Practica Capital held the final closing of Practica Venture Capital fund at the targeted size of €15.7m by attracting new investors and several existing investors increasing their commitments. The EIF increased its commitment to €11m.

1. Practica Capital raises additional funding for the Practica Venture Capital fund to
invest into Lithuanian SMEs
Practica Capital held the final closing of Practica Venture Capital fund at the targeted size of EUR
15.7m by attracting new investors and several existing investors increasing their commitments.
European Investment Fund (EIF) increased its investment to EUR 11m through the JEREMIE
Holding Fund for Lithuania.
The fund invests in established businesses with high-growth potential and also provides follow-on
investments to some ideas and startups developed under the EUR 6m Practica Seed Capital fund
also managed by Practica Capital. The Practica Venture Capital fund is a generalist investor and
may invest up to EUR 3m per enterprise from various sectors.
By end of 2013, Practica Venture Capital fund signed 6 investments for EUR 2.7m, including valueadded lighting distributor Gaudrė, international payments provider TransferGo, journey planner
Trafi and 3D model marketplace CGTrader. Moreover, Practica Seed Capital fund invested EUR
2.6m into 14 different ideas which are in the intensive development stage.
“Practica Capital’s ability to reach the targeted fund size shows that the private investors trust and
support the fund manager’s investment strategy. The team has undertaken an important role to
make seed and early stage investments that support innovative ideas in Lithuania – a challenging
task that requires both capital, time and knowledge to be invested,“– Graham Cope, Senior Head
of Region for the European Investment Fund said.
Partner of Practica Capital Tomas Andriuškevičius said “After increasing the size of the venture
capital fund we have more to offer to both early-stage and established enterprises willing to grow
their business and its value. Private sector investors in the fund include successful companies,
entrepreneurs and professionals, which potentially can add value to some of our portfolio
companies by co-investing, advising and perhaps participating in the management, e.g. board
membership.”
“Venture capital funds help businesses to develop new products, increase productivity and
competitiveness, expand in the local and foreign markets, improve their management and
performance, as well as to attract additional financing,– Mantas Mikuckas, co-founder and advisor
of Practica Capital and investor in Practica Venture Capital fund said.
About Practica Capital
Practica Capital is a venture capital firm established in 2011 by investment professionals and
entrepreneurs who exited their businesses. The firm manages EUR 6m Practica Seed Capital fund
and EUR 15.7m Practica Venture Capital fund, both established under the JEREMIE initiative,
managed by EIF and financed from the EU Structural Funds under 2007-2013 Economic Growth
Operational Programme of Lithuania. Funds provide early- and later-stage financing to Lithuanian
SMEs focusing on innovative and high-growth potential businesses. Practica Capital also runs
business accelerator Startup.lt, which helps young businesses to achieve high growth potential. By
end of 2013, Practica Capital signed 20 investments for €5.3 million in 16 companies from different
sectors. For more information visit www.practica.lt.

2. About EIF
EIF's central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by
helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees
and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters
EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and
employment. EIF’s total net commitments to venture and growth capital funds amounted to over
EUR 6.5bn at end 2012. With investments in over 430 funds, the EIF is a leading player in
European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and
early-stage segments. The EIF guarantees loan portfolio totalled over EUR 4.7bn in close to 255
operations at end 2012, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading
micro-finance guarantor. For more information visit www.eif.org.
About JEREMIE
JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) is a joint initiative launched
by the European Commission (DG Regional Policy) and the European Investment Bank group to
improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU within the Structural Funds framework for the period
2007 - 2013. JEREMIE enables the EU Member States and Regions to put money from the
structural funds and also national resources into holding funds that can finance SMEs in a flexible
and innovative way. Since the products will be provided on a repayment basis, funding will be
reinvested and hence more SMEs will benefit from the EU resources. In Lithuania, JEREMIE
Holding Fund is financed from the EU Structural Funds under 2007-2013 Economic Growth
Operational Programme of Lithuania. EUR 42m of the EU Structural Funds are allocated to the
JEREMIE Holding Fund for Lithuania, managed by EIF.
For more information please contact:
Practica Capital: Silvestras Tamutis, Partner, +370 687 89 366, silvestras@practica.lt
EIF: Jūratė Aželionytė, Mandate Relationship Manager, +370 5 269 0104, j.azelionyte@eif.org