Credo Ventures is an example showing that under the leadership of an enthusiastic group of Czechs and Slovaks a world-renowned venture capital fund comparable to those from Silicon Valley can be built even in our country. HAVEL & PARTNERS has been part of the successful journey of this fund since its establishment in 2009, not only as a legal and tax advisor, but also as a business partner and investor. "Especially in the early days, we also helped with fundraising and invested in the fund. Credo then gladly advertised the fact that its investors also included prominent lawyers. Today, on the contrary, we boast about Credo," said Jaroslav Havel.
Credo Ventures focuses on investing in fast-growing start-ups in the wide field of important technologies in the CEE region. "The entrepreneurs from this region have extraordinary potential; we believe in their creativity and ingenuity. We strive to find such potential and develop it further," said Ondřej Bartoš, one of the fund's founders.
But the success of the Credo Ventures brand has long since gone beyond the boundaries of Europe. "They are pioneers of Czech venture capital who have approached their business with the utmost integrity from the start. Having worked hard, gathering experience in Silicon Valley, they are rewarded with global success today," said HAVEL & PARTNERS’ partner Václav Audes.
Our law firm has been working with Credo Ventures since its formation. We were also involved in their first investment in 2011. "The lawyers from HAVEL & PARTNERS trusted us from the very beginning. They were one of the first to entrust us with their money and gave us the opportunity to start the adventurous experiment of building a venture capital firm in the Czech Republic and Central Europe," noted Ondřej Bartoš.
Ondřej Bartoš
And in 2015, we also advised them when they invested in a then yet unknown Romanian start-up called UiPath, which is one of the fastest growing software companies in its segment worldwide today, and which at the point of entering the New York Stock Exchange had one of the largest IPOs in the class. Such a success is something quite extraordinary for domestic investors. "The UiPath chapter of the Credo Ventures story is slowly coming to an end, but the story continues and we are happy that HAVEL & PARTNERS is part of it," said Ondřej Bartoš.
HAVEL & PARTNERS provides Credo Ventures with comprehensive transactional advisory services in investments and exits, assisting with data protection and intellectual property matters, employment law, and acting as a tax advisor.
"Those twelve years of our collaboration have been a great learning opportunity and, most importantly, an inspiration to building an extremely successful fund globally, hand in hand with an incredibly human approach. Thank you for allowing us to follow these fascinating stories of the technology and investment world while working with Credo," added Václav Audes.
