Analysis of the Start-up Ecosystem in Czechia (National RIS3 Strategy (Czech Republic))

Summary

• According to the Dealroom database there are 1,631 funded start-ups in Czechia, and around 150,000 people are employed in start-ups.p.10
• A total of 697 start-ups in Czechia have received investment, raising EUR 4.40 billion in total, with an average of EUR 4.99 million per start-up.p.13
• Between 2018 and 2022 the number of start-ups increased by one-third, and the average start-up salary increased by approximately 35% compared with 26% for the Czech economy.p.11
• With 18 start-ups per 100,000 inhabitants founded since 2014, Czechia ranks between Slovenia (26) and Bulgaria (16).p.14
• Czechia scores 64 in three-year start-up survival rate, against 77 for the Netherlands.p.16
• Rohlik.cz has received a total of EUR 836,708,642 in funding, followed by Mews with EUR 404,167,309.p.20
• Exits of Czech start-ups most often go to Czechia (54) and the United States (29).p.25

Key insights

1. The Crunchbase database shows approximately 1,100 start-ups in Czechia, while the Czech Start-up Association lists more than 900 start-ups and over 300 angel and VC investors.p.10
2. Almost half of all start-ups in Czechia have fewer than six employees, and companies with fewer than 20 employees account for three-quarters of all start-ups.p.11
3. Start-ups with 100—500 employees account for more than a third of all jobs although they represent only 6% of companies.p.11
4. The largest share of applications to the CzechInvest Technology Incubation programme comes from artificial intelligence (30%), followed by creative industries (24%), EcoTech (18%) and Tech4Life (14%).p.12
5. A total of 42% of start-ups from Czechia valued at over USD 50 million have relocated abroad, compared with 67% in Croatia and 75% in Latvia.p.17
6. Czechia led in the number of start-ups in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, with 19 in 2019, 21 in 2020, and 19 again in 2021.p.18
7. Cera raised EUR 312,336,000 across 4 funding rounds, the largest single-company funding listed.p.19
8. Czechia ranks 30th in the number of venture capital investment rounds in 2023, behind Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia and Bulgaria.p.23
9. In Czechia there were 91 active academic spin-offs in 2024, of which 17 had received investment.p.27
10. The Czech share of European start-up funding reached 2% in 2022, double the Czech economy's share in the European economy.p.28