Kiwi.com, Y Soft, and Flowmon are three of Central Europe’s top technology success stories, and all of them started out with support from JIC, the South Moravian innovation agency that has been helping startups since 2003.

Now, JIC is building on its experience by launching JIC Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on pre-seed and seed-stage founders throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

The fund aims to raise €16.3 million (400 million Czech crowns) and has already secured over €13 million in its first round. It plans to invest up to €1 million in each company, supporting around 20 startups over four years.

The main focus is on deep tech, SaaS, and advanced technology, especially in areas where early-stage funding in Central and Eastern Europe is hardest to find.

The LP base

The fund has about 40 limited partners, chosen to represent the ecosystem it wants to create. Key institutional backers include CTP, Europe’s largest developer and owner of industrial parks, and Česká spořitelna, the oldest bank in the Czech Republic.

Investor Jan Barta is also supporting the fund. The South Moravian Region has joined as a public-sector limited partner, a role JIC describes as a new approach in the Czech Republic because it combines public roots with mostly private investment.

The founder LP cohort shows the fund’s “give back” approach. Backers include the family holding of IDEA StatiCa’s owners, Artin and Kinalisoft, Sewio founder Milan Šimek, and NenoVision founder Jan Neuman.

The Diocese of Brno is also a notable limited partner, showing the wide range of supporters JIC has brought together.

What the fund offers founders

Since 2015, JIC has made smaller co-investments, but JIC Ventures is a big change. The new fund brings more capital, assumes the lead investor role, and promises to close deals in weeks rather than months.

Managing partners Radim Kocourek and Miloš Sochor run the fund, drawing on JIC’s experience in cybersecurity, space technology, precision instruments, defence and dual-use technologies, and semiconductors.

Being close to the university sets the fund apart. Unlike most VC funds in Central and Eastern Europe, which source deals on the open market, JIC Ventures gains access to startups through its own incubation and acceleration programs.

The broader CEE context

JIC points to examples in Dublin and Eindhoven, where innovation agencies, universities, and private investors have helped create companies with global impact. Central and Eastern Europe has mostly lacked this kind of early-stage support.

Most funds focused on Central and Eastern Europe invest at the Series A stage or later. This means pre-seed and seed founders often have to rely on angel investors, grants, or even relocating to secure funding.

“In the last five years alone, companies supported by JIC have achieved exits worth €640M. We initiated this fund because we want many more globally successful startups to emerge – companies that can help shape a new economy for the Czech Republic and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness,” says Petr Chládek, CEO of JIC innovation agency.