ZAKA has emerged as one of the most active VC family offices in Europe — and is now raising its first €15m fund with fresh capital from external LPs.
The Prague-based VC, so far operating as a family office of two serial Czech entrepreneurs since 2020, has completed a €10.5m first close.
Andrej Petrus, head of the investment committee at ZAKA VC, says the firm has decided to open up for external capital because, through its activity as a family office, it's seen “a great dealflow of opportunities”. “We saw huge potential in expanding the fund and increasing the average ticket size in order to secure a better position in high-quality deals,” Petrus says.
Where will the money go?
ZAKA VC will invest in pre-seed and seed startups — it hopes to back 40-50 companies with the fund. Its tickets will range between €250k-€300k. Its main investment focus is B2B software, cross-sectional application of AI in B2B, biotech and healthtech.
As a family office, ZAKA has predominantly focused on startups from the central and eastern European (CEE) market. However, it’s now exploring more opportunities to also back founders from the UK and the US, including those from the CEE diaspora.
What’s ZAKA VC track record?
ZAKA family office has invested in more than 55 startups — which made it stand out as one of the most active VC family offices in Europe. Its portfolio includes genetic medicine startup ExcepGen, mRNA maker Sensible Biotechnologies and visual search for e-commerce Miros.ai. It has coinvested with leading global VCs such as Y Combinator, General Catalyst and Open AI CEO Sam Altman’s Apollo Fund.
Who are ZAKA VC LPs?
The fund’s anchor LPs are the families of two Czech entrepreneurs, Ján Kasper and Peter Zálešák, who have also been the cornerstone of the ZAKA family office. Other LPs primarily come from the Czech and Slovak startup ecosystem.
