News written by Michaela Papežová

The venture division of Jakub Havrlant’s investment group Rockaway has recently completed the sale of its stake in the Hamburg-based start-up Voya. Volkswagen Financial Services from the Volkswagen Group has become the new owner of the German start-up, which provides a comprehensive digital solution to business travel.

The Kaufland grocery chain is joining forces with on-line supermarket Košík.cz. Through this alliance, Košík will offer selected Kaufland brand products for the very first time. Košík recently added new services, allowing orders from households throughout the Czech Republic. Košík is thus adding more high-quality and available groceries to its portfolio.

Order using your phone right at the table. Safely and comfortably. Also pay from your seat when you want to leave, without having to flag down a waiter. This is another part of the Restaurant of the Future concept that is being introduced by Storyous. You can already try it out today in the Červený Jelen restaurant in Prague. During the time of the global pandemic, it also offers the ability to order food without the need to touch a menu that could collect viruses or bacteria.

On line supermarket Košík.cz has given itself a gift for its fifth birthday. Starting today, it is broadening its offering significantly, and is launching countrywide delivery from its new warehouse. Customers hitherto not covered by Košík’s deliveries can now order 1700 kinds of non-perishable groceries with next-day delivery to any address, right to their doorstep. In addition, the territory where Košík will deliver its entire assortment will also expand to include towns in North Bohemia. This fundamental change is also accompanied by re branding.

Jakub Havrlant’s investment group has announced a key addition to its team. Milan Vašina, a former CEO of T-Mobile Czech Republic and Slovak Telekom with more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications and ICT, is joining Rockaway as Senior Advisor at the beginning of April. The newly created role has two objectives: to help selected portfolio companies with their business strategy and to promote development of managerial talent across the group.

Olda Bajer, CEO of the MALL Group, was interviewed on-line by Jiří Rostecký from the Mladý podnikatel [Young Entrepreneur] server. Is Mall experiencing a crisis? How did it prepare for this situation? What is the future of e-commerce and what role will marketplace platforms play? The video answers all these questions, and in the article we’ve selected key ideas for you.

The next couple of weeks may ravage the Czech restaurant industry. Some restaurants have already closed entirely, while others are reporting only a fraction of former revenues. It is no exaggeration to say that once the quarantine is lifted we won’t have anywhere to go for a beer and social culture in the Czech Republic will be hit hard. At Storyous, however, we’re not giving up. And you can help too.

Czech travel agencies, hotels and tourist centres are calling on Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to invite them to the negotiating table. Their objective is to save the jobs of thousands of people and revive the travel industry in the Czech Republic. The travel agency Invia initiated the drafting of open letter received by the prime minister today. Invia is already involved in the efforts to resolve the situation caused by the spread of Covid-19, as it has lent its call centre to the government and the City of Prague and is retraining its employees to operate two information lines to help seniors, as well as the disabled and people in quarantine.

The impact of anti-coronavirus measures is beginning to be reflected more substantially in the real estate market. For example, Bezrealitky.cz, the largest portal for selling and renting properties without an intermediary, reports a significant increase in the number of apartments offered for rent in Prague. Properties that had previously been intended for short-term rental have been added to the offer of real estate on the portal as owners are seeking new ways to increase their value following the outflow of tourists. The portal also reports an increase in concluded sales in the capital and the Central Bohemia region.

The Czech book market has been at a standstill over the past two weeks. This is due mainly to the government’s decision to close most stores, including bookstores, which was unavoidable in light of the novel coronavirus epidemic. Of course, everyone understands the necessity of this and agrees with the measures implemented by the government.

On the one hand, hundreds of thousands of quarantined households; on the other hand, gastronomic operations that are currently dependent on food delivery and have millions of korunas in unprocessed stock. Therefore, the online supermarket Košík.cz has launched a new platform called “Hotovky Košík”, which will enable people to order ready-to-eat meals with home delivery provided by DoDo couriers. With respect to the situation, meals made with first-class ingredients will be sold and distributed at cost so that families can afford to buy multiple portions and, among other things, volunteers will be used for deliveries. Furthermore, customers themselves will decide on the menu, which will change every week.

The book-publishing holding company Euromedia, which includes, for example, the Luxor bookstore chain and the Knizni klub publishing house, is launching registration of preschools and individuals who are looking after the children of doctors and nurses, to whom it will send books and audiobooks. Even though Euromedia had to close bookstores due to the current situation and has had to almost fully suspend its distribution and publishing operations, it is striving to provide books from its own production where they will help the most. In addition to that, the company is working on a contactless delivery system so that it will be prepared to satisfy a new wave of demand during the quarantine and thus mitigate its current loss.

