„We live in the current ecosystem, and we shouldn’t hope it will change.”
The Engaged Investments Conference's agenda was brimming with inspiring conversations, and one such panel discussion delved deep into the dynamics of start-up investments in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. With notable industry experts sharing their experience, the panel, titled "Exploring the Pros and Cons: Traditional VC Funds vs. Angel Syndicates and its Place in the CEE Region," provided a comprehensive exploration of the challenges, trends, and opportunities shaping the landscape.
NEW INVESTMENT: Cardino Secures €1M Pre-seed Funding to Build the Marketplace for Used Electric Cars
Berlin-based startup, Cardino, announces its new online platform tailored for the electric vehicle (EV) market. By leveraging innovative tech features, Cardino promises a seamless, digital experience for both EV sellers and car dealerships. The company successfully closed a €1M pre-seed round, with Silence VC and FJ Labs leading, and involvement from distinguished investors like Asymmetric Capital Partners, DEPO Ventures, Voyagers.io, Inclimo, Gaingels, and other industry experts as business angels.
Our Portfolio Company BLOCKMATE Secures 1.5 million Euro Investment! DEPO Is on Board as a Follow-on
Providing analytical insights into the world of digital assets and becoming a bridge between the cryptocurrency and traditional finance worlds is the goal of the Czech-Slovak startup Blockmate. They are developing a new generation of solutions for secure and consolidated financial services. They have now secured an investment totaling 1.5 million euros (approximately 36 million Czech korunas) from seven investors. The largest portion, amounting to 760,000 euros, will come from Seed Starter of Česká a Slovenská spořitelna. Among other investors are investment funds Tensor Ventures, DEPO Ventures, Token Ventures, BADideas.fund, ZAKA Ventures, and Diaspora Ventures. This investment marks a significant milestone for the company, enabling them to continue connecting cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and traditional finance.
Autumn Conference to Welcome European Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors to Prague
The Czech startup environment is gaining momentum, as evidenced by the international investment conference Engaged Investments, which, due to high demand, will offer a two-day program for the first time this year. Organizers expect three hundred participants. The prestigious event in Prague will bring together angel investors, fund investors, and representatives of venture capital funds, primarily focusing on startups from Central and Eastern Europe. The exclusive event, organized for the fifth year by the investment group DEPO Ventures, will provide investors with a deeper insight into the world of startups, expand their knowledge, and help strengthen their collaboration. The conference will take place on October 24th and 25th at the Kaiserštejnský Palace in Prague's Malá Strana.
RINGIL Advanced In The Digitalization Of Logistics, And This Year They'll Test The American Market
André Dravecký set out on a complex mission more than two years ago. He founded the startup Ringil and began building a modular logistics platform with the goal of digitalizing the transportation of goods as much as possible. "In many companies, logistics still relies only on paper and pencil. When I talk to investors, they often don't believe me, but it's true. And we want to change that," says Dravecký. Read more about his plans.
Tapline, a digital finance platform has announced a pre-seed funding of €31.7 million euro
Fasanara Capital, the UK-based alternative asset management company, is providing debt funding of €30m. The €1.7m equity round is led by the Czech VC firm, V-Sharp Venture Studio, alongside Antler, Black Pearls VC, 365 fintech, Depo Ventures, Impetus Capital, and several business angels investing in the round. The funding will allow the Berlin-based team to tap into the exponentially growing SaaS market, where global transaction volumes are set to reach €720 billion in 2028. The investment will also be used to enhance the Tapline solution and hire key individuals around marketing and product.
How to structuralize your pitch deck
One of the main aspects of pitch decks to consider is their overall structure. A deck can thrive or fail spectacularly based on the amount of clarity and information conciseness you provide. Here are two possible standard, nevertheless, effective ways to structure your pitch deck in order to raise the probability of successful investment.
Machining of the future - Factoree of the Málek brothers receives seed investment of 900k euro
The brothers Jakub and Milan Málek have been digitizing the engineering production market for 6 years. Their company Factoree is a turnkey supplier of engineering products, especially for companies in the field of agricultural machinery, construction equipment, or public transport, and this year they will deliver over 1 million parts, despite not owning a single machine tool. In fact, Factoree's founders are leveraging the existing capacity of smaller Czech engineering companies and, thanks to their online platform, are meeting their demand with orders from all over the world. They have now raised 900 thousand euros from Presto Ventures, DEPO Ventures, and the SFG financial group to digitalize their communication with suppliers further and expand abroad.
Why is it important to have a great pitch deck?
There are several things to mention while considering why making an impactful pitch deck is absolutely crucial. Everyone knows that a good presentation of any kind is just as important as your main points within the argumentation. In this case, you are probably not only selling your concept, but more importantly, you are selling the potential of yourself as well as your team. In the end, there is no right or wrong within the structure, however, because the final decision based on your pitch is reduced to either investment or no investment, a pitch can be effective or not. This either/or situation can be of course quite intimidating because even if the pitch is good, but not great, there is a significant possibility that investors simply will not be interested in an idea that does not seem rock solid. This is then perhaps the most important argument for the necessity of a superb pitch deck.
DEPO insider: Jan Pecník and his ride toward a bike business
The Netherlands and bicycles simply belong together. There are about one and a half times more bicycles than people in the land of tulips, and the infrastructure is extensive. Cities are welcoming to cyclists; therefore, everyone sees bicycles as a natural means of transport. But many people who come to the country for the first time (and not only them) find it difficult to find a suitable machine. Moreover, bikes are stolen quite a lot. Jan Pecník, who came to the Netherlands a few years ago as a student, also encountered exactly these problems. He wanted to put things in order. First, he started building a database of bikes and their owners. The aim was to easily identify the owner of a stolen bike. Or a badly parked bicycle that the technical services had taken to a ‘salvage’ parking lot. Later, he built an online marketplace around the database, where you can sell a bike at the click of a button.