Flyer One Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Flyer One Ventures backs "Dollar-DNA founders": execution-oriented, data-driven leaders building painkillers rather than vitamins. The firm's public positioning leans on the Wright brothers' pioneering spirit ("bold doers who turn ambitious ideas into global breakthroughs") and targets tech-driven businesses with strong founder-market fit. Founded in 2018 by entrepreneurs from one of Central and Eastern Europe's largest tech companies (Genesis), the firm has historically been the most active early-stage investor for Ukrainian founders and has, as of 2025, repositioned itself as a broader CEE investor rather than a Ukraine-only fund.
Sector Focus
Priority sectors as of 2026 are enterprise SaaS, health tech, construction tech, logistics, AI, and fintech. The live portfolio skews heavily toward:
- AI and productivity tooling (Higgsfield, Adapty, aiSDR, DeckRobot, Linguix, Machinet, PromoRepublic, RedTrack, Scalestack, Storio, Hercules AI, Filmustage)
- ConstructionTech (Field Materials)
- Fintech (Fintech Farm, Chipper Cash, Salv, Tilta, Wectory)
- Logistics (Greenscreens.ai, Cargofy)
- Enterprise/B2B tooling (Awesomic, Competera, inspace, Nacho Nacho, Prodly, CloudChipr, Deskree)
- EdTech (Mate Academy, AllRight, Basenji Apps, YaizY, 99Math)
- E-commerce (Accel Club, Bairro, Liki24.com)
- Consumer/vertical plays across FashionTech (3DLOOK, Sheep Inc., Zadaa), SportTech (ForActive, Level Up Basketball), HealthTech (Cooper Pet Care), FoodTech (Muncher), HRTech (RemotePass), Gaming (Ducky), and media (HackerNoon, Sunday Roast).
Stage Focus
The majority of the portfolio is at seed stage. Flyer One typically wants companies to be post-MVP with initial traction (pilot projects, first paying clients, or early users) before investing, though its 2026 strategy places increased emphasis on pre-seed.
Check Size
Average check is roughly €500K, with a stated range of €350K to €1.5M and flexibility up to €1.5M per round.
Lead Tendency
Flyer One typically writes the first institutional check into early-stage CEE/Ukrainian companies and often leads or co-leads pre-seed and seed rounds, though at later stages (e.g., Higgsfield's subsequent large rounds) it becomes a minority participant alongside larger global funds.
Recent Activity
- 2025: 10 new startup investments (including memoryOS, Limitless, and Heizma) plus 3 follow-on investments; total capital deployed of roughly $46M across 97 portfolio companies to date.
- February 2025: Portfolio company Greenscreens.ai (freight pricing infrastructure) was acquired by Triumph Financial for $160M — the firm's largest exit to date.
- May 2025: Portfolio company Sidekick (productivity browser) was acquired by Perplexity.
- September 2025: Announced Fund V, targeting €50M for pre-seed/seed CEE investing over five years, with anchor commitments from the EBRD (€6.5M, option to increase to €10M) and IFC (€5M).
- 2026 (through April): 3 investments so far, most recently a first-time check into GRAI and a follow-on into Scalestack.
- 8 portfolio companies raised $110M+ in additional funding during 2025, with co-investors including Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Greylock Partners, and Speedinvest.
Portfolio Highlights
- Higgsfield — AI text-to-video generation, reached unicorn status ($1B+ valuation) in 2025/2026 raises led by GFT Ventures and Accel.
- Greenscreens.ai — freight pricing infrastructure, acquired by Triumph Financial for $160M (Feb 2025).
- Sidekick — productivity browser, acquired by Perplexity (May 2025).
- VOCHI — AI video editing app, acquired by Pinterest (2021).
- Field Materials — AI procurement platform for construction materials/equipment.
- Fintech Farm — digital banking in emerging markets.
- Chipper Cash — pan-African fintech/payments.
- Roughly 95-97 companies in the portfolio overall, with ~55% of the portfolio reaching Series A.
Team
- Vital Laptenok — General Partner / Managing Partner. Public spokesperson for the firm's strategic shift toward CEE-wide investing.
- Oleksii Yermolenko — Co-founder and Partner.
- Elena Mazhuha — Partner.
- Ksenia Novikova — Partner.
- Mykyta Fediushyn — Investment Analyst.
- Viktoriia Korytska — Associate.
- Mykhailo Perevoznyk — Associate.
- Anastasia Shabliienko — Associate.
- Anastasiia Kuzmenko — Head of Talent Acquisition.
- Mariana Hrynchuk — Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist.
- Sofiia Sydorenko — Talent Acquisition Specialist.
- Kateryna Kucherenko — Talent Sourcer Specialist.
- Elina Kochenko — AI-Driven PR Manager.
- Victoria Kolomiets — Communications Specialist.
Decision Process
Formal 8-step process: application, initial review, introductory call, due diligence, follow-up questions round, investment committee presentation, further discussion, then offer and negotiation. The firm emphasizes transparent communication with founders throughout.
Founder Preferences
Prefers second-time founders or former startup/tech executives with solid technical expertise and strong founder-market fit. Values balanced cap tables and data-driven, execution-oriented decision-making ("Dollar-DNA founders").
Geographic Focus
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Ukraine, with founders building globally-facing software companies. Headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, with additional offices in Kyiv and London.
Fund / AUM
Approximately $85M in assets under management as of 2026, spread across multiple fund vintages, with Fund V (€50M target, launched September 2025) as the current active vehicle backed by EBRD and IFC.