INNOVATING FOR BETTER FUTURE

SUPPORTING EARLY-STAGE STARTUPS

At Rockaway Ventures, we are dedicated to supporting early-stage founders who are driving innovation and disrupting traditional industries. Our focus is on Seed to Series A stage startups, with a core emphasis on the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central European countries of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) but considering opportunities across the world.

ROCKAWAY FAMILY EXPERIENCE

Within the Rockaway Family we have an extensive track record in private equity and venture capital investment in the CEE and DACH regions. We’ve supported numerous successful transactions, ranging from seed investments to large buyouts, and have valuable operational expertise gained from managing larger PE investments where we had management control. 

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

At Rockaway Ventures Fund, we see a commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles as both a responsibility and an opportunity. We believe that companies with sound ESG policies perform better, thanks to greater resiliency and adaptability, employee and customer loyalty, reputation and legitimacy.

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DIGITALIZATION ACROSS INDUSTRIES

We're not just investors, we're partners. With years of experience in VC and PE investing, we've gained valuable insights and expertise in the sectors we specialize in:

  • Retail & e-Tail
  • E-Commerce
  • Digital Logistics Solutions
  • Fintech
  • Digital Health
  • Cybersecurity & Data Management
  • CleanTech
  • EdTech
  • E-Travel

LET’S TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO NEXT LEVEL

We’ve built a network of industry experts through our PE portfolio, and we’re ready to connect you with the right people to help your business grow. Plus, with our exposure in the media sector, we can help you market your startup to the right audience. 

Our protfolio

Lingvist

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Spot a Wheel

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Campiri

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Freeway Camper

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Productboard

Productboard is the developer of a product management system designed to help product teams get products to market faster, and a start-up with the potential to become the first unicorn in our portfolio. With its Management & Sales team based in San Francisco and its IT Dev team based in Prague, they focus on product management software (SaaS). Productboard raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures and Kleiner Perkins in 2018, and $45 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners in 12/2019.

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Gjirafa

Gjirafa is a popular Albanian-language information, media, and sales portal operating in Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia. Built on top of an Albanian-language search engine, the platform offers video, e-commerce, and community content throughout the Balkan region. Gjirafa has become the largest e-commerce player in the region and operates a leading OTT product equivalent to Hulu or Netflix, produces its own content, and displays about one million minutes of video per day.

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Pex

Pex is the provider of a video analytics and rights management platform designed to find and claim copies of content. The platform uses a proprietary algorithm that enables users to track their uploaded videos anywhere on the web even if changes have been made. In its latest funding round, the company raised $57 million from Tencent, NexGen Capital Partners, and Illuminate Ventures in February 2021.

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ThreatMark

ThreatMark is a team of experienced business leaders and security experts who have built and secured on-line channels for major financial groups and banks throughout Europe. They developed and operate a comprehensive online threat and fraud detection and prevention software for the banking sector. From one client in 2017, they have grown into a global provider servicing more than 14 regional and international banks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada in 2020.

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Manifesto

Manifesto Market is a hospitality tech-enabled platform in the high-footfall F&B retail segment. It has two locations in Prague (Florenc, Smíchov), more than 2 million visitors since its launch in 2018, total social media reach in excess of 2 million, and more than $4.5 million in total vendor turnover (GMV) in FY19.

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Samba.ai

Samba.ai is a smart marketing platform designed to help you create professional, personalized content that gets smarter as you grow, and an omni-channel AI-powered online marketing platform for mid-sized and larger enterprises. Samba.ai has break-even cashflow, and its revenue is growing at over 25 % per year.

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Budgetbakers

BudgetBakers is a Prague-based start-up that offers tech solutions that help people save money and lead a richer life. They are the makers of Wallet, a global subscription-based personal finance management tool currently available on Android, iOS, and as a web app, with over 220,000 monthly active users and year-over-year revenue growth of over 150 %.

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PresentiGO

Presentigo teaches companies that presentations don’t have to be boring. They are creating a new generation of presentation software that extends the boundaries of traditional presentations into the world of touch devices, interactivity, and 3D. All this, in combination with functions for marketing and sales, results in an engagement and sales automation platform for 40+ enterprise clients, currently focusing on integration with CRM tools (Pipedrive) and AR-enabled plug-and-play solutions for manufacturing and other clientele.

