Prague-based Rockaway Ventures, the funding fund of Rockaway Capital, has introduced the ultimate shut of its second fund Rockaway Ventures II, elevating €55 million to help early-stage startups in Central and Jap Europe (CEE) and different rising markets.
The fund will deal with early-stage investments, particularly late-Seed and Sequence A funding rounds, specializing in sectors equivalent to vitality, protection, and dual-use applied sciences. Sooner or later, the fund hopes to again startups all through their whole progress journey, from pre-Seed to later-stage funding.
“We’re not simply capital. We’re entrepreneurs ourselves – we’ve constructed corporations, and we perceive what’s across the nook. Founders working with us obtain hands-on help in areas like worldwide growth and scaling,” shared Petr Šmíd, Basic Associate at Rockaway Ventures.
Based in 2014, Rockaway Ventures has been investing in areas the place the Rockaway Capital group has experience, primarily in retail and e-commerce, journey & hospitality, digital logistics, digital media, cybersecurity, defence, CleanTech, and PropTech.
They notably backed Czech success tales Productboard and Storyous.
Launched in 2022, the present fund attracts round 25% of its capital from Rockaway Capital (its dad or mum firm), and the rest channeled by means of personal traders – most of that are based mostly in Czechia.
The fund has backed 11 corporations to this point, and over the following three years they plan to considerably increase their portfolio by dedicating 60% of their investments to corporations in CEE – with the remaining 40% concentrating on Western Europe and diaspora-led startups from Czechia.
“We’re at present seeing quite a few funding alternatives in sectors considerably formed by world traits and geopolitical developments. We’re significantly inquisitive about founders throughout Europe and the USA who’re dedicated to driving progress and advancing their companies by means of transformative applied sciences,” added Dušan Zábrodský, Basic Associate at Rockaway Ventures.
Notable investments embody Apaleo, a German cloud-native resort administration platform utilized by purchasers like CitizenM and Limehome in over 15 international locations; CulturePulse, a US-Slovak startup making use of AI for behavioural modelling and danger prediction; and Gjirafa, an Albanian e-commerce and media platform that has secured €7.7 million from Rockaway Ventures throughout two funding rounds.
In keeping with Rockaway, the previous few years have been tough for enterprise capital, however there seems to be a renewed sense of optimism within the tech sector particularly.
“The restoration started in 2024 and is continuous this 12 months. One key driver is transformative expertise, significantly AI. Just a few years in the past, many traders didn’t totally grasp its potential. Immediately, we will clearly reveal its sector-specific influence – and that’s altering the sport,” mentioned Šmíd.
