#7
ππ» Hi All! Great to have you back. I hope Easter was fulfilling and refreshing, mine certainly was, hence the little delay in posting. Nonetheless, this is still 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 π
PS: I am always open to new ideas and suggestions that could make this newsletter better, so DM me at hello.visegradnow@gmail.com, anytime.
π’ TL;DR
Top stories this week: βπ» Latest World Bank data on entrepreneurship shows promising signs for Visegrad countries βπ» SP Tech Solutions (π΅π±), Flowpay (π¨πΏ), Maas Loop (π΅π±) and Carebot (π¨πΏ) have all received πΆ βπ» Czechiaβs snuggs aims to make it big in the D2C segment, while also championing women care βπ» Open roles at startups and some good reads, like always, until the next issue drops
π¨ Intro
I recently came across fresh data (i.e. latest is 2022, mind you) from the World Bank that focuses on entrepreneurship across a bunch of countries, incl. that of the Visegrad region. The data itself is divided per 3 variables (total, new and closed number of LLCs within the given year / 1k working-age-people). While this is not fully comprehensive, it is still interesting to check how Visegrad countries fair, both in terms of each other and vis-Γ‘-vis some other European nations.
Here is the raw data:
π΅π±: 537,721 (total); 53,717 (new); 14,091 (closed) - adult population: 24,9M
π¨πΏ: 521,588 (total); 27,121 (new); 12,959 (closed) - adult population: 6,6M
πΈπ°: 316,241 (total); 20,035 (new); 5,731 (closed) - adult population: 3,6M
ππΊ: 410,342 (total); 27,399 (new); 19,087 (closed) - adult population: 6,3M
For comparison, same figures for Romania (just ot of curiosity) and countries that are considered to be among the most entrepreneurial within Europe - here:
πͺπͺ: 258,302 (total); 20,608 (new); 7,881 (closed) - adult population: 847k
πΈπͺ: 727,827 (total); 60,215 (new); 22,418 (closed) - adult population: 6,5M
π·π΄: 1,328,694 (total); 113,931 (new); 48,591 (closed) - adult population: 12,4M
π³π±: 598,256 (total); 39,055 (new); 25,669 (closed) - adult population: 11,3M
From the above, new business density is the most relevant metric for me and in that Poland seems to punch well below its weight, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia seems to be okayish vs other countries in the database, but Estoniaβ¦ just wowβ¦
πΆ Funding corner
ππ» SP Tech Solutions, a rail logistics startup from π΅π±, snatched 3M from Vinci, a Turkish VC firm, part of Inci Holding, a big local conglomerate. The fresh financing will aim at boosting expansion in Poland and Europe, mostly.
Founded: 2019; HQ: ToruΕ; Founder(s): Michal Pawlowski, Piotr Sikorski; Total funding (until now): ca. β¬4.5M
ππ» Flowpay, a fintech startup from π¨πΏ, bagged β¬2.1M led by Techstars, a well regarded US-based investment firm / startup accelerator, with participation from Soulmates Ventures and DEPO Ventures, both local VCs. The fresh financing will aim at growth, particularly beyond Czechia, and further developing its product.
Founded: 2021; HQ: Prague; Founder(s): William Jalloul, Daniel HastΓk; Funding: ca. β¬2.5M
ππ» Maas Loop, a sustainability startup from π΅π±, landed β¬1.2M led by Aper Ventures (π΅π±), with participation from other local investment firms and angels. The financing will aim at increasing international sales.
Founded: 2020; HQ: RzeszΓ³w; Founder(s): PaweΕ Ciesielski, Szczepan Wantusiak, Εukasz ΕwiΔch,; Funding: N/A
ππ» Carebot, a healttech startup from π¨πΏ, nabbed β¬1.2M from local VC firms and various business angels. The investment will fuel its growth outside Czechia.
Founded: 2021; HQ: Prague; Founder(s): Daniel Kvak, MatΔj MisaΕ; Funding: ca. β¬2M
π₯ to all founders and teams on the fresh raises!
π In focus
This weekβs profile is on snuggs, a women health startup from π¨πΏ, that have raised ca. β¬4.6M up until today from local investors, including Nation 1 VC, Wood & Company and the family office behind Bata Group. The startup produces period-proof underwear since 2018 that are now among the most used within Europe.
The Prague-based company was started and still run by co-founders Linda Ε ejdovΓ‘ and TomΓ‘Ε‘ ZahradnΓk, now out of London, to supervise global expansion. Last year snuggs realized ca. β¬20M turnover, most coming from non-Czech clients.
But apart from being a truly great Visegrad story in itself, built on a timely idea with hardwork, focus and a clinical level of persistance, Linda seems awesome.
Here is a fresh podcast episode (and article) with her via CzechCrunch:
For all of you who are not masters of Czech, here are 2 key remarks:
On how the business is going: βWe have a dominant position in the Czech Republic since we have built the entire category (β¦) In the Netherlands, we are very similar to Czechia, i.e. market leaders, while in Germany we are among the Top3. Today, overall we are the biggest players in our segment in Europe, both in terms of size and market reach (β¦) Competition arises in every country, but it is good because it shows we are on to something (β¦)β
On moving to London from Prague: βWe saw it as a necessity. First of all, because there are no investors in Czechia who would specialize in the D2C segment that we operate in (β¦) The second reason was hiring talent. As there are investors and D2C companies in London, there are also experienced people that we can hire (β¦) The third reason was know-how (β¦) Since arriving in London, we have accelerated our companies growth significantly (β¦)β
π Role play
π Outro
As always, before leaving you, here are some yummies to check:
Inven Capital (π¨πΏ) co-lead a ca. $13M investment in Scottish startup Ember; more on this story via TechCrunch
Credo Ventures (π¨πΏ) participated in defence startups Picogridβs ca. β¬11M seed round; more on this story via the US startups own page
Purple Ventures (π¨πΏ) has launched a β¬40M Fund in order to finance cutting-edge CEE startups; more on this via The Recursive
And that is it, see yβall on 15 April!