IPO notes from a crossover investor
We didn’t raise a classic VC round as not a single VC believed it was a good investment. Simultaneously,the round was too small for PE investors. We then chose the capital-markets path when the alternative markets wern’t ready. This is the behind‑the‑scenes story of how Shelly Group (ex‑Allterco) went from an idea‑stage pivot to the first publicly traded unicorn in CEE — and what we at IMPETUS actually did along the way.
The relationship before the round
I first met Dimitar Dimitrov back in 2003. Back then the company was called differently (DVR Review) — and if you knew Dimitar then, you would have discovered that he’s always a couple of years ahead of where the market is going. He is the same person now. We stayed in touch as he built and rebuilt businesses, learning, compounding capabilities. confidence, and enhancing management skills.
By 2014, Dimitar called with a new direction: an IoT business segment within Shelly Group (then called Allterco). It wasn’t a deck or a buzzword. It was a clear instinct that buildings — homes first, industrial properties followed — would need simple-to-install, reliable, retrofittable automation. He needed a financing partner who believed that a service company may turn into a hardware/platform company and would help open doors.
When “VC says no”, choose a different hill to climb
In 2015, we became the first investors backing the pivot to IoT. The company had reached 10m in revenues while it was profitable. We looked for co‑investors across the region and IFIs in search of €1m in equity. No one came as supply of capital was low. A few VCs operated on the scene then with even less growth equity providers. It is the moment you realise that you have the perfect innovator with his team that still no one trusts. Rather than say “the market isn’t ready,” we changed the market we would raise from. Together with Dimitar we decided to list and use the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) as an early growth equity provider.
That meant doing real company work very early: governance, reporting, investor communications, distribution strategy, and pricing discipline. If you want the public markets to fund you, you need to behave like a public company before you ring the bell.
- Dec 2015: pre‑IPO investment at €0.74/share.
- Oct 2016: IPO on BSE, raising €1.1m, of which €0.86m was syndicated through the IMPETUS network.
We priced trust, not hype. The IPO proceeds went into R&D, first productization, and the beginnings of a global distribution footprint.
Product truth beats PowerPoint
The first big signal was the initial product launch – MyKi kids’ watch — proof the team could ship and scale a consumer device. Then came Shelly: tiny smart relays that live behind existing outlets and switches, letting you control lighting and loads while monitoring energy. It sounds simple; it is hard to do well at scale.
Over time, Shelly’s platform began to manage more than 3 million smart homes (2024). Product cadence accelerated — new releases, Gen4 devices, multiple protocols (Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa/Z‑Wave Long Range, Matter) — and relentless quality work. Distribution followed performance.
“For me, success simply means to keep developing. It has no finish line—there is no end point to success. Success is growing more and more,” says Dimitar Dimitrov.
That line captures the culture we backed.
Focus is a superpower
With traction, an acquisition offer for a non‑core activity (which was actually the legacy service business) came naturally. In 2019, the team sold the European mobile services division for €8.8m and focused entirely on IoT for building automation. That clarity accelerated up in everything that followed.
Fuelling the climb — again from the public markets
We doubled down when it mattered:
- 2020 SPO at €1.53/share, raising €4.6m (of which €4.0m syndicated by IMPETUS). Microfunds I & II completed follow‑ons.
- 2021: worked side by side to list the company in Frankfurt (FSE) — the first Bulgarian company to trade successfully there.
- 2024: our teams paved the way to establish direct connection of the BSE to Deutsche Boerse – Shelly became the first issuer to trade on EuroBridge, a segment connected to Xetra; trading volumes went up 6x the year after start of trading on Xetra.
Deutsche Börse, Dual listing, 16 November 2021, Frankfurt, Germany
By June 12, 2025, the share price was ~€49, and Shelly crossed $1bn market cap — a 67× increase in a decade, among the top three companies globally for 10‑year share‑price growth. We celebrated not a number but the compounding that got us there.
“Every two seconds, someone somewhere in the world installs a new Shelly device,” notes the company’s founder, Dimitar Dimitrov.
Bulgarian Stock Exchange, EuroBridge segment, 18 July 2024
What changed inside the company
In a matter of just 8 years Shelly Group underwent huge development:
Scale & profitability: IoT revenues grew from €0m (2016) to €107m (2024) with ~25% EBIT margin.
Leadership: The company is co‑managed by Wolfgang Kirsch (ex‑MediaMarkt COO, ex‑McKinsey) with founder/product leader Dimitar Dimitrov.
Manufacturing: 2025 plan to expand capacity from ~0.8m to 1.5m units/month in H2, enabling c. €150m annual sales potential.
Ecosystem: Dual Matter certifications and Works with Apple Home on flagship plugs; breadth across 130+ markets.
What IMPETUS actually did (beyond wiring funds)
Here’s the list I wish more investors published:
- Structured the pivot — helped design the corporate reorganization necessary to move from a legacy portfolio to a focused IoT platform.
- Financed unconventionally — when VC was absent, we engineered a capital‑markets route (pre‑IPO → IPO → SPO) suitable for an early‑stage hardware company.
- Syndicated deeply — mobilized our network to cover 77% of the IPO and 84% of the SPO; educated retail and professional investors about the category.
- Installed governance early — board processes, reporting cadences, policies — the “invisible infrastructure” that makes a listed smallcap investable.
- Shaped the go‑to‑market — distribution/channel strategy, pricing discipline, packaging; pushing for a repeatable North Star metric rather than one‑off pushes.
- Built the market around the stock — liquidity, analyst coverage, and ultimately dual listing (BSE + FSE) and EuroBridge — so that excellent execution had an equally excellent multiple expansion (the stock started trading at 7x P/E to reach 40x P/E (2025).
- Backed the team’s ambition — supported the 2019 divestiture, leadership scaling with German and Austrian board members, and capacity expansion for the next S‑curve.
Lessons for founders (and investors) in our region
- When venture says “not yet,” don’t wait. There are more routes to capital than term sheets. Public markets can underwrite earlier than most think — if you do the work.
- Treat governance as a product. The earlier you professionalize, the cheaper your capital becomes. It also compounds trust with customers who become shareholders.
- Ship, then talk. Product truth — reliability, availability, cadence — beats narrative. Make devices that installers love, and the market will find you.
- Design for retrofit. In Europe’s building stock, retrofit‑friendly beats lab‑perfect. Shelly’s behind‑the‑switch relays unlocked mass adoption.
- Create liquidity, not just results. Performance without a market is a tree falling in a forest. Dual listings, market access (EuroBridge), and analyst coverage matter.
