Cem Sertoglu is the Managing Partner of Bek Ventures, a venture firm he co-founded in 2013 as the Earlybird. See portfolio, sector focus and contact routes.
Cem Sertoglu is the Managing Partner of Bek Ventures, a venture firm he co-founded in 2013 as the Earlybird Digital East Fund before it rebranded in late 2024, and he previously founded the unicorn SelectMinds (now part of Oracle). His investment thesis targets early-stage technology ventures with roots in Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the broader “Dynamic Europe” region, focusing on sectors like B2B SaaS, AI, fintech, healthtech, and online marketplaces. Sertoglu employs a concentrated portfolio strategy, backing roughly 20–25 companies per fund while maintaining heavy reserves for follow-on investments to secure substantial ownership stakes. Notable portfolio companies include UiPath, which generated over $2 billion in returns from a $1 million seed investment, as well as Peak Games, YemekSepeti, and Payhawk. He is famed for writing UiPath’s first check and turning $16.5 million into $2.1 billion across multiple rounds, a deal he describes as one of the greatest venture investments in European history. Sertoglu emphasizes disciplined focus over chasing asset size, arguing that undiluted attention to each founder maximizes value creation.
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