Practically everyone today is aware of the 30 Under 30 ranking issued annually by Forbes magazine, but not everyone gets included in the list. This year, the entire Rockaway team paid extra attention to it, as one of the ranking’s young and talented people who have yet to celebrate their thirtieth birthday is our investment manager, Martin Konop. Read his interview with the Czech edition of Forbes below:
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.
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.
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.