Private companies are facing a struggle with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on their business. The travel agency Invia.cz, which directly and indirectly employs a total of 2,100 people throughout the country, responded immediately to the decline in sales and, at the same time, is providing assistance in the current crisis situation. Employees of its call centre are manning two information lines that serve to help seniors, disabled people and people under quarantine.

A dozen of companies with pan-European operations as well as technology start-ups from the Rockaway portfolio are working at maximum capacity as the teams are busy ensuring health and safety of its thousands of employees while maintaining the quality of services for its customers. Although some of the companies must have halted their services due to the declared state of emergency and quarantine, they are coming up with new alternatives business models or providing their capacities for projects aimed at assisting vulnerable people.

MALL Pay, the joint fintech venture of the retailer MALL Group and the bank ČSOB, has completed its full integration into the payment gateway of ČSOB, which is one of the dominant players on the Czech online market, handling approximately 36.8 million e-commerce transactions in the total value of CZK 32.4 billion via the gateway last year alone. Up to one thousand e-shop operators will now receive the possibility to use the deferred-payment method for online purchases. For ČSOB, this is the first step of the innovation plan aimed at preparing the payment gateway for closer interconnection of digital banking and e-commerce; for MALL Pay, it involves a significant expansion of the portfolio of e-shops where it is possible to use its method to pay for goods and services.

The largest European group of comparison shopping platforms is offering an opportunity to become its investor. At the end of January, Heureka Group will begin placing five-year bonds via J&T Banka and PPF Banka. At the same time, the group is releasing information on its EBITDA figures, which are driven by product innovation, market growth and data expertise. This year the group will focus on supporting Czech e-shops in their expansion, development of a unified platform and strengthening of its position in the region.

Today productboard announced a $45M Series B led by Sequoia Capital with new investor Bessemer Venture Partners and participation from our previous investors. Why are top VCs betting big on dedicated product management systems? Because product management systems will change how companies are run as much as CRMs did.

Two weeks remain until Christmas Eve and while a quarter of Czechs started this year’s Christmas preparations and shopping for gifts in September, 30% of Czechs essentially do their shopping a few days before Christmas eve according to a survey conducted by MALL.cz. And it is those shoppers to whom MALL.cz is offering a helping hand. In December, the e-shop reinforced its locations with the addition of dozens of workers and extended their opening hours.

Eight exceptional personalities from the world of science received prestigious Neuron Awards on 6 November. The Neuron Fund’s patrons, including Jakub Havrlant, have donated CZK 6 million to scientists this year. Havrlant, owner of the Rockaway investment group, is thus expanding on his support for culture and sports, which he commenced several years ago.

A trio of investors – PPF Group, EC Investments and Rockaway – are strengthening their position in the area of delivering parcels from e-shops. They are incorporating into the newly established entity the network of Uloženka pickup points and the courier and delivery company In Time Spedice, whose acquisition was completed in September.

Blockchain division of a Czech investment group Rockaway Capital decided to acquire a stake in Vega Protocol and joined a group of VC investors led by Pantera Capital.

The completion of Heureka’s separation from the original MALL Group structure has been completed. The split brought about the establishment on 1 October of Heureka Group a.s., which covers all of the company’s activities in nine CEE markets. Heureka’s current management will continue to lead the group together with its newly formed board of directors.

SQLdep, a globally unique solution for automated visual analysis of data flows (i.e. data lineage) is changing owners. Founders Martin Masařík and Miroslav Šemora as well as the investment group Rockaway are selling their shares in the firm to the Belgian company Collibra, the global market leader in data intelligence.

Techloop, a start-up focused on bringing firms together with IT professionals, thus significantly increasing the efficiency of recruiting new employees, has launched a new version of its platform. The improved service offers significant innovations, thanks to which firms can select from a database of 15,000 IT workers and directly offer them available positions, while also creating a company profile and working on building their brands as employers. Firms thus receive a tool that will help them cope with the critical shortage of IT specialists.

The new owner is NICE (NASDAQ: NICE), the global leader in digitalisation of customer care.
Brand Embassy’s original founders, Vít Horký and Damián Brhel, and all investors including Rockaway Capital and Reflex Capital sold their shares.

