Talk by Andrej Kiska, Partner, Credo Ventures (Czech Republic), at Stanford on Jan 22 2018, in our session: 'Czechia & Slovakia : VC and Startup Ecosystems in Central Europe'. Website: http://www.StanfordEuropreneurs.org YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StanfordEuropreneurs Twitter: @Europreneurs

1. VC & Startup Ecosystems in Central Europe
Andrej Kiska, Credo Ventures
Stanford Europreneurs – School of Engineering
January 22 2018
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© 2018, Credo Ventures a.s.

2. “Partnering with outstanding
technology founders from CEE with
global ambitions to realize their
dreams”
Advisory board
€71Million
in assets under management
7 investment professionals based in
Prague + 1 in Menlo Park
Esther Dyson Chair
Reshma Sohoni (Seedcamp)
Stuart Chapman (DFJ Esprit)
Jan Hammer (Index
Ventures)
Andrew Banks (True)
Exits
Current Portfolio
2
funds
Credo Stage I founded 2010 – 18 MM
Credo Stage II founded 2015 – 53 MM
Venture partners
Martin Rehak (Cisco)
Michal Pechoucek (Cisco)
Tobias Rataj (Teradata)
Karel Obluk (AVG)
Tomas Orlik (GCWare)

4. Cred
CREDO VENTURES’ TEAM
Prague office:
Ondrej Bartos, involved in the CEE startups scene
since 1999, previously starred on the Czech
Dragon’s Den
Jan Habermann, co-founded and operated several
companies before entering the VC world in 2006,
Kauffman Fellow
Vladislav Jez, launched the first VC fund in the
region in 1994 and served as the president
of the Czech PE and VC Association
Menlo Park office:
Andrej Kiska, opened our Silicon Valley
office in 2017, Forbes 30 under 30,
Central European Investor of the year
2016 by CESA
4 general partners working together since Credo’s inception in 2010 supported by a team
of associates, executive assistants and advisors

5. FUND WITH MOST INVESTMENTS AND MOST EXITS IN
CENTRAL EUROPE THIS DECADE
Raised $30M
Series A from:
Sold to:
Sold to:
Sold to:
Sold to:

6. 6
1. Historical Context
2. Czechs vs Slovaks
3. Our challenges
4. Funding Ecosystem Overview
Agenda

7. 1. Historical Context

8. / Presentation title / date8
STRONG HISTORY OF CREATIVE INVENTIONS…
Drunk tank / Sobering-up station
Invented by Jaroslav Skala, Czech Republic
Over 63 existing stations treated over 1.2mm
people in Czechoslovakia
Shutdown of such stations in Poland created
overflow of patients in hospital‘s ERs
Earthquake Machine
N. Tesla (Croatia) deployed a small oscillating
device that, when attached to his office and
operating, nearly shook down the building.
The Device weighted a few pounds
The timing of the oscillator was tuned at such
frequency that each little vibration added just
a little more energy to the wave of flex in
a building

9. / Presentation title / date9
…AND EVEN SOME SERIOUS ONES
Lightning rod
Invented by Propok Diviš
in 1750’s
Ship propeller
Invented and patented in 1827
by Josef Ressel
Contact lenses
Invented by Dr. Otto Wichterle
(Nobel Prize nominee 1993)
Radio
Co-invented by Josef Murgaš
in 1900’s
Nikola Tesla
Over 300 patents: alternating
current, x-ray, telecommunications…
Ejection seat
First layout proposed by Anastase
Dragomir in late 1920’s

10. TODAY: HOME OF THE BEST TECH TALENT
2017 Data

11. 2. Czechs versus Slovaks

12. Slovak Success Stories

13. Czech vs Slovak Success Stories: USD 100 MM+
Successes
Slovakia Czech Republic

14. Czech vs Slovak Success Stories: USD 10 – 100 mm
Successes
Slovakia Czech Republic

15. Slovakia Czech Republic
Czech vs Slovak Potential Success Stories

16. CZ 2014 Exits Israel 2014 Exits
Big Picture

17. Cred
€ 4.2
€ 4.9
€ 10.1
€ 14.4
€ 16.2
1,290
1,853 2,120
2,566
3,376
621 967
996
1,301
1,748
245
317
378
567
879
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
€ 0
€ 2
€ 4
€ 6
€ 8
€ 10
€ 12
€ 14
€ 16
€ 18
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Fundraising in Europe
Deal value (€B) Deal volume (total) Angel/Seed Series A
Source | Dealroom.co
Europe is home to 30+ unicorns
US funds participate more and
more in European deals
25% of funding in 2016 came
from US funds
Opportunities come from all over
Europe
UK and Germany slowing down to
make room for the rest of Europe
At €25 per capita VC funding,
Europe has a lot of room to
match the US’s €231
WHILE EUROPEAN ECOSYSTEM AS A WHOLE IS GROWING
FAST…
17

18. Cred
67
238
0
50
100
150
200
250
2010 2016
Central Europe Venture Capital Deal # by Stage
Seed Start-Up Later Stage Total
Sources | Invest Europe; KPMG; DealRoom.com; PWC
€550M early stage capital invested in
Central Europe since 2015. A level similar
to Colorado, the 6th largest tech
ecosystem of the US
Launch of
Credo Stage 1
2010 - 2016 VC Deal # CAGR: 20% Central Europe,
6% Europe, 6% USA
Cred
… CENTRAL EUROPE IS GROWING EVEN FASTER
18

19. 3. Where are the company builders

20. Our (aspiring) Stars*
The USD 100 MM Business

21. Lack of billion dollar success stories leads to…
…lack of billion dollar ideas
Result of the Problem

22. 4. Funding Ecosystem Overview

23. Our Funding Ecosystem

24. With CredoJ

25. Thank you & questions
kiska@credoventures.com