VC Firm KAYA Secures €70M To Support CEE Region Startups

So far, KAYA has primarily invested in startups from Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia. With this new fund, one of the region’s most experienced early-stage investors will now expand its focus across the broader CEE landscape.

The fund plans to support up to 25 early-stage startups, guiding them from pre-seed to Series A, with the goal of helping them become global leaders.

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KAYA typically invests between €1–3 million in the first round. For high-potential companies, it holds back funds for follow-on rounds and can co-invest with other partners to allocate up to €20 million per company.

According to Tomas Obrtac, one of KAYA’s four partners, the past decade has proven that CEE is rich in tech talent, and KAYA has played a key role in nurturing many of the region’s global success stories over the last 15 years.

“We look for founders with big dreams and the courage to go global, and we want to be their first partners and long-term supporters: we enter at an early stage and stay on as the company grows into a truly global, impactful company. We believe that the most interesting CEE stories are still only emerging.”

Since 2018, KAYA has been building a real-time data platform to track the global startup ecosystem and identify early signs of promising ventures. This focus on tech and digitisation led to the arrival of Vaclav Ryslink, then a math and physics student—today, he’s part of KAYA’s investor team.

KAYA’s portfolio includes two unicorns—Rohlik and Docplanner—and a soon-to-be unicorn, Booksy from Poland, which surpassed €100 million in revenue last year.

The firm now backs over 45 startups, including Jutro Medical, Better Stack, SensibleBio, Upheal, and Superlinked. The total value of its portfolio is around €350 million.

With the launch of the new fund, Karel Zheng—a former founder and long-time member of the team—has been promoted to Partner, bringing hands-on startup experience and deep insight into the region’s tech landscape.

"As a representative of Generation Z, I hope to bring a fresh perspective of someone who 'grew up online,' is connected to global communities, and intuitively understands how today's founders think about product, culture, and impact."

According to Karel Zheng, KAYA aims to spot emerging trends faster within the team, while still maintaining the discipline and expertise of its senior partners.

“It is the combination of these generational perspectives that I believe gives KAYA a competitive advantage and will help us find other exceptional companies.”

About KAYA

KAYA is an early-stage venture capital firm that has been backing bold founders across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since 2010. Based in Prague and originally part of Enern Investments, KAYA focuses mainly on pre-seed and seed-stage investments, while also supporting startups up to Series A.