Ahead of Engaged Investments 2026 (21–22 October, Prague), Petr Šíma, General Partner at DEPO Ventures, spoke with Ben Kolada, Director and Head of US Tech Investment Banking at ICON Corporate Finance.
Backed by venture debt from Orbit Capital, the edtech company plans to accelerate growth in the US, Mexico and other international markets. Its platform combines programming, AI and maths education for students aged 6 to 19.
Stanislav Andrieiev, COO of Ukrainian tech company SharksCode, shares his perspective on how growing tech companies can rethink decision-making, meetings, and management structures as their teams scale.
Backed by a €27M commitment from the European Investment Fund, Czechia's first dedicated technology transfer VC fund aims to raise over €50M and support around 40 deep-tech projects, turning academic research into commercially viable startups.
FLÆ Robotics raised over €1M in seed funding to scale BE-A, its AI hospitality agent already used by 60+ hotels across the UK, Germany and Czechia, and to expand into new markets including the US.
Three guests, three very different jobs, one thing in common: they're all in their twenties and already taking on a level of responsibility that usually comes later in a career.
In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, we talk with Viktoriya Markileva (Head of Space Services at EnduroSat), Georgi Nichev (Marketing Specialist at Helios Marine, Co-Founder of Scylla), and Maria Nikolova (Strategic Partnerships Development Manager at BESCO) about what it's actually like to be trusted with real responsibility this early — what makes someone trust you with it, how they handle it, and whether a career needs to follow a clear path at all.
In this episode, we explore:
🟣 How Gen Zs think about failure, 🟣 what hustle culture looks like from the inside, 🟣 what progress actually means to them, 🟣 and whether they'd be willing to wait years for the next step in their career.
💡 This conversation is essential for entrepreneurs looking to hire young talent, and for any Gen Z professionals wondering if they are ready to take the leap into a leadership role.
In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Rakuten Viber CEO Ofir Eyal to discuss how the company is evolving beyond messaging through its partnership with OpenAI, the rise of AI-powered communication, and the long-term vision behind building a "super app."
The conversation explores how the company approaches privacy and responsible AI adoption, and why Europe has yet to embrace the super app model seen across Asia.
Ofir also reflects on his own journey from product manager to CEO, the leadership lessons he learned while navigating one of Viber's most challenging periods after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
In this episode:
☑️ Why Viber partnered with OpenAI ☑️ The future of AI inside messaging apps ☑️ Can Europe build a successful super app? ☑️ Privacy, security, and responsible AI adoption ☑️ How Viber makes money beyond messaging ☑️ Leadership lessons from scaling a global platform ☑️ Rebuilding after losing 40% of the business overnight
🎙️ Subscribe to The Recursive Podcast for conversations with the founders, investors, and technology leaders shaping the future of innovation across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.
AI can generate logos, colors, taglines, and entire visual identities in seconds. But can it build a brand people actually remember?
In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, we explore one of the biggest questions facing founders, marketers, and designers today: what does branding look like in the age of AI?
Joining us are three branding experts with decades of experience building companies across technology, consumer products, and global markets:
The episode is hosted by Etien Yovchev, Co-founder and CGO, The Recursive.
☑️ Why the strongest brands shape identity, not just recognition ☑️ How design, typography, and marketing create emotional connection ☑️ Why AI-generated brands often struggle to build authenticity ☑️ What happens to local brands in a world shaped by global AI models ☑️ How founders can preserve cultural identity while building for global markets ☑️ Whether AI can truly understand local language, heritage, and aesthetics ☑️ What remains of a brand when customers discover products through AI assistants
Whether you're building a startup, launching a product, working in marketing, or simply curious about how AI is changing creative work, this conversation offers practical insights into what still requires human judgment, and why great brands are built through relationships, not prompts.
Monopulse, the Danish-Lithuanian maker of NATO-grade Falcon reconnaissance drones already used by several allied armed forces, raised over €2M led by CoInvest Capital to scale production and expand into Scandinavia and beyond.
Romanian VC GapMinder leads a new investment in VoicePatrol, an AI-powered voice moderation startup helping gaming studios detect severe toxicity in real time, reduce moderation costs, and create safer multiplayer experiences.
From connected dining lamps to digital humans and smarter hotel operations, here's what we saw at the Startup Den, part of Dubai’s Future Hospitality Summit.
The Recursive’s weekly roundup aims to cover key tech developments across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the growing impact of CEE-born founders on the global stage. Take a look at the latest news in funding, startup milestones, and emerging trends tied to the region’s innovation potential.
The cost of building software has collapsed. Three practitioners — a venture capitalist, a bootstrapped founder, and a product coach who shaped tools at Spotify and Google — argue that the real challenge has shifted: from execution to judgment, from speed to meaning.
Michal Ciffra, Partner at DEPO Ventures and one of the key people behind The Fintechers initiative, discusses what makes fintech startups investable in 2026 and the next stage for investment landscape in Europe.
The fund will invest around €2.3–23 million in each of 15 to 20 companies working on satellites, Earth observation, propulsion and space data. ICEYE has joined as a strategic partner.
The Tallinn-based spacetech, eight years in the making, raised a €4M seed co-led by Join Capital and PhotonVentures to scale manufacturing of its in-house laser communication terminals for satellites and airborne platforms, already shipping to paying customers.
A conversation between Petr Šíma, General Partner at DEPO Ventures, and Marcel Müller-Marbach, Senior Regional Representative for Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia of the European Investment Fund (EIF).
The Startup Revolution AI Summit drew 2,000 founders, investors, and policymakers to dissect VC trends, growth strategies, state super apps, and dozens of startup pitches. Here are the notes from the floor.
