Presto Ventures

🆕 Presto News for Q3 2024 is up 🆕 tinyurl.com/PrestoQ3news Q3 was an exceptionally productive period at Presto – no downtime, just relentless execution: 🔹 Who’s our new Partner and our new COO? 🔹 Which Fund II portfolio companies are on a roll? 🔹 What’s the future of resilience and impact investing? Without further ado, let’s dive right in! 🗞️ If you don't want to miss #VC and #startup news on technologies that protect the future + updates on all things Presto, make sure to subscribe 📨 We'll be happy to have you 🙌🏼 #SteppingUp #newsletter #PrestoTechHorizons

🙃 Basic? Everything but! The first official #CzechStartupWeek was nothing short of extraordinary – including its main pillar, Engaged Investments Conference, with its many side events. It’s hard to believe a month has flown by already, so let’s use this #TBT for the recap it deserves 📷 From day to night, this flagship event attracted 444+ attendees from all corners of the investor and startup world. They had a chance to engage with more than 40 speakers and enjoy 10+ side events, creating countless opportunities for meaningful connections and insights 👌🏼 As the Gold Partner of the conference, we loved the chance to connect with investors and startups across so many touchpoints: 🛡️ Peculiarities of Defense Investment Our partner Premysl Rubes and Tomáš Richtr, COO of CS SOFT a.s., member of CSG Aerospace, shared their insights on defense and dual-use tech investing. 🪖 DefSec Innovation Challenge This duo also joined the jury of a startup challenged posed by DefSec Innovation Hub, searching for ways to improve soldier resilience. 🎤 Investor Reverse Pitch Our partner Vojta Rocek took the stage to introduce Presto in his signature style – bold and unconventional. 🔒 Digital Armor: Where Cyber Security Meets Opportunity Our cybersec expert Eduard Kucera and Presto’s portfolio founder Simon Bauwens of OutKept explored the future of cybersecurity. 💡 Dual-Use Napkin Workshop Our Associate Tichomir Jenkut led an interactive workshop that dove into key metrics and expectations for startups bridging commercial and military sectors. 🏃🏼 Ready, Set, Run + Ready, Set, Wine 🍷  True to the dual-use spirit, this year we organized not one but two side events ✌🏼 Big thank you goes to our friends at Goodlok and SENS Foods for the morning fuel and evening snacks. Who knew flavoured 🦗 paired really well with wine!? And last but not least – a huge thank you belongs to the one and only Eliška Vámošová and her fantastic event team 👏🏼 Congratulations Petr Sima, Kateryna Kovalenko, Martyna Mąkowska, Martin Kešner, Annette Lovasová, Andrea Chocholova, Natalie Chladkova, and the entire DEPO Ventures and J&T Ventures crews behind the scenes – see you in 2025!

S Presto Ventures jedeme na vlně podcastů 🎙️ . ▪️ O tom, co nejvíce trápí startupy – Na vlně podnikání Týdeník Ekonom s Martin Petříček https://lnkd.in/dZUKnfn9 ▪️ O investicích do obrany – Agenda Seznam Zprávy, a.s. s Jan Richter  https://lnkd.in/d3Td4m-4 ▪️ O rozhýbání ekonomiky a podpoře investic – FocusOn.cz s Jiří Böhm https://lnkd.in/dh5fvs_r   A nemůžu samozřejmě zapomenout na duo Vojta Rocek & Vojta Žižka https://lnkd.in/dduYXRJi

📊 400 companies 🌍 17 countries 🏆 5 portfolio champions! Last Thursday, Deloitte announced the winners of their annual Technology #Fast50 CE competition – and we couldn’t be more #portfolioproud 💙 Congratulations to our portfolio founders and their hardworking teams 🎉  Let’s look at the 5️⃣ portco champions together: FAST 50 A landslide for 🇨🇿 startups! 17 Czech companies placed in the Top 50 fastest growing companies in Central Europe 💪🏼 Oddin.gg took the cake with a rocket growth of almost 8,000% over the last 3 years 💥 And Jeff App is celebrating again, shortly after winning the Sifted 30 Leaderboard: Eastern Europe & Baltics. 🥇 Oddin.gg | Vlastimil Venclik, Marek Suchar, Prokop Simon, Pavel Macháň 🥉 Jeff App | Toms Niparts, Reinis Tenis, Sandris Artemjevs 🏆 Woltair | Daniel Helcl, Karel Náprstek, Jiri Sveda COMPANIES TO WATCH Next year’s winners, perhaps? Make sure to keep an eye on these hustling teams: 🥈 Adam | Jakub Dvořák, Roman Sysel 🏆 Sloneek | Filip Lukac, Milan Rataj Congratulations to all the decorated companies, and thank-you to Jiri Sauer and his team! It’s great to see the CE entrepreneurial spirit going strong 📈 #DeloitteFast50 #CEEstartups #TechAwards #SteppingUp

