KAYA

What KAYA does

KAYA is a Central and Eastern Europe-focused venture capital firm founded in 2011 in Prague that backs technical founders from pre-seed through Series A. It operates a partnership-driven model led by four equal General Partners (Tomas Obrtac, Tomas Pacinda, Martin Rajcan, Karel Zheng) supported by venture partners including Tomáš Čupr (Rohlik founder). The firm invests first cheques of $500K–$2M (€100K–€3M across programmes) with follow-on reserves exceeding €20M per company, and is geographically agnostic within the broader CEE region with thematic emphasis on personal health, energy transition, and next-generation consumer experiences. Across five funds since 2011, KAYA has grown assets under management to over $500M and backed more than 50 portfolio companies, including three CEE unicorns (Rohlik, Docplanner, Booksy) whose aggregate portfolio value is approximately €350M.

The firm's offering is a multi-decade founder partnership rather than a software product. Core capabilities include an early-conviction thesis underwriting process tuned to opportunities that "look wrong today and obvious in retrospect," an ESG due diligence framework co-developed with VentureESG covering eight issue areas, a venture studio / co-creation offering for idea-stage founders, and a curated founder community anchored by recurring expert talks, offsites, and informal dinners. Distribution is built on an open online pitch form, university partnerships (Charles University/MFF UK), community events across CEE cities, and co-investor relationships with Tier-1 lead investors (Accel, Index, Bessemer, Insight Partners, Earlybird) that lead later rounds in KAYA deals.

The business model is standard VC fund economics: KAYA VC GP S.à r.l, a Luxembourg-registered Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM), earns management fees and carried interest on the firm's €70M Fund V first close and prior vintages. The ET3 and ET4 subfunds additionally benefit from InnovFin Equity / European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) backing. The GP is headquartered in Prague with regional offices in Warsaw, London, and San Francisco, and explicitly excludes non-West-aligned countries per its Sustainability policy. Revenue (management fees) is realized on multi-year fund lifecycles, while capital gains from exits flow opportunistically over the hold period.

Name

KAYA

Legal name

KAYA VC GP S.à r.l

Website

https://kaya.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KAYA is a Prague-headquartered venture capital firm, founded in 2011, that backs Central and Eastern European technical founders from pre-seed through Series A via five funds totaling over $500M AUM, with first cheques of $500K–$2M and follow-on capacity up to €20M per company.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (525990), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

SBIC Venture Debt Funds (FSANAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Managed Account / SMA Multi-Manager Platforms (FSANAGAL), Financial Planning & Analysis Support (Budgeting, Forecasting, Management Reporting) (BPAAAGAJ)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early-stage equity funding
• Pre-seed startup funding
• Seed-stage venture capital
• Startup portfolio management

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture fund management: Standard VC fund economics across five funds: management fees and carried interest earned by KAYA VC GP S.à r.l (Luxembourg AIFM) on €70M+ fifth-fund vintage and prior funds totaling over $500M AUM, with capital deployed into pre-seed through Series A investments.
2. Investment returns / capital gains on exits: Long-term capital appreciation from portfolio exits, including three unicorn outcomes (Rohlik, Docplanner, Booksy) contributing to an approximate €350M portfolio value; revenue is realized opportunistically via acquisitions, secondary sales, and IPOs over a multi-year hold.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

KAYA is a Central and Eastern Europe-focused venture capital firm that invests early-stage equity capital into pre-seed and seed-stage technical founders, writing first cheques of $500K to $2M and reserving up to €20M per company for follow-on rounds. The firm manages five venture funds with over $500M under management, anchored by a €70M fifth-fund first close completed in June 2025 that expanded investment scope from Czech, Polish, and Slovak startups to the broader CEE region. Beyond capital, KAYA delivers hands-on team-building support, operational guidance, founder community events, and an ESG due diligence framework co-developed with VentureESG.

