The document provides an overview of the Czech tech scene, highlighting its history and growth. It discusses Prague emerging as a tech hub, with startups in areas like AI and cybersecurity. Major companies like Google and Avast have offices in the Czech Republic, attracted by the skilled workforce and low costs. The document recommends investing in and collaborating with Czech tech companies and entrepreneurs, and provides resources on accelerators, events and influential figures in the local tech community.

1. Czech Out the Tech Scene
Hidden Gems in the Heart of Europe

2. The Czechs: Golden Hands
"Golden Czech hands and clever Czech heads" led to the invention
of soft contact lenses, the electric arc lamp, fingerprinting, ship
propellers, the mechanical pencil, semtex, and the sugar cube,
A long and proud history of
entrepreneurship
The Capital of The Holy Roman
Empire
The world’s oldest continuously running
University: Charles University, Founded 1348

3. INDEX
1. History​
2. Economy
3. Prague tech scene today​
4. Invest time and money in Czech Republic!​
5. Czech tech gurus you should know​
6. Resources to get started​
7. Appendix

4. 1. History

5. 1918 1938 1968 1974 1989 1992 1993 1996
Czechoslovakia (CS) rises out of
Austro-Hungary as the world’s 11th
largest economy.
Warsaw Pact. CS earns reputation
for technical excellence and
creativity - Jawa Motorcycles,
Cinema, Medicine.
Prague Spring -
occupation of CS.
SAPO - first PC constructed
in CS by Antonín Svoboda​.
Velvet Revolution -
CS rejoins the world.
First Internet Connection at
Czech Technical University.
The Velvet Divorce - Czechia
and Slovakia split amicably-
both later joining the EU.
Founding of Seznam.
cz, Jobs.cz​

6. 8th
1998 2000 2006 2010 2011 2014 2015
Foundation of CZNIC, Alza.cz - first major e-
retailer, Lupa.cz​ - first tech-only news site.
25% of Czechs are Online. Almost No
E-commerce.
Czech Republic is the only country in
Europe to get a Google product team
before Google opens a sales office.
World’s first bitcoin mining
pool - Slush.
Foundation of StartupYard -
Seed Accelerator
80% of Czechs now online. Czechs
now spend 6 Billion Euros Online per
year
Average Internet speeds now
ranked 8th worldwide, at 3
times global average, 11.2
Mbit/s.

7. TODAY
Google, AVG, Seznam.cz
& Skype headquarters
The district of Smichov is
becoming the Heart of Tech
In the Czech Republic.
Prague
center
Node 5 &
StartupYard
Impact Hub
TechSquare

8. Economy
A great stimulus for
entrepreneurship
The Czech Republic has a solid Industrial
base, with a growing service economy, reliant
on exports, mainly to Germany.
JOBS
60%
29%Service
Industrial
TAX
29%
Proportion of foreigners
in population
4,2%
Czechs Working Abroad
100,000
in EU
of GDP
Lower than most developed
countries

9. 2. Prague Tech Scene
Today

10. The only non-Google search engine
ranked in any European country.
experts work in IT. Development of
Internet and IT has brought new jobs
students graduate from top IT, computer
science, and engineering programs every year.
startups currently listed on AngelList.
Homegrown players, AVG and Avast, both
companies in IT security.
#1
264
50,000
300,000
1B$+

11. Global companies with major IT centers in CZ

12. Early stage investment environment
Active group of
venture investors!
Growing number of
business angels &
field of early stage
investors
Y-Soft

13. http://www.czechcrunch.cz/2015/02/do-ceskych-startupu-se-za-rok-2014-proinvestovalo-746-milionu-korun-jak-je-na-tom-cela-evropa/http:
//www.czechcrunch.cz/2015/02/do-ceskych-startupu-se-za-rok-2014-proinvestovalo-746-milionu-korun-jak-je-na-tom-cela-evropa/
Country Deals Million $ Country Deals Million $ Country Deals Million $
UK 225 $1.698,0 Ireland 25 $145,3 Portugal 5 $7,1
Germany 154 $1.279,3 Belgium 12 $56,1 Luxembourg 4 $26,7
France 63 $379,4 Switzerland 11 $84,6 Turkey 4 $1,4
Russia 62 $323,9 Scotland 9 $29,9 Bulgaria 3 $8,4
Spain 48 $254,5 Austria 8 $13,4 Ukraine 3 $4,5
Sweden 42 $398,9 Estonia 7 $4,8 Latvia 3 $3,3
Finland 40 $90,6 Lithuania 6 $32,8 Cyprus 2 $15,6
Italy 40 $48,4 Norway 6 $12,2 Hungary 2 $2,4
Netherlands 33 $544,3 Czech Republic 5 $30,8 Greece 2 $2,3
Denmark 25 $145,9 Poland 5 $25,7 Malta 1 $54,6
EU VC-Backed Tech Deal & Dollar Distribution by Country: 2014CB Insights report

14. Which companies founded by
Czechs are getting funded?
$850,000 Futurelytics
$1,000,000 BrandEmbassy
$5.45M SkyPicker
$1,800,000 Apiary
$2,000,000 Liftago
$2,800,000 Codasip
$6.23M Geewa
$34M SocialBakers
$101M GoodData
$1,350,000 Comprimato
$2,500,000 Safetica

15. 3. Invest time and money
in Czech Republic!

