Fun fact: the Czech Republic has the most castles in Europe.
In addition to that, the nation that boasts a UNESCO World Heritage Site as its capital (Prague), also has a diverse and interesting startup ecosystem.
The Czech Republic is known for its solid infrastructure, highly educated skilled workforce, and relatively low cost of living – the perfect storm for startups. The Czech startup boom began in 2010 when new projects and accelerators popped up. Now, the country is not only a ‘gateway’ to other European hubs like Berlin and Vienna, but also has a healthy and strong presence of innovation hubs, incubators and accelerators itself. The likes of Startup Yard or Czech Startups are examples of elements that are boosting the tech scene.
Last year, the Czech startup scene saw some big deals – such as when online grocery startup Rohlik raised $100 million, becoming a Czech unicorn. In addition, Prague-based SaaS startup Rossum announced $100 million, one of the largest ever Series A rounds to come out of eastern Europe.
The Czech Republic is a truly beautiful central European country and is a great place to launch startups – there’s no reason that 2022 can’t be a big year for the land-locked country.
This week we had a close look at the startup ecosystem in Czechia, and after a lot of research and after speaking to our Czech contacts like Pavel Curda, and our new Startup Analyst Nicolas Ivanovic, we’re excited to introduce you to 10 exceptionally promising Czech startups to watch in 2022 and beyond. These are all startups that have launched fairly recently (after late-2017) and are offering innovative solutions.
Resistant AI – Prague-based Resistant AI is a SaaS-based AI and machine learning security company that protects financial services from manipulation, fraud and financial crime. In October 2021, they picked up over €14 million. Founded in 2019, Resistant AI is on a mission to create an intelligent shield to protect companies against an epidemic of fraud and attack. As financial services embrace digitisation and use AI to automate and scale, so are those wanting to exploit and manipulate. Resistant AI brings together state-of-the-art document and customer behaviour forensics to uncover synthetic identities, account takeovers, money laundering and all as yet unknown financial fraud plaguing your services. Cyber security is a massively growing industry, and while financial companies become more and more aware of the need to protect themselves, it’s a growth area that the startup is ready to expand into.
Born Digital – Founded in 2019, Born Digital focuses on the automation and digitization of conversation between companies and their clients – creating a new future of customer interactions. With advanced AI solutions, such as digital assistants, Born Digital helps clients optimize operational costs of their contact centres, increase their sales potential and improve customer satisfaction. Based in Prague, the startup is already serving major Central Europe mobile operators, clients in the finance sector and beyond. AI is a hot topic, and companies are increasingly looking for new ways better customer experience. Born Digitial is offering an innovative way to do this.
Medevio – Founded in 2020, startup Medevio is using technology to improve the Czech healthcare system. The Medevio app simplifies medical care and reduces administrative burden – allowing doctors and nurses to save hours of their time, and ensuring patients receive better care. It also facilitates improved communication between doctors and patients, helping better treatment plans be managed. Health care has experienced massive stress over recent years – with burnout amongst doctors increasingly high and patient waiting lists growing and growing. Medevio is providing a way to help doctors and patients connect in a way that benefits everyone.
Mutumutu – On a mission the changer he principles of life insurance, Mututmutu aims to replace old life insurance moels that are often reliant on financial advisors. Founded in 2018, Mutumutu goes back to basics, focusing on the customer and their financial security. Mutumutu also rewards clients who maintain a healthy lifestyle by returning up to 30% of all instalments. The startup covers the loss of income in case of illness, full compensation in case of disability and has a plan to take after relatives if the worst should happen.
Hedepy – Hedepy simplifies the path to psychotherapy for everyone, through video calls. It makes psychotherapy accessible and free of prejudice. Hedepy has to date booked over 13,000 sessions and expanded to Poland, Italy and Romania last year. Founded in 2020, the company has been growing fast and is making a difference to many with its mental health services. It’s estimated that over 3 million people in the Czech Republic suffer from mental health problems, and Hedepy is on a mission to give them the support they need. With technology, Hedepy enables patients to access quality and certified experts in a convenient service that is accessible and anonymous.
SmartGuide – Prague-based SmartGuide is on a mission to turn every phone into a private guide using augmented reality, turning every tourist into an explorer. Founded in 2017, the SmartGuide platform acts as a live guide, it gives visitors a live tour and talks to them when they reach an interesting g spot. It’s like having a tour guide in your pocket. Using gamification, the guide content is made more engaging and brought to life through audio narration and augmented reality. Through the platform, travellers can find great multimedia guides for their destinations of choice, easily and free. Tourist attractions can digitize their content and produce multimedia guides that are more accessible, and, progressional guides can make their in-depth local knowledge available to more travellers than they could manage physically – creating a healthy passive income.
Accomango – Tech-enabled real estate operator Accomango is building a SaaS-enabled, curated B2B marketplace between companies with manual workers and accommodation providers. Based in Prague and founded in 2020, the startup is disrupting an industry with digital tech that has been lagging behind in digital transformation. Accomango offers accommodation booking and people management for industrial, construction and automotive companies, alongside hostel management SaaS for accommodation providers to achieve a seamless booking process. It’s an area that’s been underserved so far, and the quality of living conditions of many of these workers is questionable at best in many situations. Accomango is offering an innovative solution that had a promising start so far.
Oddin.gg – A B2B provider of esports odds feed, risk management and iFrame solutions, Oddin delivers an engaging esports betting experience with industry-leading uptime and a number of live markets. The platform boosts engagement, drives volume, increases margin, and accelerates profits through its state of the art tech, advanced data science and machine learning algorithms. Founded in 2018, the startup has already had an exciting start in 2022, integrating with BetU, bringing its solution to Novusbet and partnering with SoftSwiss.
Woltair – Founded in 2018, Woltair wants to ensure a new generation of energy equipment is easily accessible to all. Its digital platform gives customers a smooth and stress-free experience in the whole process of transitioning to sustainable energy sources – from selecting the most suitable option to installation and service. The startup also offers free consulting and design, a comparison of the best heat pumps and photovoltaics on the market and a wide range of financing options (grants and loans). The transition to green energy in homes across Europe is speeding up and Woltair is offering a tech solution that enables it to be a smoother process. Already the company boasts to save 6300 tons of Co2 per year.
Precismo – Founded in 2017, Precismo is a photorealistic 3D scanning technology and service. Currently, it is used to perform precise non-destructive testing by industry leaders and prepare original 3D content for the entertainment, retail, media and gaming industries. The Precismo system allows any object to be scanned fully automatically and used immediately in a virtual world – in the age of virtual reality, and increased digitisation, this is an enticing solution for many industries. It allows, for example, photographers and advertisers to create exterior images without leaving their studio, filmmakers to use digital models to create visual effects, programmers and graphic designers to develop computer games and professional applications. Other potential users of 3D scanning include e-shops, which want to allow customers to view the goods in great detail, even remotely.
By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
January 28, 2022 at 08:30AM by contact@bcurdy.com, Khareem Sudlow
