The decline in venture capital funding starting in Q1 2022 and intensifying in Q3 persists into the present year, with global VC funding dropping by 53%.
Nevertheless, despite the worldwide decline of startup funding, three Slovak startups have secured investments of over €15 million in the first half of 2023. Following our feature of the 10 largest investments in Czech startups, The Recursive now brings you a summary of the most substantial funding rounds in Slovakia.
This article is part of the CEE milestones mapping series. More will follow soon. Discover the 10+ largest tech funding rounds of disclosed amounts in Slovakia in H1 2023 up to date. Please, feel free to contact us with updates or investments we should add to the list: [email protected].
Top 10+ funding rounds in Slovakia: H1 2023
1. Tachyum
Funding: €26.4M
Round: Grant
Investors: European Commission
Founders: Radoslav Danilak, Rodney Mullendore, Ken Wagner, Igor Shevlyakov
Vertical: Computer hardware
About: Featured in our recent Slovak ecosystem mapping article, Tachyum provides the world’s first Universal Processor for high-performance and efficient computing for the data center, HPC, and AI markets.
2. Photoneo
Funding: ~ €17.42M
Round: Series B
Investors: Taiwania Capital, Venture to Future Fund, Kolowrat Group, IPM Group, H&D Asset Management, Alpha Intelligence Capital
Founders: Jan Zizka, Tomas Kovacovsky, Michal Maly
Vertical: Robotics
About: Photoneo empowers warehouses with automation, providing robotic vision sensors and intelligence software, autonomously picking, consolidating, and dispatching orders.
3. FUERGY
Funding: €16M
Round: Venture round
Investors: ProPartners
Founders: Branislav Safarik, Radoslav Stompf, Rastislav Kuba, Vladimir Miskovsky, Tomas Demcak, Branislav Kopun
Vertical: Energy
About: Fuergy provides solutions for energy optimization with its AI-powered software platform and modular battery system, from smart energy storage systems and enhanced utilization of green energy sources to dispatch systems or automated energy trading.
4. Sensoneo
Funding: €6.2M
Round: Series A
Investors: Taiwania Capital, Crowdberry, EIC Fund, Venture to Future Fund
Founders: Andrea Basilova, Martin Basila
Vertical: Waste management
About: Sensoneo provides cities and businesses with enterprise-grade smart waste management solutions, supporting clients with data-driven decision-making and optimizing waste collection routes, frequencies, and vehicle load.
5. SuperScale
Funding: €5M
Round: Series A
Investors: Venture to Future Fund, Zero One Hundred, Across Private Investments
Founders: Ivan Trancik
Vertical: Gaming
About: SuperScale is a growth platform leveraging proprietary AI technology to assist mobile and web3 gaming companies in analyzing, optimizing, and scaling business performance for their flagship titles.
6. Sensible Biotechnologies
Funding: ~ €3.85M
Round: Pre-seed
Investors: BlueYard Capital, ZAKA VC, Y Combinator, Recode Health Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Amino Collective, angels
Founders: Miroslav Gasparek, Marian Kupculak
Vertical: Biotechnology
About: Sensible Biotechnologies utilizes cell engineering, computational biology, and precision fermentation to build the cell-based platform for producing mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.
7. NEXINEO
Funding: €1.3M
Round: Unspecified
Investors: Venture to Future Fund, Crowdberry
Founders: Stanislav Chlepko
Vertical: Education
About: Nexineo develops virtualized computer equipment, a small device connected to a monitor, that creates a more efficient and modernized learning environment at schools.
8. CulturePulse
Funding: ~ €920K
Round: Seed
Investors: Zero Gravity Capital
Founders: Justin E. Lane, LeRon Shults, Brian Swichkow, Maja Roknic
Vertical: Marketing
About: CulturePulse is an AI-powered solution helping businesses create their communication messages with potential customers in a way that mirrors the values of their targeted audience and avoids negative responses.
9. DEVS
Funding: €550K
Round: Pre-seed
Investors: Zero Gravity Capital, Czech Founders VC, angel
Founders: Martin Schmuck, Jan Pernecky
Vertical: Construction
About: Deep-tech startup DEVS streamlines the real estate development design process through computational design, artificial intelligence, and other methods.
10. Ineduco
Funding: ~ €510K
Round: Unspecified
Investors: Zero Gravity Capital
Founders: Ivan Fratric, Alexander Svetlik
Vertical: Education
About: Ineduco application aims to improve the learning experience for university students by digitizing learning content and textbooks while providing personalization features of notes, discussions, and a creative workspace.
11. Stacktape
Funding: ~ €510K
Round: Unspecified
Investors: Tensor Ventures
Founders: Matus Congrady, Simon Obetko, Milan Peschl
Vertical: Software development
About: Stacktape is an advanced cloud development framework that eliminates the need for DevOps and empowers developers to deploy applications on AWS infrastructure efficiently.
