Are there countries where VCs are writing $20K checks? That seems like an incredible amount of overhead for them to bother/for it to be worthwhile to them.
Are there countries where VCs are writing $20K checks?
Most of Europe.
Terminology matters. VCs are absolutely not writing €20k checks in Europe. Angel investors are.
Some VCs blend the line between angel and VC (often the angels are on the board/involved with various VCs).