on what steps need to be taken and provide you with all the relevant contacts to make this process as easy and fast as possible.
Do we need to employ somebody in our startup?
Yes, at least one person. While this is usually the founder, it can also be somebody else (but founder needs to show us his commitment if he will not be employed in his company). Of course, you will want to employ more people as you will start growing so fast...
What should a startup's team look like?
Our experience shows that the best mix is a combination of a tech founder and sales founder, in general we would rather invest in a tech team without sales genius than the other way around but everything is possible, gut feeling plays a major role here!
How intensive is your Acceleration program?
This depends on you. Most important part of the program are office hours with the FRC Mentors, and you will make the decision on how many office hours do you want to book. There are also two events every week that last between 1-2 hours, the most important one being the Founder’s Speech event – the talk with a successful startup founder that will share his experience with you and answer your questions.
What kind of support can I expect beyond money?
It has become very common for VCs to claim they give you more than money, very few actually live by it. At FRC, we always stand behind our founders, in good and bad times. Our support goes from very tangible acts such as helping you put together your next round to much less tangible such as taking late phone calls to discuss life/work balance when your GF/BF complains your mistress has become the company we invested in.
What is an FRC Alumni network?
It is a privileged peer-to-peer membership available to all the FRC Portfolio companies providing assistance, introductions, and commercial relationships.
What is FRC Partner/Sponsor network?
It is the network of companies, individuals and organisations that work with and sponsor the FRC program and to whom FRC portfolio companies have direct access for resources and potential customers.
What is FRC co-investors network?
It is the network of relationships that FRC maintains for co-investment in FRC portfolio companies, potential follow-on, next stage investment and for potential exit. FRC is connected to approximately 80 VC across the USA (East and West coast), Europe and Asia.
You claim a lot of nice things but how do I know they are true?
We get it right with say 90% of the founders. We do miss sometimes, same for the founding team; this is a bit like in a marriage, sometimes it just does not work out. We will be happy to introduce you to a couple of founders who have been working with us and they’ll tell you everything about us: the good, the bad and the ugly. But in reality the last two don’t exist. 😉
More on FRC & Investment
Who are the people behind Fil Rouge Capital?
Take a look at our team page and you’ll know everything about us.
At what stage do you invest?
We invest from €10k up to €2M across four stages: idea stage, MVP stage, growth stage and follow on stage.
How many investments/year are you making?
Very hard to say since we do invest at 4 different stages but say 30-40 investments/year should be a good average. Note that “investment” means this could also be in the same company as we tend to follow on our beloved founders.
Will you give me a reason if you reject my application?
No, why? We just don’t, but why?
Who are your investors ?
Some of our investors publicly disclose their investment into FRC, others don’t. We have nothing to hide but we are not allowed to disclose them, sorry! They range from Pension funds, Investment and retail banks, family office, HNWI, etc.
Do you co-invest?
Yes, we lead and we follow, we have no religion if we like the founding team.
How big is your current fund?
€46M
Take a look at our team page and you’ll know everything about us.
At what stage do you invest?
We invest from €10k up to €2M across four stages: idea stage, MVP stage, growth stage and follow on stage.
How many investments/year are you making?
Very hard to say since we do invest at 4 different stages but say 30-40 investments/year should be a good average. Note that “investment” means this could also be in the same company as we tend to follow on our beloved founders.
Will you give me a reason if you reject my application?
No, why? We just don’t, but why?
Who are your investors ?
Some of our investors publicly disclose their investment into FRC, others don’t. We have nothing to hide but we are not allowed to disclose them, sorry! They range from Pension funds, Investment and retail banks, family office, HNWI, etc.
Do you co-invest?
Yes, we lead and we follow, we have no religion if we like the founding team.
How big is your current fund?
€46M