iEurope Invests in Leading e-Commerce Group in Southeastern Europe

NEW YORK, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

iEurope Capital announced today a significant investment in KupiMe Group, the leading operator of e-commerce group buying sites in southeastern Europe (Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia) emulating the Groupon^® business model. KupiMe enables merchants to increase sales by offering discounted goods and services and also allows users to leverage their social networks to obtain discounts.

"E-commerce is on the verge of significant growth in southeastern Europe, just as Hungary was shortly after iEurope invested in Vatera^®, Hungary's leading online marketplace," said Laszlo Czirjak, iEurope Co-Founder/Partner. "KupiMe Group has developed a strong brand, excellent merchant relationships, and a large user group in the region. In our experience, this provides significant advantages over competitors and a strong platform for development." The 2008 sale of Vatera by iEurope to Naspers^® for 14 times its investment remains one of the largest e-commerce industry transactions in Central and Eastern Europe.

"We have an opportunity to execute a paradigm shift in the group buying industry in southeastern Europe with this investment," said Kristina Perkin Davison, iEurope Capital Co-Founder/Partner. "In many ways, consumers in this region represent the best opportunity for growth in the EU, and companies like KupiMe represent the distribution channel of the 21^st Century."

"iEurope's team has an excellent track record helping fast-growing, Internet-based companies like KupiMe," said Vanja Sertic, KupiMe Founder/Managing Director. "Their proven method for leveraging market opportunities will help strengthen KupiMe. They also have great contacts in Silicon Valley and a history of follow-on investments to help grow their companies."

About iEurope
iEurope Capital is a US-based private equity firm with offices in Budapest and New York. Funds under its management include iEurope Fund II, which invests in companies with high growth potential in Central and Eastern Europe specializing in e-commerce, InfoTech, industrial technology, media, healthcare technology systems, and clean technology. 

For further information, please contact:
Kristina Perkin Davison, iEurope Co-Founder/Partner
Tel.: +1-212-828-0037
E-mail: [email protected]

Vanja Sertić, Managing Director, KupiMe d.o.o.
Tel.: +385-1239-9998
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE iEurope LLC