🚀 Je to přesně týden, co jsme Asociaci vypustili do světa. Máme radost, že na představení Czech Startup Association v OPERO si udělali prostor první členové, novináři i zástupci startupové a investorské komunity. 🎯 Co je cílem Asociace? 🎯 Proč má Asociace smysl? 🎯 Jak a komu Asociace pomůže? Přesně to a mnohem více se ve videu dozvíte přímo od našeho předsedy Martin Jiránek a klíčových ambasadorů: 🎤 Vojta Rocek, partner Presto Ventures 🎤 Ondrej Kratky, spoluzakladatel Liftago a zakladatel grid.online 🎤 Jakub Císař, spoluzakladatel a partner NOVALIA A co dál? Toto jsou naše nejbližší mety: 📍 Dotažení mise #ESOP 📍 Zapojení do pracovních skupin CzechInvest (KRIS) a Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic 📍 Zahájení a rozvoj spolupráce s politickými stranami – startupy totiž v předvolebních programech potřebují ne jen pár slov, ale celé kapitoly, jinak se nepohneme Přidáte se? 👉🏼 startupczechia.cz 🙌🏼 Budete ve skvělé společnosti: Ondřej Zemek, Majo Porvažník, Sparring, Petr Chladek, JIC - business with a purpose, Andrea Chocholova, Michal Kratochvil, StartupYard, Pavel Dolezal, Keboola, Vlastimil Venclik, Oddin.gg, Jakub Krikava, Credo Ventures, Jan Davídek, Purple Ventures, Jaroslav Ton, P&J Capital, Vaclav Gregor, Martin Ayrer, Martina Součková, Eliška Radváková, AMI Communications a mnozí další – děkujeme!

1️⃣1️⃣4️⃣  That’s right. 114 pages filled with data, trends, and insights on the AI sector 🤖 Last week, The Recursive launched their highly anticipated State of #AI in CEE Report, and it’s a must-read 📚 Since the spring, our Presto Tech Horizons team has evaluated over 1,200 startups from 15 countries and met with hundreds of skilled tech entrepreneurs. Many of them are developing AI-driven solutions. But who will crush it? 🤔 “The whole AI sector struggles with identifying clear, direct paths to profitability, and with over-concentration of the most profitable use-cases in the hands of a few big players,” says Presto’s partner Vojta Rocek. If you’re part of the startup and VC ecosystem, perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering: 🔹 What’s the real state of AI in the CEE region? 🔹 How many M&As boosted the ecosystem? 🔹 Which VCs managed to raise new funds? Well, now you can dive right in! 🤿 Get the full report here: https://hubs.la/Q02TWMFW0 Kudos, Loredana Dobrea, Elena Ghiniță, Etien Yovchev, Amaliya Abbas, and Ana-Maria Ilieva! Thank you for your energy and dedication, you've done an amazing job 💪🏼 #CEEstartups #AIreport #SteppingUp

🛠️💪🏼 It’s time to build. Are you in? We’re stoked to be among the founding members of the newly launched Czech Startup Association that’s forming around Martin Jiránek – expert in legislation, policy, and lobbying, and a dear friend of ours 🙌🏼 🚀 Presto's partner Vojta Rocek really enjoyed the opportunity to launch the Association earlier this week at OPERO, together with our fellow ambassadors – Ondrej Kratky of grid.online | Liftago and Jakub Císař of NOVALIA – and a group of ecosystem partners and top-notch journalists 💎 Your support is and will be instrumental in the success of the Association. 🎯 What is the Association about? Czech Startup Association is the unified voice for the sector 📣 It represents startups, investors, and other ecosystem players in dialogue with the Czech government and Parliament. The goal? Meaningful change for the better. Soon. 🎯 Why now? There’s momentum on several levels. Things are shifting on the domestic, European, and global stages – from the Second Economic Transformation (2. ekonomická transformace) and the renewed NERV (National Economic Council) to Mario Draghi’s Report, The EU Inc Petition, and the new European Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation … just to name a few 📈 🎯 What’s next? These are the 7️⃣ main issues and challenges the Association plans to tackle: - Lack of a meaningful, functional ESOP framework - Inflexible employment system (HPP vs. OSVC) - Administrative and tax burden on entrepreneurs starting a business - Inefficient and rigid bureaucracy during a company life-cycle - Investment opportunities for pension funds and tax incentives for investors - Suboptimal legal framework for investment and VC funds - Restricted access to public data, hindering its effective use Ready to join? 👉🏼 Check out startupczechia.cz or contact Martin Jiránek. It’s time to build 💪🏼🛠️ #startups #entrepreneurship #startupczechia #WakeUpEurope #MEGA