The Czech start-up BudgetBakers, which operates an application for managing personal finances for international markets, has received funding for the development of a new product. The product will be capable of administrating business from a mobile telephone and, like the firm’s original application, is intended for the North American, Asian and Western European markets. Other than Rockaway, angel investors and the parent StartupYard, from which BudgetBakers emerged, were also involved in the investment.

Manifesto Market, recently awarded the Retailer of the Year prize for Best Customer Experience, announced the closing of a growth equity investment from Rockaway. The investment group owned by Jakub Havrlant will acquire a minority equity stake in the company. Together with Martin Barry, they will focus on developing digital customer experience, and on growing the company into a global proptech and hospitality brand focusing on popup gastro and retail.

Rockway Blockchain made an investment into TOP Network, a blockchain with a powerful array of service-level infrastructures, including one of the world’s first decentralized cloud communication networks.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, February 4, 2019 — productboard, makers of the leading product management system, announced today they have raised $10 million, expanding its initial Series A from July 2018 and bringing the company’s total funding to $19.7M. Index Ventures led this round and the firm’s General Partner, Jan Hammer, is joining productboard’s board of directors. All other previous investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Credo Ventures, Rockaway Capital, Reflex Capital also participated in this round.

The Rockaway investment group and Aegon financial group are selling their shares in ChytryHonza.cz to Jiří Paták. Over the course of the past ten years, the company has grown from the start-up phase to the position of market leader. The new owner is wagering on the trend of digitalisation of the sector and on the combining of physical distribution with the online environment.

Hamburg 08.08.2018 – Voya, the leading online business travel solution for SMEs, raised a Series A financing led by Rockaway Ventures with participation from previous investors Global Founders Capital and MOTU Ventures.
Voya will use the new funds to expand its teams and further advance the product to offer its clients the most convenient service and the best experience in business travel.

San Francisco — July 12, 2018 — productboard, the leading product excellence system today announced it has raised $8 million in Series A financing led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from previous Seed investors – Index Ventures, Credo Ventures, Reflex Capital, and Rockaway Capital.

The CNC media house is launching its own transport-connection search engine, www.bileto.cz, on a platform originally developed by the start-up Bileto, part of the Rockaway investment group. Rockaway has had the Bileto platform in its portfolio for the past four years, during which it actively worked on the platform’s development.

Chytrý Honza will be following up on its excellent results this year and, with the New Year, will enter a new phase. With its planned entry into new markets, Chytrý Honza is expanding its management with experienced executives and will solidify its position as the fastest growing broker on the market. In the new era, the company will be led by Nicolas Eich, who has experience from the top French brokerage, Meilleurtaux.com.

Prague, 28 November 2017 – Having received seed investment from Rockaway Ventures last year, Techloop, a virtual marketplace connecting IT professionals and prospective employers, has now obtained a Series A investment from Springtide Ventures/KKCG with the participation of Rockaway Ventures. The investment totals five million euros (close to 130 million crowns). The Series A investment will allow the startup to expand its virtual IT recruitment marketplace to other European countries.

A merger of game development studios has occurred within the Rockaway group’s start-up division. Dreadlocks Ltd, which to date has focused mainly on developing games for computers and game consoles, is taking the mobile studio Silicon Jelly s.r.o. under its wing. That latter studio now bears the name Dreadlocks Mobile.

The venture-capital division of the Rockaway group is being reinforced with the addition of Jakub Daxner, who was previously part of the Private Equity team at McKinsey & Co. and has experience with project management on 13 markets. Jakub’s role at Rockaway Ventures will consist in seeking out new start-ups and assisting with the development and expansion of those already in the Rockaway portfolio.

The Rockaway Ventures start-up division has sold its share in the Brazilian fintech company Creditas. The value of the share increased nearly 10 times over the past three years.

Andrea Lauren is enhancing the capabilities of the investment firm’s management with fintech expertise and experience in investment banking, where she played a role in deals in the volume of more than CZK 675 billion.

Rockaway Capital announced today that it had signed an agreement to purchase Euromedia Group, a leading player in the book publishing market in the Czech Republic. The transaction, which is subject to approval by the Office for the Protection of Competition, is being executed with financial support from Daniel Křetínský and Patrik Tkáč.

Rockaway announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire former Unister travel assets including some of the best known brands in the German travel market ab-in-den-urlaub.de and fluege.de. Combined with Rockaway’s existing portfolio company Invia, which is the largest online travel agency in the CEE region, the transaction will create a pan-European leader in the online travel segment.