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SOCIFI

SOCIFI is a creator and operator of monetization and communication platform for 4G/Wi-Fi networks. Internet operators and providers are faced with complicated problems. On the one hand profits are declining in the area of commodity services, such as phone calls, while on the other hand they have no way of addressing the fact that free Wi-Fi is becoming a standard customer requirement. This problem worries markets in all developed countries. The answer involves sponsored Internet connections or data packages paid for by an advertiser, with end users getting free internet access.

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Exited 2021

Storyous

Storyous is a comprehensive restaurant-management and POS system that includes stock management, supplier management, loyalty programmes, and much more. Storyous is integrated with dozens of delivery, hotel management, restaurant booking, payment, and accounting solutions and currently operates in the Czech Republic, Spain, Poland, and Slovakia. Exited to SaltPay in 2021.

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StartupYard

StartupYard is a Prague-based seed accelerator, accelerating Tech start-ups since 2011. To date StartupYard’s start-ups have raised over €35.8 million in funding, and it provides Rockaway with leads sourcing and contacts within the investment community.

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Exited 2021

Techloop

Techloop is one of the largest databases in Europe dedicated to recruitment in IT, with over 15,000 validated candidate profiles. The company was acquired by LMC (a subsidiary of Alma Media HEL: ALMA) in 2021.

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Exited 2020

Bezrealitky

Founded by Jakub Havrlant, CEO of Rockaway Capital, Bezrealitky.cz is an on-line marketplace through which real estate can be sold or rented without an intermediary. Exited to Media Marketing Services in 2020.

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Exited 2020

Voya

Voya was the leading online business travel solution for SME companies with a travel volume between €250k and €2.5 million. Over 150 innovative, frequent-flier companies – like mymuesli, Savencia and BEOS – used Voya to give their employees the most user-centric on-line travel booking solution. Exited to Volkswagen Financial Services.

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Exited 2019

Brand Embassy

Brand Embassy was an omni-channel cloud-based customer service platform providing integrated social media, messaging, live chat, and AI-powered chatbot service. Customers such as T-Mobile, Vodafone, Alibaba, and Puma in more than 30 countries achieved 69 % higher agent productivity, 61 % higher sales conversions, and have scaled operations by 300 % with no additional headcount. Brand Embassy helped companies accelerate the digital transformation of contact centres in an agile and scalable manner. The company was acquired by NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE) in 2019.

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Exited 2019

SQLdep

SQLdep was data lineage software focused on the visualization of data flows in SQL databases. SQLdep automated the discovery and visualization of technical data lineage and enabled organizations to better capture context around data, understand data quality, support compliance initiatives, and increase trust. Exited to Collibra.

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Exited 2019

Fundlift

Fundlift provides an investment crowdfunding platform designed to connect investors and projects that have ambition to grow. The company helps small and professional investors to invest in companies directly, enabling businesses to grow, expand, and seek capital from professional investors and the public alike. Exited to Roklen in 2019.

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Exited 2018

ChytryHonza.cz

ChytryHonza.cz is a leading Czech omni-channel distributor of retail financial products (banking, insurance, investments). In 2016 Rockaway structured and negotiated an investment by Aegon Growth Capital (NL). Jointly exited to DRFG in 2018.

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Exited 2018

uLekare.cz

uLekare.cz is the largest Czech on-line medical clinic and a pioneer in the field of telemedicine, and aims to streamline and improve Czech healthcare. A team of more than 300 doctors, including dozens of specialists, serves an average of 2500 users per month. Exited back to the founders in 2018.

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Exited 2018

Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks is a gaming studio for console and mobile games.

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Exited 2017

3Dsimo

3Dsimo is a developer of 3D pens designed to offer 3D drawing, burning, soldering, and cutting services. Exited back to the founders in 2017.

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Exited 2017

Creditas

Creditas (BankFacil), based in São Paulo, Brazil, is an innovative digital lending platform focused on secured lending. Core products include a first-lien product version of home equity and auto loans, secured by the borrowers’ real estate or automobiles.

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SOUNDS INTERESTING?