Hiring Now: Explore Careers with Prague’s Unicorn Startups

The Czech Republic has seen an increase in investment in recent years as several homegrown and international businesses have achieved unicorn status.

With Czech startups collectively raising $1.7 billion in 2022 and 2023, others are predicted to attain the coveted status soon.

Prague is at the centre of the massive growth, with over 700 startups calling it home. While many are still in their early stages, the high-tech and gaming industries are already showing signs of maturity.

Let’s dive into some of the unicorns in Czech that are hiring right now.

Productboard

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Productboard, founded in 2014 by Daniel Hejl and Hubert Palan, is a game-changer in product management. Born out of Palan’s frustration as a product manager in 2011, the company strives to solve real challenges faced by product teams.

The company’s all-in-one product management platform allows distributed teams to understand user needs, prioritize features, and align on a shared strategy. It has the ability to facilitate cross-functional collaboration and product prioritisation processes

With a unicorn status achieved in early 2022, Productboard is valued at $1.75B. It currently has more than 6,000 customers and 500 employees. Its platform is used by various companies, ranging from UiPath, Zoom, to Vanguard and Volkswagen.

Mews

Hospitality management system Mews was created in 2012 by founder Richard Valtr. Inspired by Valtr’s firsthand experience running a hotel in Prague, the platform modernises hotel management processes with its cloud-based property management system (PMS).

Currently led by CEO Matthijs Welle, Mews allows hotels and other accommodation providers to manage reservations, check-ins, guest communications, billing, and more, all from a centralized system accessible via the cloud.

With over $342.2 million in funding and unicorn status achieved in 2021, Mews has rapidly expanded its footprint. It currently serves over 5,000 global clients and manages more than 350,000 hospitality spaces.

Avast

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Avast was established in Prague in 1988 by software engineers Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš. It has now become a leader in cybersecurity that protects businesses and consumers from internet threats. The company is backed by leading global private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Summit Partners.

Avast offers various digital security products under the Avast and AVG brands. Their products, which include antivirus software for mobile, PC, and Mac platforms, are top-ranked. The products have obtained certification by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, OPSWAT, ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs, and other organisations.

Avast had its IPO in 2018. Today, the company serves over 435M users and sees its annual revenue approaching $900M. Avast now operates under the umbrella of Gen Digital, a multinational cybersecurity company based in the US.

Rohlik

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Founded in 2014 by Marek Sacha and Tomas Čupr, Rohlik proposes a new approach to online shopping. Unlike its competitors, which focused solely on speed, Rohlik differentiates itself with a huge assortment of products.

Ranging from staple foods, local delicacies, toiletries, and household essentials, Rohlik allows consumers to do all of their shopping in one platform. While Rohlik might not be able to deliver within minutes, it still guarantees delivery within 90 minutes.

Rohlik achieved a unicorn status in 2021 with over $613.1 million in funding from venture capital firms like Index, Partech, and Sofina.

Rohlik is currently operational in 13 cities across the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Germany. But now, CEO Tomas Čupr’s has an ambitious vision to expand across Europe, with plans to operate in 30 cities by 2030.

JetBrains

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Founded in 2000, JetBrains’ mission is to create the most efficient developer tools available. Its suite of products, such as IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, ReSharper, and PhpStorm, allows developers to innovate and create freely. JetBrains’ programming language Kotlin also became Google’s preferred development tool for Android.

The company serves more than 15.9M developers across the globe, with 90 out of The Fortune Global Top 100 companies using its products. As of 2019, JetBrains operates globally with more than 1800 employees.

JetBrains has offices in Munich, Amsterdam, New Jersey, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Boston, and more. It has also recently expanded to Cyprus, building offices in Paphos and Limassol.

The Prague-based company is now valued at approximately $7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It managed to turn into a unicorn without the help of venture capital.

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