Rockaway Group, with the financial support of Daniel Křetínský, Patrik Tkáč, and PPF Group, has taken another step in consolidating the e-commerce markets within the CEE region by acquiring comparison shopping engines Árukereső.hu, Compari.ro and Pazaruvaj.com from Naspers. Following the transaction, Rockaway holds the leading position in the comparison shopping markets in five CEE countries.

Jakub Rod, an M&A expert with ten years´ experience, who took part in transactions totaling 175 billion CZK, has joined the ranks of Rockaway’s legal team.

Prague, September 26, 2016 – All online shops belonging to Mall Group have been moved into shared offices in Holesovice, Prague, last week. Since 19th September there have been MALL.CZ, CZC.cz, Proděti, Kolonial, BigBrands, Rozbaleno, Bux and Sporty under one roof. Another strategic step is the integration of business teams led by Jitka Dvořáková, Business Manager of Mall Group.

Rockaway has accomplished the takeover of the network of shopping galleries – the Mall. As a result, Mall Group led by Jakub Havrlant has been established to encompass also specialized online shops from existing Rockaway portfolio.

The Office for the Protection of Competition has cleared the acquisition of Heureka Shopping, running portals Heureka.cz and Heureka.sk, by Rockaway Capital. The clearance includes commitments by Rockaway that are intended to ensure the continued independence of Heureka. Financial support for the whole transaction which can be completed after final steps are taken, was provided by investment groups PPF, Daniel Křetínský and Patrik Tkáč.

This experienced investment manager is about to start a new phase of his career. He is expected to bring to Jakub Havrlant’s Rockaway his experience in managing international companies and focus on long-term investment strategy. He is going to apply his more than twelve years long experience in international finance. In past years, he worked as an investment director in Mid Europa Partners, where he carried out transaction totaling 75 billion CZK.

Czech point of sale system for cafés and restaurants – Storyous – has grown beyond domestic market in two years, and is about to expand to Poland.

Rockaway Capital, a global investment firm based in San Francisco, Prague and Sao Paolo, today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Netretail Holding B.V. and Heureka.

The series of hackathons for Prague, Brno and Ostrava during which software developers will be provided with Amazon Web Services (AWS) will start in two weeks. Rockaway wants to give Czech software development community the opportunity to try creating global apps.

Bileto from Rockaway Group succeeded in the second round of Czech ICT Incubator competition and will gain further support for its global expansion.

Just one year after being launched, the network of online stores E-commerce Holding announced reaching the turnover of 4 billion CZK by the end of the fiscal year; also thanks to one of its last acquisitions: purchase of domestic number two in IT – online store CZC.cz, which has been officially confirmed. The Group also informed that it is not the last acquisition of this year.

28 CEOs, the whole Rockaway team, inspiration and exchange of experience. This was the first CEO’s Day which took place in Prague last week.

Kolonial has entered next testing phase – the public one. Distribution of deliveries, which is free of charge during the first month, started yesterday in Prague and its vicinity. Besides groceries, it offers also cosmetics and household products, children´s products and pet food. To guarantee maximal freshness, it offers next-day delivery.

Rockaway Capital, a leading VC firm focused on investing and building Internet companies in emerging markets, today announced that it has entered the U.S. market with its first office in San Francisco’s SOMA district.

Besides working on its strong portfolio on domestic market, E-commerce Holding has also started working on the plan to become an important player in Central and Eastern Europe.

New online grocery store Kolonial.cz of E-commerce Holding has today set off the first part of its communication campaign as a vanguard of the official launch of this service.

Investment group Rockaway has finally moved its projects into a new place in the Office park Kavčí Hory and developed there a unique hub of talented people and promising projects, quite special for the Czech Republic.

New FinTech project on which Rockaway cooperates among others with MasterCard, ČSOB and ISIC is entering the last phase of the development. It shall be a bank account alternative – a new solution for personal finance for young people.

Bileto is about to finish a new platform for carriers in the whole world. After having been tested on Czech market, Eastern Europe and Brazil will follow.

Czech technology start-up Brand Embassy providing a platform for social customer service, tripled the revenues in 2014.

This year, Rockaway is going to launch E-commerce Holding´s new online project – selling groceries. As announced earlier, it will be managed by Petr Vyhnálek. Today we would like to announce the name of this online store – Kolonial.cz.

Investment group Rockaway and financial group Roklen will launch a platform called Fundlift.cz. It will be the first Czech representative in equity crowdfunding.

Jakub Havrlant for E15 magazine about current plans, strategy and review of year 2014.