16. How we attract foreign investors
Skilled workforce with
good language skills
Relatively low labor costs,
easy self-employment
Easy, zero-capital
incorporation
Favorable business climate
Stable political environment
High-quality transportation and
business infrastructure
Geographical and cultural
proximity to Western
Europe, and the East
Low level of crime, low cost of
living, and low rents
CORPORATE
TAX 19%
0$

17. Your Gateway
to Central Europe
BerlinLondon
Vienna
Budapest
Sofia
Paris
Madrid

18. 4. Czech tech gurus
you should know​

19. The King
Roman Staněk
Founder NetBeans, Systinet, GoodData
Tech businessman
Started making his business in 1997

20. Jakub Nesetril -
Apiary.io
Local Heros
Jan Gritzbach &
Tomaš Hofer- AVG
Martin Rehak -
COSE
Vaclav Muchna-
YSoft
Michal Pechoucek -
COSE
Ondra Tomek -
NetCentrum
Ondřej Fryc -
Mall.cz
Jan Řezab -
SocialBakers
Eduard Kucera &
Pavel Baudiš - Avast
Tomáš Čupr -
Slevomat.cz,
Dámejídlo.cz
Simon Vostry -
Zoom
Dusan Senkypl
- ePojisteni

21. Most active investors

22. 5 Czech Startups
to watch in 2015

23. 5. Resources
to get started

24. Accelerators
STARCUBE
Incubators
South Moravian
Innovation Centre
Supported by University
of Economics
Supported by University
of Life Sciences Prague
Supported by Czech
Technical University

25. Coworking Spaces

26. Engineering Schools
Czech Technical University in
Prague, one of the largest in
the country, is also the oldest
non-military technical
university in Europe.
Technical University
(Liberec)
Charles
University
Masaryk University

27. MeetUps
WebExpo
conference for web professionals
http://2014.webexpo.cz/en/
Startup Summit
Devel http://devel.
cz/konference
App Parade http://www.
appparade.cz/
StartupCamp
Engage Prague http://www.
engage2015.com/
BarCamp
Nápad Roku http://www.
napadroku.cz/
Česká inovace http://www.
ceskainovace.cz/
StartupYard Events

28. Thank you!

29. Appendix
★ http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/czech-companies/Surveying-the-Czech-Start-Up-Scene/
★ http://www.eu-startups.com/2015/01/5-czech-startups-to-watch-in-2015/
★ http://centraleuropeanstartupawards.com/#the-team
★ http://byznys.ihned.cz/c1-61402650-mapa-ceske-digitalni-pustiny-opravdu-rychly-internet-maji-jen-3-
procenta-lidi
★ http://kristalova.lupa.cz/2014/vysledkova-listina/
★ http://www.doba-webova.com/cs/statistiky-pro-socialni-sit
★ http://www.janrezab.com/list-of-top-czech-technology-companies-and-start-ups-updated/
★ http://www.vyzkumy.cz/clanky/454-ceska-internetova-populace-v-cislech
★ http://www.forbes.cz/10-lidi-z-ceskeho-byznysu-ktere-se-vyplati-sledovat-na-twitteru/
★ http://www.czechict.cz/ict-v-cr.htm
★ http://tech.ihned.cz/
★ https://www.cbinsights.com/research-european-tech-2014
★ https://slack-redir.com/link?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2Fid%2F102236164
★ http://www.janrezab.com/list-of-top-czech-technology-companies-and-start-ups-updated/
★ INSPIRATION: http://bonjourlafrenchtech.com/paris-back/

30. ★ http://theupstart.co/16828/infographic-boulder-is-for-startups/
★ http://www.eban.org/
★ http://www.cvca.cz/cs/
★ http://www.slideshare.net/Coadec/startup-manifesto
★ http://kasvustrateegia.mkm.ee/index_eng.html
★ http://www.startupjobs.cz/en/blog/infografika-kdo-chce-pracovat-pro-startup
★ http://withlove.sk/#
★ http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/09/how-pragues-smile-land-district-is-becoming-a-hub-for-czech-
startups/
★ http://www.wbtcb.com/en/bitcoin-atm
★ http://performance.ey.com/2012/06/06/how-czech-republic-is-attracting-foreign-investors/
★ http://performance.ey.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/Performance-4.3-April-2012-Journal-v16-
p7079.Czech-Republic.pdf
★ http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/the-worlds-best-start-up-hubs-berlin-germany
★ http://startuphub.pl/people/
★ http://edu.deloitte.cz/Upload/Brochures/PDF/2014/CVCA2014.pdf
★ http://www.iises.net/download/Soubory/soubory-puvodni/pp059-075_ijobm_2014V2N1.pdf
★ https://datafox.co/lists/sean-moroney/prague-startups/
★ http://www.czso.cz/csu/tz.nsf/i/prezentace_z_tk_domacnosti_a_internet/$File/csu_tk_internet_prezentace.pdf
★ http://www.migrace.com/docs/141115_simi-zamestnanci-en-nahled.pdf