The Rockaway Ventures Fund (RVF), with a target value of EUR 100 million, has received roughly a quarter of this amount from investors in the first round, about 600 milion CZK. Its current portfolio, with recently completed investments in Germany’s Viviere and Estonia’s Lingvist, now also includes Spotawheel, a Greek used-car sales platform, which was ranked last year by the Financial Times as one of the fastest-growing specialized shops in Europe. Simultaneously, RVF is launching a Czech fund for qualified investors, which will allow even more investors to invest into tech start-ups. Starting in April of this year, it will also be possible to invest in the fund via AMISTA and J&T Bank.
Rockaway Ventures Fund SICAV (RVF SICAV) is being created for one single purpose – for investment into the Rockaway Ventures Fund. Its structure and investment amount will allow investors to invest in Czech korunas, with a minimum investment amount of CZK 1 million, making investment possible for more investors.
RVF is focusing on investment in the broad Central European and DACH region, with a maximum investment horizon of ten years. The Rockaway Ventures team has one of the best venture capital track records in the CEE region, with an annual IRR of 46 % and EUR 41.6 million in returned capital.
Its latest investment is in the Spotawheel platform operating in Greece, Germany, Poland, and Romania, which focuses on the purchase and re-sale of used cars. The tech start-up, founded seven years ago in Athens, is among the fastest-growing companies in Europe and takes pride in its innovative and entirely transparent approach to customers. RVF invested during the Series B round, during prominent European VC investors invested a total of EUR 25 million.
“We’re thrilled that Spotawheel is our next investment. This start-up has incredible drive and we’re certain that it’s an excellent opportunity for us,” says one of the fund’s general partners, Dušan Zábrodský.
RVF has invested in several promising start-ups: the rapidly growing Estonia start-up Lingvist, which is developing a language platform that effectively reduces the time needed to learn a new language, or for example a share in German company Viviere, which based on client demand and comprehensive data analysis designs, develops, manufactures, and sells innovative products in the area of FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods).
