Croatia has produced unicorns and internationally successful technology companies despite having relatively little local venture capital. At SuperReturn Venture, AYMO's Silvije Radišić and Nikola Livaković explain why that funding gap is creating opportunities to back globally ambitious businesses before international competition intensifies.

Filling Croatia's funding gap

AYMO was founded after its team identified a gap in Croatia's investment ecosystem. After more than two decades in investment banking, Silvije Radišić had seen that globally competitive businesses could be built in Croatia. He had also seen how difficult it was for those companies to secure growth capital at the right stage.

AYMO was created to bridge that gap. At the time of the interview, the firm had completed five investments from a €50 million fund and was working towards increasing that to between €70 million and €80 million.

There were targets ready to invest in, and there were no
financing providers for this stage of their life cycle.
Nikola Livaković, AYMO

Looking beyond Croatia's reputation

Croatia is often recognised for its coastline, tourism and sporting success. According to Nikola Livaković, the country's record of producing globally competitive technology businesses receives far less attention.

He argues that Croatia has generated multiple unicorns and internationally successful companies despite having almost no local venture-capital ecosystem.

What people usually miss is that Croatia is among the
top countries worldwide to create unicorns.
Marcin Hejka, OTB Ventures

For AYMO, that disconnect creates an opportunity. While investors compete intensely across Western Europe and the US, Croatia remains comparatively underfunded despite producing companies capable of competing internationally.

Better valuations through an underserved market

Livaković believes many established venture markets suffer from intense competition, pushing company valuations higher - Croatia offers a different proposition. Globally ambitious businesses often have fewer domestic funding options, allowing investors to access companies at more reasonable valuations before international capital enters the picture.

AYMO sees this valuation arbitrage, not simply Croatia itself, as one of its strongest investment arguments.

Local access matters

Radišić describes Croatia as a market with investors at either end of the funding journey: early-stage local providers and international funds that arrive once businesses have already begun scaling globally. The missing piece sits between those stages.

AYMO focuses on companies around the Series A stage, combining a permanent local presence with investment, corporate finance and private-equity experience across Southeast Europe. That, the team believes, creates proprietary access to businesses before they become widely recognised by larger international investors.

Building globally from a small market

AYMO's investment thesis is built on a simple idea: where a company starts does not determine how far it can grow. Radišić argues that Croatia has already demonstrated it can produce globally competitive technology businesses, while Livaković believes the country's success is repeatable rather than exceptional.

The firm believes at least one of its first five investments has unicorn potential, highlighting aerial robotics company Orqa as an example. For investors, the opportunity lies not simply in Croatia itself, but in identifying ambitious companies early, before international competition increases and valuations rise.