📣 Jednotný hlas za startupový a investorský sektor 💪🏼 Stavíme organizaci, která odmaká změnu k lepšímu ⏰ Máme momentum doma i v Evropě Před Českem a Evropou je jasná výzva: transformovat ekonomiku, zvětšit objem inovací i kapitálu a zvýšit počet úspěšných mladých firem. Česko potřebuje v podpoře startupů a inovací výrazně přidat. Zatím se ale nedaří prosazovat změny, které by k tomu vedly. 🚀 Jdeme to změnit – jsme Česká startupová asociace. Naším cílem je vytvořit u nás jeden z nejlepších právních, daňových a systémových frameworků pro startupový ekosystém v Evropě 🎯 🔎 Asociaci vede Martin Jiránek, zkušený expert na zákonodárství, politiku a lobbing. Martin se během léta sešel s více než 70 zástupci českého startupového ekosystému – mluvil s foundery, podnikateli, angel investory, VC fondy, akcelerátory, inkubátory a také s experty na právní a daňové systémy. Na základě stovek hodin rozhovorů jsme vydefinovali 7️⃣ hlavních překážek a výzev, na jejichž změnu se nyní zaměříme. Mrkněte na web a přidejte se k nám – společně toho dokážeme víc, líp a rychleji: startupczechia.cz Navíc budete ve skvělé společnosti – mezi první členy Asociace patří zkušená a úspěšná jména ze všech oblastí české startupové scény. Na palubě máme: 🔹 investory: Credo Ventures, Presto Ventures, Purple Ventures, P&J Capital 🔹 startupy: Liftago, Keboola, Oddin.gg, grid.online 🔹 i klíčové ekosytémové hráče: technologicky zaměřené právní kanceláře Sparring a NOVALIA, inovační agentura JIC - business with a purpose, akcelerátor StartupYard a byznys hub OPERO Obrovské díky patří našim ambasadorům, kteří nám díky svým zkušenostem a vhledům pomohli Asociaci představit veřejnosti a vysvětlit její fungování: 🔹 Ondrej Kratky, spoluzakladatel Liftago a zakladatel grid.online 🔹 Jakub Císař, spoluzakladatel a partner Novalia 🔹 Vojta Rocek, partner Presto Ventures A velké poděkování patří také novinářům, kteří se Asociaci a startupovým tématům věnují 🙏🏼 Váš čas a energie nám pomáhá získat podporu veřejnosti, pozornost politiků a taky další skvělé členy do party 🇨🇿 Ten největší kus práce je teď každopádně před námi – díky za důvěru, jdeme makat 💪🏼

I'd sum up the last 3 months with "If you want something done right, do it yourself." If we don't invest more in the proper military tech, we will lose democracy in our country and the broader European space. Yet, every institution along the way, which should be helpful in our fight for our sovereignty, is throwing wrenches in the works with every step we take. Most of the time I feel like I'm saving people against their will just to make the world around me safer and more prosperous for everyone. It's similar with the Czech startup association we launched yesterday. For years, I have seen that everybody knows something should be done; everyone says we need to do something ASAP, but nobody is doing anything. Words only. During the last decade, I co-founded and sold my startup to 2nd biggest SaaS in the USA, mentored thousands of young entrepreneurs, invested in 50+ of them, fought with COVID-19 by building lung ventilators, got two kids, and now I'm defending Western values through startup innovations. Delivery is the only thing that matters. Results are what counts. What we need is action. It's time to build.

The feeling is mutual, Engaged Investments Conference 🙌🏼 💙 Thank you for having us and for pulling off a great event! We’d also like to thank the Czechoslovak Group, our Presto Tech Horizons partner, as well as these two pros for completing our conference dream team: 🛡️ Tomáš Richtr, COO of CS SOFT a.s., member of CSG Aerospace, for joining Premysl on the ‘Peculiarities of Defense Investment’ panel and in the DefSec Innovation Challenge jury 🪖 🔒 Simon Bauwens, co-founder of OutKept, one of our portfolio companies, for joining Eduard on the ‘Digital Armor: Where Cyber Security Meets Opportunity’ panel – the perfect combo of industry wisdom meets standup comedy 👌🏼 See you next year ✌🏼