Presto Ventures

👨🏼💻 Jeff & Adam 👷🏼♂️  One’s really good with numbers, the other one’s handy around the house. In real life, they could be good pals. In the startup world, we’re very proud of both! Congratulations on your recent funding rounds, crews 🎉 Toms Niparts | Reinis Tenis | Sandris Artemjevs Jakub Dvořák | Roman Sysel ➡️ Jeff App, a Latvia-based fintech and the leading marketplace for financial inclusion in emerging economies, raised a $2M Late-Seed round led by Presto Ventures. We find ourselves in the stellar company of J12, a specialist data & AI fund, and a group of high-profile angel investors, including seasoned finance pros Jean-Pascal Duvieusart and Ladislav Bartonicek of BDpartners.cz, as well as the founder of Printify, James Janis Berdigans 🙌🏼 The Jeff team has been busy – since their 2020 launch, they’ve taken the underserved Asian markets by storm, grew to $10M in revenue, and became profitable in 2023. Striving for financial inclusion, Jeff has given more than 6 million underbanked people access to apply for over 60 million financial products 🔑💰 ➡️ Adam, a Czech home-improvement platform that provides customers with easy online access to reliable contractor services, raised a €3M Late-Seed round from Brighteye Ventures, a leading European edtech fund. In a YoY comparison, Adam has served three times the number of projects and boasts more than 15,000 completed jobs 💪🏼 And after a successful expansion to 11 European countries, the company now plans to venture beyond Europe and into new construction trades. Go, Adam! 💙 At Presto, we’re very proud to be Adam’s first VC investor, backing the company with a €1M seed investment a year and a half ago: "It's remarkable to follow Adam’s success and the results they’ve achieved since the previous investment – including their expansion into new countries and the launch of renovation and brick-masonry services," concludes our partner, Roman Nováček, CFA. ➡️ To learn more about these successful funding rounds, follow the links in comments. #newinvestment #portfolioproud #SteppingUp

⛴️ + ⚖️ + 🎂 + 🛡️ = June #PrestoAdVentures in a nutshell! 🇨🇿 #StartupParnik | Brno, Czechia Unique events make for unique connections ⚓ The second Brno-dam cruise brought together more than 130 founders, investors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and community builders from Czechia, Slovakia, and beyond. Top-notch event production by Ladislav Vašek and Tereza Vašková of Space Dog was accompanied by out-of-the-box catering and a mind-bending performance by Lidi z Baru. What a combo 🐰✨🍷 Can’t wait for round 3 next year! === 🇸🇰 #LegalTechForum | Bratislava, Slovakia MATHISON legal, the organizers of Legal Tech Forum, make sure to tailor the programming to the needs and wishes of the tech & legal community. This year was no different. The panel titled ‘Future of Work’ was one of the crowd favorites, as it didn’t shy away from complex topics, including the much-discussed ‘schwarz-system’ ⚫ === 🇨🇿 #Founders2Founders | Prague, Czechia One party is great – but 2 parties in 1 are even better 🎉 And it’s only fitting that the crème de la crème of the local startup and VC scene came together to celebrate the 10th birthday of our beloved CzechCrunch 🎂 Michal Ptacek, Václav Bedřich, Ondřej Holzman, Peter Brejčák, and the CC crew – thank you for everything you’ve built and for always moving the ecosystem up and forward 🙏🏼 Here’s to another decade! 🥂 === 🇩🇪 European Defense Tech Hackathon | Munich, Germany 100+ hackers | 48 hours | 34 projects that could save lives 💪🏼 From tracking unmanned vehicles and 3D map reconstruction to fluorescent nanoparticles or environmental change detection, the energy and determination was fascinating to witness. We’re stoked #PrestoTechHorizons could support this much-needed endeavor! And mark your 📆 – the second edition of the hackathon is planned for February 2025, in conjunction with the Munich Security Conference. Have a great summer everyone! #CEEevents #eventseason #SteppingUp

💥 “Presto Fund II invested in 43 companies, and 2️⃣0️⃣ of them have already raised follow-on financing rounds. Some of them more than one, so we’ve already seen 27 new rounds and counting.” Well, that’s one definition of #portfolioproud. Well done, guys! 📰 Recently, Presto’s founder and managing partner, Premysl Rubes, had the opportunity to chat with Lisa Palchynska🇺🇦, Vestbee’s editor in chief. With our second fund coming to a close, Premysl and Lisa looked into portfolio successes and milestones – including the first Presto II exit of Inventoro – and talked about what awaits at the horizon…✨ Best enjoyed with a cup of ☕ https://lnkd.in/gQfbdttN #PrestoAdVentures #SteppingUp #newfund #PrestoTechHorizons

