productboard raises a $45M Series B led by Sequoia Capital

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.

Why we decided to pilot a PET-bottle return system at Košík and what we expect from it

Perhaps you have noticed that, starting this Monday on Košík you can for the first time voluntarily purchase returnable PET bottles with an admixture of 80% PET. When you return such a bottle to us, we can guarantee that it will be reused in the production of another bottle with the shortest (and today the most environmentally friendly) cycle. We are collaborating with Mattoni 1873 on the project and, due to the increasing number of questions about it, I will be pleased to tell you about everything that led us to undertake this whole activity. And what we expect from it – I’ll add to the discussion that is going on around this step we have taken. And I apologize that this time I needed to lay out more than is my habit.

Hubert Palán (Productboard) for CzechCrunch: “It is important to choose the right investor”

Productboard – a startup that develops a tool for product managers – is experiencing a period of rapid growth. It is anticipated that it could be another Czech unicorn, i.e. a company with a valuation in excess of one billion dollars. And Jakub Havrlant was its very first investor with his Rockaway group. Productboard’s CEO, Hubert Palán told the CzechCrunch Podcast about the company’s origins and also talked about the start-up ecosystem, fundraising, rapid growth and access to offers for investors.

The height of Christmas fever is here. MALL.cz extends its branches’ opening times by three hundred hours and guarantees deliveries of orders from 22 December

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.

Rockaway Business Dinner vol. II: Luminaries of European business at a venue though which history flowed

Together with the media house Motejlekskocdopole.com and champagne producer Taittinger, Jakub Havrlant’s Rockaway investment group hosted seventy luminaries from the world of business on 4 December at the Stará čistička odpadních vod in Prague’s Bubeneč district, which thus became the venue of exclusive interviews and business networking across sectors and countries.

Neuron Awards for extraordinary scientists announced. Jakub Havrlant presents the award for Computer Science

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.