CEE-focused VC firm holds first close on debut secondaries fund

Flashpoint Secondary Fund is anchored by the Scheinberg family office, which represents the founders and former owners of online gaming website Pokerstars.

Flashpoint, a UK-headquartered venture capital and debt firm, has reached a first close on its debut secondaries fund.

Flashpoint Secondary Fund held a first close on $70 million in February en route to its $200 million target, according to a statement. It will target direct secondaries opportunities in late-stage tech companies across Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, the Baltics, Finland and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The vehicle is anchored by the Scheinberg family office, which represents the founders and former owners of online gaming website Pokerstars.

FSF is jointly led by Flashpoint managing partner Michael Szalontay and Chris Baxter, who joined as managing partner in 2020. Baxter was most recently chairman of blockchain investment advisory NKB Group and previously served as chief executive of principal investments at Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital.

“Given our strong background in technology and corporate finance, we are uniquely placed to assist founders in managing company cap tables as they prepare for further fundraisings and liquidity events,” Szalontay said in the statement.

“We provide liquidity to early investors and employees alike. We have a proven track-record of secondary transactions across Israel and Europe, and our team is constantly searching for new opportunities to leverage this offering.”

Flashpoint has completed 29 tech investments since 2010, with 66 follow-ons and exited eight companies, the statement said. It has $350 million of assets under management across venture and debt funds, which is overseen by 25 professionals working at offices in London, Budapest, Riga, Tel Aviv and Warsaw.

Europe-focused vehicles accounted for just 2 percent of the $95.6 billion raised for secondaries last year, according to Secondaries Investor data. Direct secondaries – standalone transactions without a manager – represented 3 percent of the $60 billion of deal volume last year, up from 1 percent of the $80 billion traded the prior year, according to data from Evercore.