Presto News | Q2 2024

VC and startup news on technologies that protect the future + updates on all things Presto

The best of tech investing meets the best of industrial-technological expertise. Presto Ventures and CSG are joining forces.
The best of tech investing meets the best of industrial-technological expertise 🀝 Presto Ventures and CSG are joining forces.

Dear partners & friends of Presto,

We’ve had a very eventful quarter, full of significant milestones. Just before closing the investment period of Presto Fund II, we already celebrated its first early exit with a return for our investors. 

And never ones to stay still, we launched our new fund, Presto Tech Horizons, with a top-notch industrial partner – the Czechoslovak Group πŸ›‘οΈ The fund will back global tech companies at the forefront of security, defense, and aerospace. Investments will focus on enhancing the safety and privacy of individuals, as well as the security of businesses, institutions, and states.

We’ll support tech firms a little further in their development than previously – Seed, Late Seed, and early Series A. At this stage, it’s not only funding that is most in-demand, but also insider industry experience and hands-on support with building and structuring companies, with hiring and developing driven teams.  

And that’s exactly where Presto Tech Horizons can make a real difference.

Without further ado, feel free to jump to the sections that interest you the most:β€Œβ€Œ
1. Highlights β€Œβ€Œ
2. New Presto investments β€Œβ€Œ
3. Portfolio fundraisingβ€Œβ€Œ
4. Market insights β€Œβ€Œ
5. Brainfood β€Œβ€Œ
6. #MeetPrestoβ€Œβ€Œ
7. Department of memes


⭐ Highlights

  • Cin7, the industry leader in inventory and order management, acquired Inventoro, AI-driven sales forecasting and replenishment optimization solution. Congratulations! πŸŽ‰ For Presto, this acquisition is very special, as it marks our first exit from Fund II.
Inventory software provider Cin7 acquires Czech startup Inventoro, marks first Presto II Fund exit ⋆ IT Logs
Inventory and order management software provider Cin7 acquires Czech startup Inventoro, a provider of AI-driven sales forecasting and replenishment optimization solutions
  • We’re thrilled to launch our new fund, Presto Tech Horizons, with a world-class partner by our side – the Czechoslovak Group 🀝 With a target size of €150 million, Presto Tech Horizons is to become one of the world’s largest funds with this sector experience and expertise.
Czech Presto Ventures and Czechoslovak Group Launch €150M Investment Fund Focused on Security and Defence Tech
In a Nutshell Venture capital firm Presto Ventures and Michal Strnad’s industrial and technology group Czechoslovak Group (CSG) announced the launch of an
  • Lakmoos, Elin.ai, and Zerops: 3 very promising Czech startups, and also our last pre-seed investments from Fund II. The best part about backing these talented founders early? Their ventures are well aligned with the thesis of Presto Tech Horizons, and now we get to follow their journey πŸš€
πŸ“°
Read more at Tech.eu
Lakmoos | Elin.ai | Zerops

πŸ”” New Presto investments

With the investment period of Presto Fund II coming to a close, we’d like to welcome its last batch of portfolio companies πŸ‘‹πŸΌ

πŸ‡±πŸ‡» Jeff App | $2M Late Seed | Presto Ventures, J12, BD Partners, James Berdigans
πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Slise | Undisclosed Seed | Presto Ventures, Alliance, hi5 Ventures, and other VCs
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡Ώ Zerops | $500k Pre-Seed | Presto Ventures, Gi21 Capital

We’re already assessing a number of promising projects for our new fund, Presto Tech Horizons. The first batch of investments will be revealed in the fall. So, what are we looking at? πŸ”Ž Here’s a sneak-peek: 

β€’ Competence-enabled infrastructure for teams in large enterprises

β€’ Post-quantum encryption overlay for governmental and commercial use

β€’ Non-invasive neuro head-band focused on communication of patients after stroke and severe trauma 

β€’ Synthetic patient data platform simulating clinical trials of drugs on humans

β€’ Army intelligence system turning multimodal data into strategic insights, from squad to general level

πŸ’Έ Portfolio fundraising | Selected companies

  • Elin.ai | Controlled environment | B2C Mobile App | Personalized AI agent for Gen Z  
  • Cruxo | €200k ARR | B2B SaaS | Real-time ad bidding platform for e-commerce  
  • Choice | €2M ARR | B2B SaaS | All-in-one SaaS for restaurant modernization 
  • Lakmoos | €100k ARR | B2B SaaS | Instant synthetic data for market research

➑️ 14 of our portfolio companies are currently fundraising or about to start. To learn more, please visit the Presto showroom.

