“The latest Invest Europe 2024 Central and Eastern Europe Private Equity Statistics confirm that private equity and venture capital activity in Central and Eastern Europe has rebounded strongly, with total investment in the region rising to €2.83 billion in 2024 as market confidence returns. Croatia is part of this positive trend, but it is important to interpret the Croatian figures with caution and in their proper context.
According to the report, total private equity and venture capital investment in Croatia reached approximately €60 million in 2024, compared with around €27 million in 2023. Over the same period, the number of Croatian companies receiving investment increased from 10 to 19, indicating a broader base of companies accessing professional capital and expertise. These investments span venture capital, growth capital and buyout transactions, with larger buyout and later-stage deals accounting for a significant share of the overall amount.
Even with this welcome growth, Croatia’s private equity and venture capital activity remains modest relative to the size of its economy. In 2024, investment in Croatia represented just 0.073% of GDP, compared with 0.112% for the CEE region as a whole and 0.551% for Europe overall. This gap underlines both the current under-penetration of the asset class in Croatia and the substantial upside potential for future deployment of private capital into Croatian companies.
However, as CVCA we must emphasise that the Croatian statistics in this edition – as in previous years – understate the true level of activity. Not all fund managers and institutional investors active in Croatia report their transactions into the European Data Cooperative (EDC), despite sustained efforts by CVCA, as the national data contributor, to make such reporting a de-facto requirement for our members. At present, participation remains voluntary, and in a relatively small and niche market like Croatia, even a handful of non-reporting managers or deals can materially distort the picture.
In addition, the methodology applied in the report does not allow certain types of investors to be classified as “private equity and venture capital”, even when they are leading transactions that are clearly comparable in size, structure and governance to classic VC or growth rounds. A prominent example is the €100 million Series A round for Verne in 2024, led by a sovereign wealth fund. Because the lead investor is not categorised as a private equity or venture capital fund under the EDC definitions, this landmark transaction is not captured in the Croatian private equity and venture capital statistics at all. The same issue can arise for some corporate investors and other strategic capital providers who are increasingly important in our ecosystem.
For policymakers, regulators, and international limited partners looking at the CEE region, it is therefore essential to read the Croatian numbers as a conservative baseline, not a complete representation of market activity. The underlying reality is that Croatia is seeing more capital, more sophisticated investors and more ambitious founders than the official figures alone would suggest. To support better-informed decision-making – including future EU-level and national policy initiatives – CVCA will continue to work closely with Invest Europe and with all fund managers investing in Croatia to improve coverage, standardise reporting and encourage all relevant investors to submit their data to the EDC on a regular basis.
As CVCA, we remain committed to raising transparency, deepening the pool of professional capital, and ensuring that Croatia’s actual performance and potential are fully visible in future editions of the CEE statistics. We invite all managers, co-investors and ecosystem stakeholders active in Croatia to join us in this effort so that the data used by European and global decision-makers truly reflects the dynamism and opportunities of the Croatian market.”