Product overview

KAYA is a Central and Eastern Europe-focused venture capital firm (not a software product company) whose offering is centred on a series of flagship investment funds — most recently Fund V with a €70M first close in June 2025 — deployed through a Pre-Seed and Seed Investment Programme (€500K–$2M first cheques) plus a Follow-On Investment Capacity of over €20M per company. Beyond capital, the firm operates a Studio and Co-Created Ventures offering at the idea stage, a Founder Community and Events Programme for portfolio companies, and an ESG and Sustainability Toolkit to embed responsible practices from day one. The firm's full lifecycle support model is delivered to a portfolio that has produced CEE unicorns such as Rohlik, DocPlanner, Booksy, E2B and others (per the homepage, companies page, ethos page and about/facts page).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KAYA Fund V The fifth and current flagship venture capital fund of KAYA, anchored by a €70M first close in June 2025, expanding the firm's investment scope from Czech, Polish, and Slovak startups to the broader Central and Eastern European region. Targets up to 25 startups at pre-seed to Series A stages with initial checks of €1M to €3M. Available to CEE-rooted technical founders via direct outreach or open online pitch application.
• Pre-Seed and Seed Investment Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $500M under management across five funds since 2011
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ETH ZurichminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2026Academic collaboration partner with KAYA portfolio company Theorema for AI-driven scientific research; referenced alongside Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences.
• Czech Academy of SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2026Academic collaboration partner of KAYA portfolio company Theorema for agentic AI in laboratory research.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or Integration · 11 June 2025Provides accelerated computing and AI infrastructure used by KAYA portfolio company Sensible Biotechnologies to slash the time taken to optimize novel cell-based mRNA therapeutics by more than 90%.
• SymeresminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2025Transatlantic small molecule contract research and manufacturing organization that collaborated with KAYA portfolio company Yoneda Labs to use AI for cross-coupling reaction optimization.
• VentureESGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKAYA co-developed its eight-issue-area ESG framework with VentureESG and is part of the international VentureESG community of 150+ VC funds between the US, Europe and Israel.
• Included VCcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerKAYA is a founding sponsor of Included VC, which actively drives diversity and inclusion in the venture capital industry.
• Charles University (MFF UK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partnership used as part of KAYA's open-application and sourcing approach to identify technical founders in the CEE region.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Day One Capital: Budapest-based early-stage CEE VC; directly comparable thesis and stage but centered on Hungary rather than Czechia/Poland where KAYA is anchored.

Broad incumbents

• Atomico: London-based pan-European VC; comparable as a European early-stage investor and follow-on capital source for CEE founders scaling globally, but with a far larger fund size and broader mandate.
• Index Ventures: Global Tier-1 VC that has led follow-on rounds in KAYA portfolio companies; not a CEE specialist, but a relevant incumbent peer in the broader European venture ecosystem.
• Accel: Global Tier-1 VC that has led later rounds in KAYA-backed companies (e.g., Viktor); comparable as a leading source of follow-on capital into the CEE ecosystem.
• Insight Partners: US-based growth investor that led E2B's $21M Series A in July 2025 with KAYA participation; relevant as a benchmark for the type of follow-on capital KAYA partners with as portfolio companies scale.

Direct peers

• Credo Ventures: Prague-based early-stage VC focused on CEE technical founders; the most direct geographic and stage peer to KAYA, frequently co-investing (e.g., Theorema pre-seed round).
• Inovo VC: Poland-based early- and growth-stage VC investing across CEE; directly comparable in thesis and region, and a frequent co-investor with KAYA (e.g., Viktor Series A).
• Bek Ventures: CEE-focused early-stage fund with offices in Berlin and Istanbul; operates a similar thesis of backing technical founders from the region at pre-seed/seed, and co-invests with KAYA (e.g., Viktor).
• Earlybird: Berlin-based European early-stage VC with deep CEE exposure; comparable in stage (seed/Series A) and cross-invested in TopK's seed alongside KAYA.
• Speedinvest: Vienna-based early-stage fund with sector-focused programs across Europe; overlaps with KAYA in stage, region, and community-driven founder support.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/adamnemecek/traceoid.ai
• Xx.com/kaya_vc

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments94 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KAYA