πŸ’‘ Market insights

β€Œβ€ŒGlobal and European market news

  • Global startup funding picked up in Q2 '24, reaching USD 79B – up 16% QoQ and 12% YoY. Mega-rounds, ie. fundings of $100M+, accounted for much of the increase this past quarter.
  • Seed funding was the most robust through the downturn, globally. It has remained stable over the last five quarters, with approx. $8B invested at Seed per quarter
  • Dealmaking on the continent started slowly this year, but by 2024’s midpoint European startups raised €27.8B across 2,804 deals – that’s 8% less than the H2 β€˜23 funding volume, but a 16% increase YoY.

Market outlook

  • Equity funding may be slightly down from H2 β€˜23 but the green shoots of recovery are solid, and Europe is finding a new normal after years of volatility. Namely, venture debt has gone mainstream and it’s helping to make up for the slight reduction in equity financing.
  • Despite the Q2 β€˜24 pickup in venture and increased funding flowing to AI, the overall market outlook has not shifted. VC allocation continues to be impacted by concerns about revenue growth, a challenging environment for startups that raise funding, a higher bar at each stage, and a slower exit environment.
  • It’s likely the ecosystem will see more deeptech dealflow in the coming quarters: big VC backers like the European Investment Fund, Europe’s largest LP, are noticing VCs pitching more climate and deeptech funds, including defense tech funds. 

For a deep-dive on these market highlights πŸ‘†πŸΌ follow these resources πŸ‘‡πŸΌ


🧠 Brainfood

β€Œβ€ŒIn-house thoughts worth sharing πŸ™ŒπŸΌ

More VC thoughts to feed your mind πŸ“š

  • How VCs become assholes | Omri Drory, Ph.D.
    This piece explores how venture capitalists can become detached and insensitive due to industry pressures and incentives. The article highlights the need for VCs to stay empathetic and grounded despite the intense demands and high stakes of their work.
  • Scaling your engineering team from one to 50 and beyond | Jessica Popp
    This guide provides strategies for growing an engineering team, focusing on stages from first hires to scaling beyond 50 members. Key recommendations include a strong culture, clear communication, structured processes, and balance between hiring speed and quality.
  • What you have to believe in... | Yannick Oswald
    Yannick highlights the critical beliefs and principles necessary for successful investment decisions in VC. He emphasizes conviction in bold, contrarian ideas, understanding key proof points, and maintaining a disciplined strategy for long-term success in a high-risk industry.
  • The AI trust fall | Tomasz Tunguz
    This short piece discusses the trust issues users face with AI, emphasizing the importance of accuracy and reliability in AI outputs. Tomasz highlights the need for strategies like low-value task initiation, human-in-the-loop systems, and robust fact-checking.

πŸ‘‹πŸΌ #MeetPresto

Soon, the event summer break is over, and we’ll be on the move once again. Follow our #PrestoAdVentures on LinkedIn. β€Œβ€Œβ€Œβ€Œ

πŸ‡­πŸ‡· Infobip Shift | Sept 15-17 | Zadar, Croatia
πŸ‡©πŸ‡ͺ Bits & Pretzels | Sept 29-Oct 1 | Munich, Germany
πŸ‡·πŸ‡΄ How to Web | Oct 2-3 | Bucharest, Romania
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡Ώ Engaged Investments | Oct 23-24 | Prague, Czechia

With the defense and security thesis of Presto Tech Horizons, we’ll be exploring what this scene has to offer – the following events are certainly worth checking out:

πŸ‡¨πŸ‡Ώ Cyber Defence & AI Conference | Sept 6-7 | Prague, Czechia
πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ European Defense Tech Summit | Oct 17-18 | Madrid, Spain
πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ London Defence Tech Hackathon | Oct 19 | London, UK

πŸ€“ Department of memes

Mental health trends lately.

That's it from Presto. β€Œβ€Œ
β€Œβ€ŒStay tuned for the next issue ✌🏼

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