StartupYard

StartupYard

StartupYard launched in 2011 in Prague, co-founded by Cedric Maloux and Nikola Rafaj. It operates as a mentorship-driven seed accelerator, not a family office or traditional venture fund. The firm was built to capitalize on Central and Eastern Europe's deep technical talent pool, particularly engineers emerging from Czech, Slovak, and Polish universities with strong computer-science traditions but limited access to early-stage venture capital. The accelerator runs cohort-based programs, typically investing small seed checks in exchange for equity. Its portfolio skews heavily toward enterprise software, with additional density in cybersecurity, AI/ML applications, and fintech infrastructure. The model combines direct investment with an intensive three-month mentorship period, drawing mentors from European and US technology companies. Public record shows portfolio companies have included Manta (data lineage), Rossum (AI document processing), and Brand Embassy (social customer care, later acquired by NICE). The program sources founders from across Central and Eastern Europe, with a geographic footprint spanning the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and the Balkans. StartupYard has operated from Prague since inception, with a later presence in London. The firm's scale in personnel and total deployment is not publicly disclosed. It maintains relationships with follow-on investors including London-based VCs and Central European funds, functioning as a feeder into later-stage venture rounds. In September 2022, the firm announced it was rebooting its accelerator program after a pandemic pause, relaunching with a focus on deep-tech and enterprise startups (per the firm, September 2022). Unlike Western European accelerators that compete on brand and network density, StartupYard's structural differentiator is its position as a first institutional check in a region where seed capital remains scarce. The firm acts as a bridge between Central European technical founders and the larger venture ecosystems of London and Berlin, operating in a market gap that generalist funds rarely serve.