🏆 Actors have their Oscars, soccer players the Ballon d'Or – and founders their Startup Awards. The best part? You can make your vote count right now! 🗳️ CzechCrunch has just launched the 3rd edition of their annual Startup Awards, together with a shortlist of 2️⃣0️⃣ startups eligible for the Readers’ Award. At Presto, we’re stoked to see 4 of our portfolio companies among the Top 20: 🎨 Adam | Jakub Dvořák, Roman Sysel 🍽️ Choice | Alex Ilyash, Volodymyr Olyanitsky, Robert Novosad 🐙 Keboola | Pavel Dolezal, Petr Simecek ⚡ Woltair | Daniel Helcl, Karel Náprstek, Jiri Sveda Fingers crossed, guys! 🤞🏼 👉🏼 Check it out and cast your vote: https://lnkd.in/eiDi88Cf #startupawards #votenow #portfolioproud #SteppingUp Peter Brejčák Kája Kováčová

🛡️ In turbulent times, individuals, businesses, and institutions are turning their attention to the defense and security tech space. 🚨 Entrepreneurs and investors alike want to stay ahead of emerging threats. The field of security technologies is on the rise – yet, entry barriers and associated risks remain significant. 💰 Investors mostly grapple with the inaccessibility of sector-specific expertise to properly evaluate the product – from the soundness or uniqueness of the technology to its commercial viability. 🛠️ Founders and entrepreneurs are hindered by complex regulations, time-consuming processes, and the fulfillment of numerous formal criteria. 💪🏼 Our partnership with Czechoslovak Group tackles these barriers head-on. #PrestoTechHorizons will unlock unprecedented opportunities for both investors and founders. We’ll back the brightest minds, talents, and solutions capable of addressing the most complex security and industrial challenges. 📰 Now – in order to connect with them, awareness is paramount. This is where the tireless work of tech and business journalists comes in – your help and support in spreading the word is priceless, thank you! 🙏🏼 Hospodářské noviny | Petr Zenkner CzechCrunch | Peter Brejčák Forbes Česko | Marek Tomanka HROT24 | Filip Magalhães Lupa.cz | Jan Sedlák Finmag | Michal Hron Deník e15 | WIRED Czech Republic & Slovakia | Deník N Tech.eu | Cate Lawrence The Recursive | Teodora Atanasova AIN | Mariia Denysiuk IT Logs | Bojan Stojkovski Silicon Canals - European Technology News | Vishal Singh Vestbee | Joy Laoun Startup Kitchen | Dominika P. AMI Communications Martina Součková Andrej Čírtek #newfund #defensetech #dualuse #frontiertech #advancedtech #SteppingUp

🧠 💻 ☕ The key ingredients for the inaugural European Defense Tech #Hackathon that takes place in Munich, Germany, June 28th to 30th 🇩🇪 🛡️ This special event at the intersection of deep tech and dual-use aims to bridge the gaps between technologists, the public sector, investors, and operators in #DualUse and #Defense tech. Join more than 100 hackers and a number of key players in the space – including leading defense tech companies like Helsing or Auterion, as well as VC reps from General Catalyst or Project A. Our new fund Presto Tech Horizons is a proud partner of the event, so make sure to share a coffee (or two) with our Associate Matej Luhový 🙌🏼 #meetpresto 💡 The 3-day hackathon will prototype and validate ideas around defensive and life-preserving technologies: identifying misinformation campaigns on social media, secure communications with automatic channel switching, digital battlefield, 3D map reconstruction, drone footage localization, and much more. Big thank-you to the organizing team led by Benjamin Wolba & Jonatan H. Luther-Bergquist, as well as their numerous partners and supporters, including Inflection.xyz, ARX Robotics, The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and many more 💪🏼

🔵 Potential. Progress. Presto. | Presto Ventures 🔴 Heart. Heritage. Horizon. | Czechoslovak Group What do you do when you realize you and your partner both really enjoy alliteration? 🤓 Well, you shake hands 🤝🏼 That’s what we did, anyway. …and our new fund, ‘Presto Tech Horizons’, was born ✨ Obviously, that’s just a tiny piece of the mosaic behind our unmatched partnership. But we love it, regardless. Can’t wait to share more in the months to come ✌🏼 #defensefund #dualuse #techhorizons #frontiertech #advancedtech #SteppingUp

