What Czech Founders VC does

Czech Founders VC (legal entity: Czech Founders Ventures s.r.o.) is a founder-led venture capital firm headquartered in Prague with a secondary office in Bratislava, focused on pre-seed investments in Central and Eastern European (CEE) startups with global ambitions. The firm deploys typical tickets of €50-350k for no more than 15% equity with no multiple liquidation preferences, and operates a structured acceleration program called Sherpa that provides a €40k convertible loan (€22k wage compensation plus €18k in resources) on day one with a potential €250k follow-on pre-seed investment. The Sherpa cohort includes workshops, mentoring, team offsite, OKR planning, and access to over €200k in partner benefits including AWS, JetBrains, and Make.com credits and discounts.

The firm is governed by three co-founder General Partners — Vit Horky (exited founder of Brand Embassy to NICE and Inspiro to Publicis Groupe), Václav Pavlecka (15-year marketing/innovation consultant and co-founder of Air Ventures and Kliché Killers), and Ivan Kristel (Slovak startup ecosystem participant since its inception) — supported by a six-person core team including an Operations Manager and two analysts. The firm's competitive position rests on a network of 45+ founder-turned-mentors serving as Limited Partners, including operators from Mews, Mall/Reflex Capital, Rockaway, Livesport, and Credo Ventures, who provide deal flow, mentorship, and strategic introductions to portfolio companies.

The business model is standard GP economics: management fees on committed fund capital plus carried interest from equity stakes in portfolio companies. The firm explicitly structures its product as community-driven (rooted in the Czech Founders NGO), founder-friendly on terms, and selective on team quality ("strong founders willing to put everything into the game"). To date it has invested in 30+ portfolio companies spanning AI, biotech, healthcare, SaaS, manufacturing, AdTech, social media, and fraud detection, with lead or participation roles in disclosed rounds ranging from €40k convertible notes to €1.8M seed financings. The firm recently extended its international footprint via the United Founders initiative.

Name

Czech Founders VC

Legal name

Czech Founders Ventures s.r.o.

Website

https://czechfounders.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Czech Founders VC is a Prague-headquartered pre-seed venture capital firm investing €50-350k in Central and Eastern European founders, supported by 45+ founder-LPs and operating the Sherpa acceleration program as an upstream deal funnel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Portfolio equity returns: Czech Founders VC generates returns through equity stakes in portfolio companies. Standard pre-seed tickets of €50-350k for 15% or less equity. Sherpa program provides €40k initial convertible loan investment with potential €250k follow-on pre-seed.
2. Sherpa Accelerator Program: Sherpa acceleration program provides €40k initial investment (€22k wage compensation + €18k resources) as convertible loan on day 1, with potential follow-on pre-seed investment up to €250k, targeting portfolio funnel.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Czech Founders VC is a founder-led venture capital firm that invests pre-seed capital (typically €50-350k) into exceptional early-stage startups based in Central and Eastern Europe with global ambitions, in exchange for no more than 15% equity and without multiple liquidation preferences. The firm also runs the Sherpa Acceleration Program, which provides a €40k initial convertible loan (€22k wage compensation + €18k in resources), structured mentorship, workshops, OKR planning, a team offsite, access to €200k+ in partner benefits (e.g., AWS, JetBrains, Make.com credits and discounts), and a potential follow-on pre-seed investment of up to €250k. Portfolio companies additionally gain access to 45+ founder-turned-mentor Limited Partners for strategic guidance and customer introductions.

Product overview

Czech Founders VC operates as a venture capital firm offering two primary services: pre-seed investment (tickets of €50-350k) for exceptional founders with global ambitions based in Central or Eastern Europe, and the Sherpa Acceleration Program—a structured platform providing €40k initial investment, business strategy validation, go-to-market support, expert mentorship, and potential follow-on investment up to €250k. The Sherpa program includes workshops, team building offsite, OKR planning, and access to over €200k in benefits including cloud credits and software discounts. The firm connects founders with over 45 Limited Partners who serve as mentors and advisors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sherpa: An accelerator program by Czech Founders VC that provides 40k EUR initial investment, mentorship, and support for early-stage startups in the CEE region.

Products and services

• Pre-Seed Investment Pre-seed equity investment tickets typically ranging from €50k to €350k for early-stage founders in Central and Eastern Europe with global ambitions. Standardized terms: no more than 15% equity and no multiple liquidation preferences. Founders apply via Typeform, email, or personal meetings; the investment process involves 2-3 meetings with detailed and honest feedback. Portfolio companies also gain access to 45+ founder-LP mentors for strategic guidance and customer introductions.
• Sherpa Acceleration Program Structured cohort-based acceleration program providing €40k initial investment as a convertible loan on day one (split into €22k wage compensation and €18k in resources), business validation, go-to-market support, expert mentorship network, workshops, OKR planning, a team offsite, and access to €200k+ in partner benefits including AWS cloud credits and JetBrains/Make.com discounts. Successful Sherpa companies are eligible for follow-on pre-seed investment up to €250k from Czech Founders VC, creating a structured pipeline into the main pre-seed fund. Alumni include Flowlance, Daitable, Edmund/Edima, Impactso, and Veriteus.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30+ portfolio companies invested to date across CEE region
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Sherpa Alumni NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni companies including Flowlance, Daitable, Edmund/Edima, and Impactso form an active community of founders supporting each other post-program.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rockaway Capital: Czech-based investment group managing €2.5B+ aggregate sales portfolio. Founded by Jakub Havrlant, an LP at Czech Founders VC. While broader than pure VC, overlaps in CEE pre-seed/seed deal flow.
• Credo Ventures: Prague-based early-stage VC focused on Central European founders with global ambitions. Highly comparable in geography and stage; partner Andrej Kiska is also an LP at Czech Founders VC, making this both a competitor and a connected peer.
• Reflex Capital: Prague-based VC investing in CEE founders at pre-seed and seed. Ondrej Fryc (Mall founder) is both an LP at Czech Founders VC and the founder of Reflex Capital; the two firms co-invested in Merchantee.
• Lighthouse Ventures: CEE-focused early-stage VC and frequent co-investor with Czech Founders VC across DecisionRules, Merchantee, and Edmund. Operates in the same geography and stage with comparable ticket sizes.
• Tensor Ventures: CEE-focused deep tech VC at pre-seed and seed. Co-invested with Czech Founders VC in Edmund and Openvibe. Comparable geography, stage, and check size profile.
• Air Ventures: CEE-focused fund co-founded by Vaclav Pavlecka (Czech Founders VC GP). Directly comparable in geography and stage, with personnel overlap creating a close peer relationship.
• Kaya VC: CEE early-stage VC focused on pre-seed and seed rounds with similar fair-term positioning. Comparable in target geography, founder stage, and ticket size to Czech Founders VC.
• Day One Capital: Budapest-based early-stage VC focused on CEE founders. Operates in overlapping geographies (Hungary, Central Europe) at pre-seed/seed with comparable community-driven investment philosophy.

Broad incumbents

• Speedinvest: Vienna-based pan-European early-stage VC with substantially larger fund size and broader sector coverage. Increasingly active in CEE at pre-seed/seed, representing a more-capitalized competitor in overlapping geographies.
• Earlybird Venture Capital: Berlin-based pan-European early-stage VC active across CEE. Larger fund size and follow-on capacity make it a comparable but materially better-capitalized competitor in the same pre-seed/seed space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/czech-founders-vc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments45 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Czech Founders VC