In recent years, technological startups have been thriving in the Czech Republic, and they're very successful beyond our borders. Paradoxically, these companies have earned a greater reputation abroad than at home, because they offer totally unique applications, services or products unrivalled on Earth. Let us introduce you a couple of young and ambitious entrepreneurs who may one day be as famous as Bill Gates. Not to mention their bank accounts.
Hubert Palán (41) and Daniel Hejl (31), Productboard
It is very likely that you haven't heard of the company Productboard yet. It's hardly a shock, because this Czech startup is currently enjoying great success mainly abroad. The Hubert Palán and Daniel Hejl duo created a software unlike anything that has been on the market before. They tackling a tricky problem called product management and, simply put, they help companies create new things - from computer programs through mobile phones to toothbrushes.
Open in gallery (5)
Hubert PalánSource: Facebook Huberta Palána
If you still don't get it, don't despair. When Bill Gates founded Microsoft, people didn't understand what he meant to achieve with the operating system either. And where is this gentleman who'd once been shouted down today? The ladies who'd miscalculated back then have nothing left to do but count how many millions he donated to charity last week...
Luxusní byt k pronájmu - Praha 1 - Nové Město, Praha 1
Show property
Productboard is sometimes told to be Microsoft in its infancy. After all, the numbers only confirm it - at the beginning of the year, they received a record investment of $ 45 million, which is he largest in history on the Czech startup scene. And there are funds that have already become rich off of companies like Google or Amazon among the investors. Bottom line, this duo's path to rewriting the history of the world's most famous technology companies has been paved.
Open in gallery (5)
Daniel HejlSource: Facebook Productboard
Jaroslav Beck (31), Beat Saber
This man is probably the best-known representative of the Beat Games studio, which captured the world's attention with the revolutionary game Beat Saber. Thanks to the unique concept, in which you chop flying dice with light sabers in the rhythm of music, their game caused an earthquake in the world of virtual reality and attracted crowds of excited players. Until then, most people had been paying little attention to virtual reality, but Beat Saber sold millions copies in record time. Its success was so great that famous bands began to contact the company, asking if their music could appear in the game. Yes, you heard that right! Currently, you can game for example on Green Day songs with more hits to follow.
Everything culminated in the studio being bought by the giant of giants - Facebook - and it is one of the most successful Czech acquisitions ever. The price of the transaction hasn't been made public, but seeing as Beat Saber is still in its infancy, it is already clear that the composer and co-owner of the game studio Jaroslav Beck is financially unburdened for the rest of his life.
Open in gallery (5)
Jaroslav BeckSource: Profimedia
Lukáš Balík (27), Spaceflow
Entrepreneurial youth Lukáš Balík founded the startup Spaceflow in 2017, at the age of 25, and today he gets calls from developers asking him to launch his community communication service in their huge office and residential complexes on daily basis. Of course, it's not him who answers those calls, he already has his business team for similar formalities. Lukáš focuses more on making his startup successful in the USA and Great Britain. He's just moved his headquarters to the USA and is currently preparing a new investment round in which he hopes to raise millions of dollars. If he succeeds, it will mean a ticket to business prominence.
Luxusní byt k pronájmu - Praha 1 - Nové Město, Praha 1
Show property
The area in which the Spaceflow company operates is extremely topical and attractive - as mentioned above, they're introducing a new digital platform into office and residential buildings, interconnecting tenants and owners. It's something like a "facebook" for buildings, something that's sure to experience a huge boom in the coming years. And Spaceflow is one of the world's best in this field. The company's goal is for its service to be used by all buildings in the world one day. It's not a small ambition, but it's certainly not unrealistic either.
And that's why we recommend: Get Lukáš's number before he turns into a world famous celebrity like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. Then it will be much more complicated…
Open in gallery (5)
Lukáš BalíkSource: Oficiální webu Spaceflow
Go big or go home: Oliver Long (32), Kiwi.com
Originally, we also wanted to include Oliver Dlouhý and the startup Kiwi.com in the selection. This ticket search engine is so successful, especially in the world, that when part of it was being sold last year, it was the business event of the season. It is almost certain that billions were being thrown around in this case, but a few months have passed and the situation changed.
Air traffic around the world has virtually stopped and the company's profits have fallen virtually to zero. Kiwi.com has huge financial reserves and will survive the difficult months, but the question is what an impact it will have on the company. Oliver Dlouhý is ambitious enough and has a strong investment fund, so it may not be a total tragedy.
