Empower Capital will rebrand to Invenio Partners to better reflect its approach to discovering companies with potential for a leadership position in their respective industry throughout the region.
Empower Capital, one of the pioneer fund managers in the Bulgarian private equity and venture capital ecosystem, announced today that it has completed a major rebranding. The rebrand to Invenio Partners reflects the fund manager’s approach to better identify companies with leadership potential not only in Bulgaria, but also throughout the region.
Empower Capital was founded in 2014 to manage Empower Capital Fund I – a EUR 21 million co-investment fund financed by the European Investment Fund – JEREMIE Bulgaria with the mandate to provide unique access to equity and quasi-equity funding to growing Bulgarian companies. The fund invested in and exited several successful transactions, including companies like City Clinic, Cremio and Fidelis Research.
The fund manager will change its name to Invenio Partners as well as release a new logo and website (https://invenio.partners/) that will all work with its expanding business model. Invenio Partners also announced the launch of a new regional private equity and growth equity fund – Invenio Partners Fund II with a mandate to invest in SMEs in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. With the continued and expanded support of EIF, the fund completed its latest closing at EUR 55m and will target equity and quasi-equity investments in the range EUR 3-10m in companies with a solid track record and potential for a leadership position in their respective industry. The new fund manager will be led by seasoned Empower Capital investors Elvin Guri, Stanislav Nikolaev, Slavcho Parushev and Tihomir Dyankov, while also bringing on board as partner Tony Romani, who will develop the Romanian market.
“The name Invenio Partners reflects much better our focus to discover true potential in the companies we invest in, not only in terms of market expansion potential, but also in identifying opportunities that would contribute to operational improvements and vertical and/or horizontal integration”, said CEO Elvin Guri. “We are expanding our efforts to support the fastest growing SMEs in Romania and Serbia, while Bulgaria remains our core market.”
Invenio Partners announced its first two investments, both completed in 2022. The first one continues the support of Cycle GETS – the first independent alloy bicycle frames manufacturer in Europe that aims to fil a gap in the bike frame industry by positioning frame production closer to European bike manufacturers. The second investment saw Invenio Partners invest EUR 3 million in SAT Health – the Bulgarian leader in healthcare data analytics and digital solutions, aspiring to expand it regional footprint, develop new product offerings across its business lines and accelerate the implementation of technological advancements.
“The continued support for Cycle GETS falls within our strategy to discover and promote export-oriented companies, looking to monetize on the nearshoring trend that developed in the manufacturing sector during the past several years”, said Stanislav Nikolaev, Partner & COO. “On the other hand, the investment in SAT Health illustrates our ambition to promote and improve access to quality healthcare services. SAT Health is a great example of a company that uses technology to significantly improve the efficiency of the resources used both by businesses and institutions in the field of healthcare through implementing long-term strategic solutions. The management team has achieved tremendous results with their efforts to date and we sincerely believe that our investment will enable them to further scale the company’s potential, both in the local market and throughout the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.”