START-UPS

10 outstanding start-ups from Prague to watch

28 Jun 2018

City of Prague, Czech Republic

Prague, Czech Republic. Image: Nikolay Antonov/Shutterstock

Prague is not only in the centre of Europe, it is playing a central role in the future of technology.

Just a few years ago, we were deeply impressed with the start-up community that we met in Prague, and the city’s heritage as a go-to location for tech start-ups through great companies such as AVG, Avast and Warhorse Studios was abundantly clear.

Prague’s geographical location has always put it at the crossroads of European history but it is also celebrated for its beer and café culture, and has been a haven for expats since the Iron Curtain fell in the early 1990s.

Its potency as a location for tech companies to start up has been bolstered by a highly educated, young population.

The city has a lively entrepreneurial scene with key events such as WebExpo, Startup Summit, Prague Entrepreneurs and CreativeMornings.

Tech co-working spaces include Node5, Impact Hub Prague and TechSquare.

Key investors to watch include Credo Ventures, Rockaway Capital, Miton, Springtide, J&T Ventures, KKCG and the Czech Venture Capital Association.

And so, here are the start-ups from Prague to Czech out.

Apify

A graduate from the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator, Apify is a web-scraping and automation platform that can extract structured data from any website or automate any workflow on the web. It was founded in 2015 by Jakub Balada and Jan Čurn and has raised $392,000 in funding so far, according to Crunchbase.

Avocode

Acting as a bridge between designers and developers, Avocode is software that enables users to export and share anything from Photoshop and Sketch designs, including colours, image assets, fonts, text, CSS, sizes and dimensions. Founded in 2014 by Vu Hoang Anh, Martin Ďuriš and Petr Brzek, it has raised $605,000 in funding so far.

BudgetBakers

Regarded as the leading Czech fintech pioneer, BudgetBakers began life as a side project of founder Jan Müller. It is a popular expense-tracking tool available on Android and iOS that enables people to better manage their money. BudgetBakers has raised $434,000 in funding to date and is headed by CEO Michal Kratochvíl, a seasoned banking executive.

Brand Embassy

Brand Embassy helps more than 100 enterprise companies – such as T-Mobile, GE Money and Samsung – provide excellent customer service at scale for today’s impatient social customers. Founded in Prague and with offices in London and San Francisco, it was set up in 2011 by Damian Brhel and Vit Horky. Brand Embassy has raised $4m to date, including a $3m round last year led by a number of angel investors.

Gamee

Gamee is a battle gaming network that makes games playable and shareable with friends across apps, including messaging apps. Founded in 2015 by Bozena Rezab, Jan Castek, Lukas Stibor and Miroslav Chmelka, Gamee has raised $2.8m in funding from investors that include Google Launchpad, Credo Ventures, Initial Capital, Index Ventures and Socialbakers co-founder Jan Rezab.

Neuron Soundware

Founded in Prague and headquartered in London, Neuron Soundware is a deep-tech start-up in the field of artificial intelligence and the internet of things, using audio analysis to detect broken machines. Its diagnostic technology focuses on the early detection and prediction of mechanical malfunction on any machinery. Founded in 2016 by Pavel Konečný and Pavel Klinger, the company has raised €680,000 to date.

Socialbakers

Socialbakers is an AI-powered social media marketing platform that was founded by Jan Rezab, Jiri Voves, Lukas Maixner and Martin Homolka. Led by CEO Yuval Ben-Itzhak, the company has become the trusted social media management partner to thousands of enterprise brands and SMBs. Socialbakers has raised $34m to date from investors that include Index Ventures and Earlybird Ventures.

Spendee

An app that helps you to put your money in shape, Spendee is used by more than 1m people worldwide. The app helps people understand their finances so they can make smarter decisions and have a stress-free life. Founded last year by David Neveceral and Jakub Sechter, it has raised $550,000 in funding so far.

Twisto

Aimed at millennials across central Europe, Twisto aims to support those underserved by banks, including young families, students and freelancers, with cutting-edge financial services and payments. Founded in 2013 by Michal Smida, the fintech has raised $24m from leading investors including ING Ventures and Uniqa.

VersionPress

Based in Prague and Pardubice, VersionPress describes itself as “Git for WordPress sites”. It provides a plugin for WordPress that enables version control and an undo button for changes made to a WordPress site. It uses software built on top of Git, the popular open source version control system. Founded in 2013 by Borek Bernard and Jan Voráček, VersionPress has raised $400,000 funding to date.

Updated, 11.09am, 28 June 2018, and 2.28pm, 29 June 2018: This article was updated to clarify that Apify has raised $392,000 in funding, according to Crunchbase, not $262,000 as previously stated. It was also amended to include Pavel Klinger as co-founder of Neuron Soundware, not Tomáš Netrval, who happens to be the company’s current CTO.

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John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com