⚡ No borders, just horizons. Tech horizons ⚡ We’re thrilled to launch our third fund, Presto Tech Horizons, with a world-class partner by our side – the Czechoslovak Group 🤝🏼 👉🏼 tinyurl.com/Tech-Horizons 👈🏼 💸⚙️🧠 In the new fund, the best of tech investing meets the best of industrial-technological expertise. With a target size of €150 million, Presto Tech Horizons is to become one of the world’s largest funds with this sector experience and expertise. In this unmatched partnership, we’re joining forces with Michal Strnad’s CSG to back global tech companies at the frontier of #Security and #Defense solutions, with focus on #DualUse. 💪🏼 Ambition and impact. Technological excellence and outstanding commercial application. 🗝️ We look for entrepreneurs driven to solve the world’s most pressing security and industrial challenges. 🌎 The fund will support dozens of the most promising innovative projects from NATO countries and allied nations. 🎯 Investors and entrepreneurs are drawn to the field of security technologies – but barriers and risks are significant. Our partnership with CSG tackles these challenges head-on. In uncertain times, the world is turning to the security and defense tech space for guidance. Our fund will unlock unprecedented opportunities for technological investors and entrepreneurs. Well, one thing is certain – to chase the horizon, one needs to keep moving. Stay tuned and LFG 🚀 #newfund #techhorizons #frontiertech #advancedtech #SteppingUp

🦸🏼 Saving the world, one young mind and one developer at a time. 💪🏼 Who, you ask? Elin.ai and Zerops, the two newest members of our Presto family! 🧠 Elin.ai | Pre-Seed | €600k Elin, a digital companion for #GenZ, responds to the alarming mental health crisis among teenagers and young adults. The app boosts their digital health and reduces the negative impacts of online communication and content consumption 🛡 The startup has raised €600k pre-seed investment from Presto Ventures, BD Partners, and angel investors. The round remains open for a strategic investor who wants to join the stellar team behind Elin – Jan Romportl, Petr Stanislav, and prof. Jiri Horacek – on their meaningful, impactful mission 🤝🏼 === ⚙️ Zerops | Pre-Seed | $500k When a developer uses Zerops, they don’t need to worry about managing the underlying infrastructure – like networking, databases, storage, or server maintenance. Instead, they can focus on writing code, which is the true creative and valuable part of their work 💎 This developer-first #PaaS (Platform as a Service) is a spin-off from vshosting~, the largest Central European provider of managed hosting services. Founders Aleš Rechtorík and Jan Saidl raised a $500k pre-seed round from Presto Ventures and Gi21 Capital (Damir Špoljarič), while maintaining their strategic partnership with the Contabo Group. Welcome on board, teams 🙌🏼  Presto is stoked to have you! To learn more about Elin.ai and Zerops, check out the links in comments 👇🏼 #CEEstartups #portfolionews #preseed #SteppingUp

🎬 Stepping Up Q&A series, pt. 5 🎤  83% of the surveyed startups would use their new investment to fund Sales & Marketing. Why is that? And which investment area placed second, with 62%? Let’s ask Petr Andrýsek, co-founder and CBIO of MADMONQ – the first health and performance gaming supplement. With more than a decade of marketing experience and spearheading MADMONQ’s global expansion mission, Petr knows a thing or two about what local startups need on the way up 🚀 ❓ Czechia needs a really functional, meaningful ESOP legislation. Why? We can offer the world skilled experts, great technical solutions, and basically super founders – but we lack when it comes to our ability to sell globally. 🆙 In order to unlock that, we need to captivate and motivate the right people, especially founders and their OG core teams. A functional ESOP program is a crucial first step in cultivating the local startup environment. ❓ The majority of surveyed founders would use the funding to support sales & marketing. Why? Well, a great product only gets you so far. After that point, you need to get it to the people out there. That’s the crucial step on your way out of the garage – and you’ll need top notch marketing and sales to fuel this growth. 🆙 To win at the global stage, we need to learn to sell our solutions and get people truly excited about them. This goes hand-in-hand with international market expansion = the second most funding-worthy area (62%) in the eyes of the 117 founders who answered our #SteppingUp Survey. What about you? Where would you allocate your next investment? 💰 #CEEstartups #survey #VC #PrestoAdVentures AMI Communications Martin Ayrer Martina Součková Eliška Radváková