Flowpay raises €30 million to lend to SMEs and innovate embedded finance
Prague-based FinTech startup Flowpay has secured €30 million from investment manager Fasanara Capital to provide working capital financing for SMEs and become a notable player in the world of embedded finance.
Webout is Redefining Video Personalization with AI and Expanding Globally with Support from DEPO
Creating personalized video content without the need for large-scale production or technical expertise—Webout, a Czech-based startup, is redefining video creation by enabling businesses to tailor content in real-time for each viewer. The startup has secured €100,000 in funding from investment group DEPO Ventures, with additional backing from angel investors Miroslav Michalko, Radek Alenka, and Vladan Hejnic, who formed the Venture Buddies syndicate and contributed €240,000. This brings Webout’s total funding round to €340,000, which will be used to scale its product and expand into international markets.
YUMMY Brings a New Way of Home Cooking to the Czech Republic
Our portfolio company, YUMMY, is entering the Czech market with a unique service that allows customers to choose and order the recipes they want to cook and delivers all the necessary ingredients directly to their homes. This innovative way of home cooking originates from Finland, where parent company Ruokaboksi has been operating since 2017. After successfully entering the Estonian market, YUMMY decided to expand its activities to Prague and plans to expand to other Czech cities as well.
NEW Investment: BlueQubit raises $10M to take Quantum software into real-world applications
Integrating quantum computing into real-world computer applications is an ongoing problem, as the platforms are architected fundamentally differently. BlueQubit, a San Francisco-based quantum software startup founded by Stanford alumni, thinks it might have the answer.
Former Czech unicorn team founds AI-powered recruitment startup Finlay
DEPO Ventures announces its investment in Finlay, an AI-powered recruitment startup co-founded by ex-Mews COO, Scott Moran. The €300,000 pre-seed round, led by J&T Ventures alongside DEPO Ventures, aims to redefine how companies source talent across Europe and beyond. With deep expertise from the founding team – including leaders and recruiters from Mews, IBM, Rossum, and Cyrkl – Finlay is set to reshape the recruitment industry.
TelcoBrain Technologies Inc. Announces Convertible Note Funding Round Led by DEPO Ventures
TelcoBrain Technologies Inc. is pleased to announce the successful completion of a convertible note funding round led by DEPO Ventures. This strategic investment marks a significant milestone in TelcoBrain’s mission to revolutionize network evolution and infrastructure management. The funding underscores the confidence in TelcoBrain’s innovative approach to optimizing network and cloud resources based on techno-economic principles.
Subscriptions to furniture, fashion or garden technology as a new trend. DEPO invests in Circuly.
German startup Circuly is developing a software solution that allows companies to introduce and scale subscriptions for products such as bikes, cars or furniture. In an investment round led by funds Neoteq and Gateway Ventures, Circuly raised a total of CZK 13,475,000, which it will use to expand its solution into new industry segments and support its expansion into Central and Eastern Europe. Czech DEPO Ventures also participated in the investment round.
Founder, it’s your chance to win $1M! Startup World Cup Regional Finale is coming back to Prague.
Startup founders have an exciting opportunity on the horizon as the world’s largest startup competition, the Startup World Cup, returns to Prague on October 24th.
European startups got less money this year,but the sentiment is improving. Target: AI & climate tech
Petr Šíma: Forget about the United States, Europe has already overtaken it in the number of new startups. Moreover, it is the only region where the volume of capital invested in startups this year will be higher than in 2020, by 18 percent. Let's leave aside 2021 and early 2022, when startup valuations skyrocketed and investors bought whatever they could. That was an anomaly. This year, $45 billion will flow into European startups, according to a fresh analysis by Atomico. This is the third highest figure after the two years mentioned above and confirms that the ecosystem is on a strong footing.
DEPO’s Founders Meetup: A Catalyst for Innovation and Growth
Last October, DEPO Ventures had a great pleasure of organising a Founders Meetup that served as a beacon of innovation, collaboration, and growth. The event was a precursor to the Engaged Investments Conference and was attended by an eclectic mix of DEPO team members, 30 founders of start-ups from over 12 countries, and our valued Limited Partners (LPs). This event marked the first time that all the parties came together, fostering a vibrant ecosystem that thrives on shared knowledge, mutual growth, and a unified vision.