Zivkovic Samardzic has advised South Central Ventures (SCV) on its acquisition of a 12.8% stake in dryTools, a startup based in Novi Sad, Serbia. The value of the transaction was EUR 300,000.
DryTools operates in the software developing tooling sector, helping other start-ups and software consulting companies cut costs and reduce software development time.
According to Zivkovic Samardzic, SCV, which has offices in Belgrade, Zagreb, and Skopje, "is a skilled and experienced professional team managing the Enterprise Innovation Fund (ENIF), a venture capital fund focusing on highly specialized, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in the Western Balkans.” Among the investors in the ENIF are the European Commission, the European Investment Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, and other institutional and private investors from the Western Balkans. The EUR 40 million fund is dedicated primarily to early stage and growth investments. Within the fund’s ‘seed pocket,’ EUR 1.5 million is allocated for investments of up to EUR 100,000 per company. The majority of the fund is allocated for early stage and growth investments of up to EUR 3 million per company. These investments are intended to fuel the international business expansion and growth of the most promising tech startups that can show traction and prove their potential to “make it big.”
The Zivkovic Samardzic team that advised South Central Ventures on its investment in dryTools — the first ever investment in SCV’s portfolio — was led by Partners Branislav Zivkovic and Slobodan Kremenjak and Senior Associate Igor Zivkovski.
When contacted by CEE Legal Matters, Slobodan Kremenjak reported that his team was unaware of external counsel for dryTools, if any, as "we were in contact with dryTools management only, and not their legal advisers."