Czech startup ValkaAI has raised €12 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Rockaway Ventures, with participation from J&T Ventures, Tensor Ventures, BD Partners, and Fond Naše Česko. The round ranks among the largest pre-seed investments in Central and Eastern Europe.
ValkaAI is operating teams across the United States, Europe, and the United Arab Emirates. The company’s ambition is to build a world-leading AI video platform from the Czech Republic, enabling businesses to deploy digital avatars capable of fully controlled, real-time, personalized interactions at scale.
Built on the founders’ track record
ValkaAI was founded by Vlastimil Venclík and Miloš Lokajíček. Venclík previously founded and scaled Oddin.gg and Hodei, an e-sports predictive technology and data infrastructure platform.
“Today’s experience is still largely linear – you just hit play and watch. We believe the next step is real-time environments users can step into, where content is no longer just consumed but actively shaped,“ said Vlastimil Venclík, co-founder and CEO of ValkaAI.
Lokajíček, ValkaAI’s COO, brings experience in operating and scaling technology products, including AI startups. He is responsible for execution and the company’s global expansion.
The founders believe video is shifting from passive consumption to interactive, adaptive experiences.
ValkaAI aims to build technology for on-demand content, media generated in real time and tailored to specific contexts. Its core product will enable entertainment companies to create digital environments and AI avatars that users can actively engage with.
Early use Cases: sports and e-sports
ValkaAI says its technology could power AI commentators and digital characters that react to live events and user behavior.
“Our technology opens the door to an entirely new range of applications – from interactive sports simulations to live broadcasts that are localized, personalized, and responsive to specific audiences in real time,” said Miloš Lokajíček, co-founder and COO.
Petr Šmíd, General Partner at Rockaway Ventures, described the challenge as both difficult and foundational: “ValkaAI is tackling a difficult but fundamental challenge – combining visual quality with speed and true real-time interactivity. This is not just another application. It provides the foundation for a new generation of entertainment.”
Šmíd added that the founding team was central to the investment decision. “Vlasta Venclík has a clear vision, deep technological understanding, and has already proven his ability to build a global business and attract top talent. We believe ValkaAI has the potential to redefine how people consume sports, e-sports, and other forms of entertainment and create an entirely new category.”
What the investment enables
Dan Hastík of Tensor Ventures called the technology “groundbreaking deep tech” with potential impact far beyond entertainment.
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The funding will be used to expand research and product teams, advance core technologies for real-time digital characters and AI commentators, scale computational infrastructure, and support early commercial pilots in sports and e-sports.
“ValkaAI is a long-term project for us—not a quick hack, but the construction of a technological foundation for a new generation of entertainment,” “Pre-seed financing allows us to bring top-tier specialists into development, scale infrastructure, and validate the first concrete use cases with strong partners,” Lokajíček added.
