Startup Kitchen

13/05/2026

💰 Acquisition Announcement 💰 US-based Coupa, led by Leagh Turner, Michael Agresta, Sameer Areff, Jeff Collier, John Frank II, Kevin Iaquinto, Salvatore Lombardo, and Susan Tohyama acquires Czech AI startup Rossum, co-founded by Tomas Gogar, Petr Baudis, and Tomas Tunys, to push Autonomous Finance into the AI era.

The deal also marks a significant exit for Czech VC fund Miton.

More here 👉

Coupa has acquired Rossum , the Czech-founded AI startup specializing in intelligent document processing (IDP), in a move that signals the next phase of autonomous finance and enterprise AI adoption.

12/05/2026

⚡ Investment Announcement ⚡ Prague-based Exaforce, co-founded by Ankur Singla and Jakub Pavlik, has raised $125M in Series B funding from HarbourVest Partners, Peak XV Partners, Mayfield, Khosla Ventures, SELIGMAN VENTURES LIMITED, and Aiconic.com. The company now reaches $200M in total funding.

More here 👉 https://startupkitchen.community/czech-led-exaforce-unveils-75-million-in-series-a-funding-to-revolutionize-security-and-operations-with-agentic-ai/

Exaforce has raised $125M in Series B funding. The round strengthens its position in AI-native security operations. It is one of the largest investments in the emerging AI SOC market. The funding reflects rising demand for real-time cyber defence systems at enterprise scale.

11/05/2026

🏅🪖Another week, another DefTech hackathon🪖

Hot off the massive success of Kyiv Defence Tech Week, European Defense Tech Hub is now coming to our hometown of Prague ❤️‍🔥

We’re happy to welcome them, together with EY, U&C UAS s.r.o., Inflection AI, DroneAid Collective, Pilotix, Tech Horizons, among Partners, and hope that they enjoy all our city has to offer while they work on Europe’s security.

We’re proud to be media partners for this event, organised by Mariia Onufriievych, Benjamin Wolba, Matteo Bertani & Team, and our Fergus will be there in case you want to talk media strategy.

Sign up here 👉 https://luma.com/edth-2026-prague

08/05/2026

Most founders don’t need more content.

They need:
→ Clarity on what investors actually see
→ Honest feedback on what’s not working
→ Someone to ask the hard questions

That’s what Founders Cookbook Masterminds is built for.

10 founders. One senior investor. 2.5 hours.
No theory. No slides. Just your startup under a real investor’s lens.

The first session is May 20.
Max 10 startups. A few spots left.

Apply: https://startupkitchen.community/founders-cookbook-masterminds/

Organized by Prazsky Inovacni Institut & Startup Kitchen.

08/05/2026

🗺️How do you expand from Ukraine to Europe?🗺️

🪖Ukrainian defense tech startups can struggle with this question, which is why Calibrated is hosting its Defence Tech Bootcamp, in association with Tech PR School and Helsing. Happy to be among the Partners!

📅 Over the course of a week, from May 11 to May 15, some of the leading minds in European defense will present a series of online workshops about how the ecosystem works now and how Ukrainian defense tech startups can best engage with it.

Expect sessions with leading VCs, representatives of defense industry associations, and a special session on how best to prepare for Eurosatory, one of the continent’s leading defense exhibitions.

For the full agenda and signup, check out the link here 👉 https://product-pr.com/defence-tech-bootcamp-go-global

💪 We’re proud to be media partners for this exciting series, and look forward to engaging with them ourselves; our Fergus should be attending most sessions

07/05/2026

💚🖤We’ve got a new home in Prague! Excited to share that our team has officially moved into our new offices at 🖤 WeWork Prague! This is a big step for us (and for mankind👩‍🚀) as we continue to grow, collaborate, and build even stronger connections in our Community, Truesdays, , and with our Partners.

If you’re nearby, feel free to drop us a message and come say hello. We’d love to connect.

🗼And a side note; our Fergus and Tomas are soon heading to record a podcast interview in Paris with Anne-Louise Gokoyo and Rebecca from 🖤WeWork France!

06/05/2026

🦄 2026, a decentralized startup festival initiated by the ViennaBusiness Agency, is scheduled to take place from May 18 to May 22, 2026.

🧪A dedicated "WarmUP" weekend will precede the main festival from May 15 to May 17, 2026. We sat down with Gabriele Tatzberger, Director of Startups and Founders from Wirtschaftsagentur Wien.

Enjoy our conversation 👉 https://startupkitchen.community/viennaup_viennaup_is_a_one_stop_shop/

06/05/2026

🏅 JIC, the Brno-based innovation agency led by Petr Chladek, has launched JIC Ventures, a new fund for pre-seed and seed-stage technology founders from Central and Eastern Europe. The investor base has around 40 limited partners, including CTP, Česká spořitelna, investor Jan Barta, as well as the family holding of the owners of IDEA StatiCa, ARTIN, Kinalisoft, Sewio founder Milan Simek, and NenoVision founder Jan Neuman, or the Diecézní charita Brno.

💰 The fund will invest up to €1m per company, support around 20 startups over the next four years, and combine capital with hands-on expertise for companies with global potential. And we sat down with their Managing Partners, Radim Kocourek and Milos Sochor.

Enjoy our conversation 👉 https://startupkitchen.community/radim-kocourek-and-milos-sochor-managing-partners-of-jic-ventures-we-are-actively-looking-for-projects-coming-out-of-universities/

05/05/2026

💰You have a business idea, but not sure if customers really want it?

🏃‍♂️‍➡️🏃‍➡️There will be a series of one-day innovation sprints that you can't miss, organised by Kamila Zahradnickova and Partners incl. Lakmoos AI, Czech Innovation Platform, Vysoká škola ekonomická, xPORT Business Accelerator VŠE, OPERO, DoToho!, and Co., where you can go through the entire process of validating your idea in 1️⃣ day: from initial assumptions to prototype to customer feedback.

The sprints will take place in person in Prague and Brno.

💙 Suitable for founders, product people and internal innovators, in short; for anyone who has an idea and wants to know if it makes sense.

Limited number of places, registration here 👉 https://inovacnisprinty.cz/

05/05/2026

What it looked like in real time. 👇

50+ meetings. 60 minutes. 15 projects. 19 mentors. 🚀�Fast-paced, focused, and all about moving things forward.

Part of Marc Impact Programme in Prague.

04/05/2026

🤝 The Delaware of Europe? Why 85% of Founders are ready to ditch local laws for the EU–INC, the key part of the so-called 28th Regime.

⭕ And that’s exactly what the latest Czech Founders event was about. There was an incredible mix of voices in the Mews's offices, including Vojtech Horna from Index Ventures, Damian Boeselager and Ondřej Krutílek from the European Parliament, Jan Čurn from Apify, Katerina Havrlant from Lion Beat Capital, and Vit Horky, all hosted by Martin Luhan.

✍ There are a few takeaways, written down by Alisa Mazepina here 👉

Europe has never had a talent problem. We produce world-class STEM graduates at a rate that rivals the United States, and our startups-per-capita numbers are neck-and-neck with Silicon Valley. Yet, for decades, we have suffered from a "legal friction" that acts as a gravity well, pulling our most su...