Fil Rouge Capital Lands in Romania with €60M Fund — Taps Matei Dumitrescu as Venture Partner

Big news for Romania’s startup scene: Fil Rouge Capital (FRC), the powerhouse VC backing bold founders across Southeastern Europe, is officially planting its flag in Bucharest. With a fresh €60 million fund (FRC3) already active and over €45 million locked in at first close, FRC is coming in hot—and it’s bringing serious firepower for Romanian startups.

Leading the charge locally is none other than Matei Dumitrescu, well-known startup investor and founder of the Institute of Excellence in Entrepreneurship (idEA). He joins as Local Venture Partner and LP, bringing deep roots in the ecosystem and a laser focus on scaling early-stage innovation.

“This isn’t just a milestone—it’s a mission,” said Dumitrescu. “FRC3 is here to bridge the capital gap for early-stage startups in Romania, with funding, acceleration, and hands-on guidance to help founders truly take off.”

Startups in Romania can now tap into two major pathways:

• Accelerator Programme: Up to €300K in early-stage support.
• Venture Capital Investment: Initial funding up to €1M, with follow-on rounds reaching €4M.

For local investors, this also opens co-investment opportunities alongside one of the region’s most active VC firms.

FRC isn’t new to the region—but this expansion cements its long-term vision: building globally competitive startups out of Southeastern Europe. With offices in Zagreb, Ljubljana, Bucharest, and soon Tirana and Belgrade, FRC is positioning itself as the go-to VC for next-gen B2B software startups, especially those driving transformation through AI.

“We’ve always believed in bold founders—and Matei fits that vision perfectly,” said Julien Coustaury, FRC Partner. “Romania’s time is now, and we’re ready to build the next wave of breakout companies.”

The expansion also strengthens FRC’s ongoing collaboration with idEA, blending capital, education, and access to global networks to fuel innovation from the ground up.

Startups: Romania just got a major boost.

Founders: It’s go time.