GapMinder, Fil Rouge Capital invest in Croatian healthtech startup Lasken AI

GapMinder, the VC investing in technology startups from Romania and Eastern Europe, announced it was leading a seed funding round in Croatian healthtech startup Lasken AI, alongside Fil Rouge Capital.

The funding will support the expansion of Lasken AI’s proprietary healthcare data platform, further product development, and commercial growth across Europe. It follows a pre-seed round from Fil Rouge Capital.

Lasken AI, founded by Patric Jarchow and Leonard Unger, is building a healthcare data intelligence platform that transforms publicly available healthcare information into continuously updated, structured datasets for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare organizations. Lasken AI’s customers include pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, healthtech firms, contract sales organizations, consultancies, and other service providers that rely on accurate, up-to-date market intelligence.

The company’s initial commercial focus will be on the German healthcare market, with plans to expand into Europe’s five largest pharmaceutical markets. In the long term, Lasken AI aims to make its Healthcare Data Foundation available across the continent.

“What stood out to us was the team’s deep healthcare expertise combined with a strong technology vision: creating a continuously evolving data foundation rather than another static database. We are excited to support their expansion across Europe and their ambition to become a key intelligence layer for the healthcare ecosystem, and we are thrilled to co-invest with Fil Rouge Capital,” Cosmin Ochișor, Partner at GapMinder, said.

GapMinder Ventures invests in technology startups created in Romania and Eastern Europe, particularly in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Moldova, that are in the seed or late seed phase and are rapidly expanding internationally. It manages two funds. With the first fund having a total capitalization of EUR 50 million, GapMinder has invested in companies such as Druid.AI, FintechOS, Veridion, Deepstash, Siena.Cx, TypingDNA, Medicai, Cyscale, SmartDreamers, Machinations, Frisbo, and Innoship.io. GapMinder Fund II was launched in 2024 with a target capital of EUR 80 million.

Fil Rouge Capital (FRC) is a venture capital firm based in Zagreb, with over EUR 100 million in Assets Under Management (AUM) and a track record of investing in more than 170 startups. The firm remains sector-agnostic, targeting high-growth areas like AI, SaaS, and Fintech with investments ranging from EUR 100,000 for early-stage prototypes to EUR 4 million for scaling companies. In Romania, it recently invested in European social media platform eYou, launched from Bucharest.

(Photo: GapMinder)

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