Wrap up of 2020 from DEPO group


2020 has been a difficult year. For DEPO Group it was a year full of changes and challenges. We would like to share with you a few things we have done in 2020 that we are proud of. Despite what this year has brought us, we feel that we are moving in the right direction.d

Depo Ventures investment group wishes Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Deal flow grow

In total, we recorded more than 800 companies in our deal flow this year. We manually pre-screen each of them so we can offer members and partners of DEPO Angels good quality early-stage projects from Central and Eastern Europe in which we believe make sense to invest. We are also improving the quality of processes for more accurate matchmaking.

Cross-border orientation 

We’ve created partnerships and cooperation with many funds, BAN’s, corporates, incubators, and other partners to cultivate the European startup ecosystem. 

Syndication support

We help business angels with small ticket sizes to invest in syndicates and be part of fast-growing startups with global ambitions.

Remote investing

“It’s new, it’s different but it’s a new normal”. That’s what Roger King, founder of Bay Angels said about online investing. Investors had to react on lockdown, so DEPO team tries to simplify the investment process and support business angels in investing internationally. We’ve already made several remote investments and hoping for more in 2021.

Online events

Nine pitch events are behind us. The most successful event was the Transatlantic Startup Pitch with our US partner. In 2021 you can look forward to other concepts, for example with European business angels’ networks, thematic pitch events, etc.

EBAN active role

Petr Šíma, founder of DEPO Ventures has become a board member of EBAN (European Business Angel Network) as the first representative of the Czech Republic. His biggest ambition is to increase the number of international co-investments in seed startups. 

Our portfolio

Our angel fund Grouport has already invested in seven seed startups. Here are a few highlights from its portfolio.

Tatum - The fastest way to develop blockchain apps.

From $20k MRR in March to $100k MRR in Dec 2020. Pipeline: Mastercard, ČSOB (part of KBC group), HSBC, GoPay, Czech Nation Bank, or Intel. Moreover, Tatum is preparing to build the US presence, fully working from January 2021.

SmartGuide - transfer into the platform that turns every phone into a personal tour guide with audio and AR like a live guide, that enables safe tourism recovery post-Covid. SmartGuide grew 8x in a year to >220k users. They cover >400 destinations incl. official guide of UNESCO sites, Prague, Harvard and the Kyrgyz Republic. 

New company in the portfolio that has been invested fully remotely:

Beem is a London company that converts your videos into lightweight human holograms that increase the effectiveness of your communication. 

 

We are looking forward to 2021.

Wish you all health and success.

 

DEPO team

Petr, Michal, Eliška, Sebastian, Tomáš