Purple Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Purple Ventures is a Czech venture capital fund investing in early-stage, purpose-driven technology startups with initial revenue and global ambitions. The firm describes itself as a fund investing in CEE+ tech-enabled innovations at pre-seed and seed stages, and says it strives to make the world a better place by partnering with like-minded founders. The partners are entrepreneurs and ex-founders who say they have achieved 3+ exits and grown a global fintech group (the Purple group), and they pitch themselves on empathy, experience, expertise and ecosystem: help with product, go-to-market, PR, hiring and strategy, plus synergies with the Purple group's network of firms and portfolio companies.
What they screen for is spelled out on the site: the team (humility, fair play, drive and an AI-first mindset), market size and unique industry insight, founder competence to grow globally, a real product need with a business model ready for an AI/AGI future, timing, and potential for healthy return. Partner commentary in the Czech press stresses technology as the core of the product rather than AI as marketing, and skepticism about AI-tool overheating.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed. As of the Fund II update, the portfolio held 22 companies (8 pre-seed and 14 seed). Startups are expected to have initial revenue.
Check Size
Initial tickets of EUR 250K to EUR 400K, with follow-ons later. Recent disclosed rounds include EUR 450K into Fether Labs (May 2026) and EUR 500K into TASS Vision (July 2025). Minority equity stakes only; founders own, drive and manage the company.
Lead Tendency
Both. The firm says it is happy to co-invest and to lead, leading up to about 50% of a round, alongside angels and other VCs. Several rounds show it as one of several participants (for example Comparables.ai's seed led by other investors, and Fether Labs with PurposeTech, Chapter One and the a16z Scout Fund).
Recent Activity
Purple Ventures launched a EUR 40M fund in May 2024 (reported by Tech.eu in June 2024), anchored by roughly EUR 14M of profits from the Purple group founders. Fund II has since raised over CZK 700M from 52 investors, reaching about 75% of target, and had invested about CZK 250M into 22 companies. In 2025 it made 13 investments, 8 of them in companies with Czech founders, which management called the most active fund on the Czech market. 2026 activity includes Fether Labs (UK gesture-control wristband) and Comparables.ai (Finland, M&A discovery). The fund is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The homepage lists about 24 companies, including Fether Labs, Comparables.ai, TASS Vision (edge-AI retail analytics in 2,000+ stores), Clearly (AI and human therapy), Vetstor, Artie (AI piano teacher), Sloneek (HR), Shaka (eSIM virtual operators), Flowlance, Delta Green (grid balancing), Bitreport, PilotGo, Get Moments, Hedepy, Tatum (blockchain developer framework), Choice QR (restaurant SaaS, 6,500+ restaurants), Veracity Protocol, Barion (payments), Curfex, Toroto (carbon markets), Kilde (Singapore alternative-investments platform, over CZK 3.5B AUM), Impact Hub Czech Republic, OnSinch and VRgineers. Press also names Kardi AI (cardiac monitoring, Series A) and Buylo (retail automation). The page does not label exits by name.
Team
- Jan Stanek: Managing / Founding Partner
- Jan Davidek: Partner / General Partner
- Jakub Nytra: General Partner, Purple group co-founder
- Tomas Tyrala: Finance
- Dagmar Skupienova: Legal
- Ondrej Vanek, Matej Krcek, Matyas Lezatka: listed on the team page without titles
Decision Process
Partnership. The fund is run by a small group of general partners; the site gives no committee detail. Founders in testimonials praise speed and transparency. A pitch form is available at purpleventures.vercel.app/pitch, so warm intros do not appear to be required.
Founder Preferences
Humble, fair-minded and driven founders with an AI-first mindset and the competence to scale globally, in companies with early revenue. Many are founders who already know the Purple group or the CEE ecosystem.
Geographic Focus
CEE+, with a Czech home base (8 of 13 2025 deals had Czech founders) and a broader reach: UK (Fether Labs), Finland (Comparables.ai), Ukraine (Clearly), Singapore (Kilde, Curfex), Mexico (Toroto) and the Middle East and North Africa (TASS Vision expansion). Sector mix spans digital health, energy tech, creator economy, security, fintech, HR and retail tech.
Gaps
The site gives no exact headquarters city in the text read, no Fund II size beyond the CZK 700M raised, and no investment dates or stages for most portfolio companies, so those fields are left empty. Check sizes are in EUR.