Presto News | Q2 2024

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 🛡️ 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:‌‌
1. Highlights ‌‌
2. New Presto investments ‌‌
3. Portfolio fundraising‌‌
4. Market insights ‌‌
5. Brainfood ‌‌
6. #MeetPresto‌‌
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! 🎉 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

IT LogsBojan Stojkovski

• 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

TheRecursive.comTeodora Atanasova

• 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 🚀

🔔 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 👋🏼

🇱🇻 Jeff App | $2M Late Seed | Presto Ventures, J12, BD Partners, James Berdigans
🇺🇦 Slise | Undisclosed Seed | Presto Ventures, Alliance, hi5 Ventures, and other VCs
🇨🇿 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? 🔎 Here’s a sneak-peek: 

💸 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

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

💡 Market insights

‌‌Global 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 ‘23 funding volume, but a 16% increase YoY.

Market outlook

• Equity funding may be slightly down from H2 ‘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 ‘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 👆🏼 follow these resources 👇🏼

• Global funding and M&A picked up in Q2 | Crunchbase
• Venture debt on track for a record year | Sifted
• Funding to European startups rose in Q2 | Crunchbase
• State of Global Venture Capital – A Look at Q2 24 | Foley & Lardner LLP

🧠 Brainfood

‌‌In-house thoughts worth sharing 🙌🏼

• I seek out people hungry for success. The West has given up, we invest mainly in the East | Vojta Rocek  
  In his signature no-BS fashion, Vojta spoke with Filip Magalhaes of Hrot about entrepreneurial mindset, investing, the myth of work-life balance – and shared his top app tips. Grab a coffee and enjoy this excellent in-depth piece.  
• Interview with Presto Ventures on its recent exit and Fund III launch | Premysl Rubes
  “Presto Fund II invested in 43 companies, and 20 of them have already raised follow-on financing rounds.” With our second fund coming to a close, we talked to Vestbee about portfolio highlights and what’s next on the horizon.
• Launching Europe's largest fund for defense and security startups | Premysl & Vojta
  An interview with Petr Zenkner of Hospodarske noviny: Presto Ventures and Michal Strnad's CSG launch a new fund to invest in innovative companies in the field of defense and security technologies.
  

More VC thoughts to feed your mind 📚

• 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.

👋🏼 #MeetPresto

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

🇭🇷 Infobip Shift | Sept 15-17 | Zadar, Croatia
🇩🇪 Bits & Pretzels | Sept 29-Oct 1 | Munich, Germany
🇷🇴 How to Web | Oct 2-3 | Bucharest, Romania
🇨🇿 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:

🇨🇿 Cyber Defence & AI Conference | Sept 6-7 | Prague, Czechia
🇪🇸 European Defense Tech Summit | Oct 17-18 | Madrid, Spain
🇬🇧 London Defence Tech Hackathon | Oct 19 | London, UK

🤓 Department of memes

Mental health trends lately.

That's it from Presto. ‌‌
‌‌Stay tuned for the next issue ✌🏼