#13
ππ» Hi All! Great to have you back. This is visegrad.now, my newsletter covering startup and small business stories from the Visegrad countries (π΅π±, π¨πΏ, πΈπ°, ππΊ). If you like what you read, do not forget to subscribe, share and recommend us to friends, family or even strangers who you might meet. Hope the summer is going great, btw. Letβs start π₯³
PS: True, I should have dropped this edition already a month ago. But the summer season is visibly affecting deals, news flows and myself. So there is much less going on, on all fronts vs early summer, not to mention this past spring. Which is fine. All of us should move away from screens and recharge those batteries because autumn is approaching π
π’ TL;DR
Top stories this week: βπ» PFR Ventures and Inovo VC published their Q2 report on the Polish VC market βπ» Myriad (π¨πΏ), Yedem (π¨πΏ) and RobosizeME (π¨πΏ) received πΆ βπ» Polandβs The Linghos aims to re-think speech therapy for kids via a digital platform, driven by AI and gamification βπ» Open positions at startups from this edition βπ» And an unconventional βOutroβ, cause its π
π¨ Intro
Polandβs PFR Ventures and Inovo, a local VC firm, has published their fresh quarterly report (Q2) on the local startup investment market. Always interesting to see π΅π± developments, as they tend to set the tone in our region. TL;DR:
During Q2, 38 companies secured β¬208M from 47 funds; total funding amount came from both local and international sources, mind you, so not just locals.
This amount is a significant decrease in the number of companies securing financing. A trend that was already visible in Q1, and it is is linked to the conclusion of relevant EU funds; this is also visible on the ππΊ market, btw.
In the first half of 2024, the total value of investments reached β¬252M.Β Out of which there were 51 seed rounds and 18 Series A+ deals (13 of these in Q2).
For more information re: the Polish VC market, check the report, directly.
πΆ Funding corner
ππ» Myriad, a AI-driven compliance startup from π¨πΏ but based in the US, snatched ca. β¬1.8M led by Nation 1 (π¨πΏ), with participation from several others investors, incl. Plug & Play. The fresh financing will aim at expansion, focused on the US.
Founded: 2023; San Francisco; Founder(s): Jan Ε pidlen; Total funding (until now): This was the startups first outside investment round.
ππ» Yedem, a car-sharing and smart parking startup from π¨πΏ, bagged β¬500k led by Czech Founders VC, with participation from Patero and JIC, all local investors. The fresh financing will aim at expanding its team and to new markets (e.g. π΅π±, ππΊ).
Founded: 2018; HQ: Brno; Founder(s): Matej Ballo, Vojtech Rujbr; Funding: This was the startups first outside investment round.
ππ» RobosizeME, a hospitality startup from, oh yes, π¨πΏ, closed an undisclosed investment round led by BrightCap Ventures, a Bulgarian VC firm. The fresh financing will aim at further developing its solution and robust expansion.
Founded: 2022; HQ: Olomouc; Founder(s): Stephen Burke, Linda Girrbach, Ivo Brabec; Funding: N/A
π₯ to all founders and teams on the fresh raises!
π In focus
This weekβs profile is on The Linghos, which might sound like the name of an Irish punk band, but it is in fact a medtech startup from π΅π±, that offers an innovative speech therapy platform for kids, combining medicine and gaming.
Quick sidenote: The startup just received its first, undisclosed investment from Simpact Ventures and SMOK Ventures, both local VC firms. Congrats!
As a young father to a little girl with minor speech difficulties this is my app, I will not hide it. In the past ca. 2 years we have been to numerous experts and in parallel with these visits, we have tried out speech classes, sports, gymnastics.
All were helpful to a certain degree but none offered meaningful development. Fortunately, after many rounds and solutions, since 6 months we are on tracking, thanks to an early development center that we have found. Still, The Linghos platform is an absolute bullseye as it could supplement the development of our own daugther, not to mention those kids and parents, who yet to find a solution.
The platform is pretty straightforward:
Parents need to fill in a digital form in the app.
Parents then pass on the digital app to their kids.
While playing with the app, an AI module diagnoses the respective childs speech impediments - no scary, boring, long offline tests, just while playing.
Based on the diagnosis, the AI module prepares tailor-made speech therapy.
Tailor-made therapy can start, during which the AI module checks progress.
If needed, after a session, parents can reach out to real-life speech therapists.
π Role play
Myriad has no open positions, but check them, maybe later.
Yedem has no open positions, but drop them a message here.
RobosizeME has 2 open positions, incl. Project Coordinator.
π Outro
Still no βOutroβ during the summer, in a classical sense. However, with a small twist, I sure do recommend sparing 30 minutes of your time on listening Rory Sutherlandβs (Ogilvy) fresh talk from Nudgestock. Real food for thought. Here:
That is it, see you all back here on 2 September!