JIC Ventures Launches €16.3M CEE Deep Tech Fund With €13M First Close
TL;DR
JIC, the 22-year-old Brno-based innovation agency that helped put Czech deep tech on the map, has formally launched JIC Ventures — a €16.3M pre-seed and seed fund targeting Central and Eastern European deep tech founders at the earliest, riskiest stage of company formation. The first close has already attracted more than €13M from roughly 40 LPs, including industrial parks giant CTP, Česká spořitelna, the South Moravian Region, and a notable roster of successful Czech founders. Managing Partners Radim Kocourek and Miloš Sochor plan to back about 20 companies over four years with checks up to €1M, targeting cybersecurity, space tech, semiconductors, precision instruments and dual-use technologies.
Key Takeaways
Institutionalizing 20 years of ecosystem work into a real fund. JIC has been building Czech startups since 2003 through incubators and accelerators, producing alumni like Kiwi.com, Y Soft and Flowmon. JIC Ventures is the first time that flywheel of deal flow, founder relationships and ecosystem access is being packaged into a dedicated investment vehicle rather than a grant or public program. That's a material change in how LPs can participate in the CEE opportunity.
A €1M first-check ticket solves a real CEE funding gap. Most European pre-seed checks cap out at €250k to €500k. In CEE, where angels are scarce and Series A investors rarely lead before revenue, a €1M institutional first check can be the entire gap between a promising PhD-led team and a fundable Series A. This is exactly where Credo, Kaya, Credo Ventures, and a handful of CEE specialists compete, but the Czech-focused deep tech positioning is distinctive.
Public-private LP structure is a template other regions should copy. Having the South Moravian Region as an anchor alongside commercial LPs like CTP and Česká spořitelna, plus individual founder-LPs from IDEA StatiCa, Sewio and NenoVision, produces a rare alignment: patient public capital that doesn't dominate the cap table, paired with commercial LPs and operator LPs who add deal flow. Expect other CEE regions to study this model closely.
The thesis leans into CEE's engineering DNA, not its consumer brands. Cybersecurity, space, semiconductors, precision instruments and dual-use aren't accidents. They map directly onto Czechia's historical strengths in mechanical engineering, physics and defense research. This is a fund betting that CEE competes globally in hard tech, not in B2C SaaS or consumer internet. Given the NATO spending ramp and Europe's sovereignty push, that bet looks well-timed.
Fund Overview
Fund Name: JIC Ventures
Fund Size: €16.3M target (400M CZK); €13M+ already in first close
Stage: Pre-seed and seed
Check Size: Up to €1M per company
Geography: Central and Eastern Europe, with a Czech anchor
Focus: Deep tech, SaaS, cybersecurity, space technology, semiconductors, precision instruments, dual-use and defense tech
Key LPs: CTP, Česká spořitelna, South Moravian Region, IDEA StatiCa founders' family holding, Sewio founder Milan Šimek, NenoVision founder Jan Neuman, Diocese of Brno, and roughly 40 LPs total
Why This Fund Matters
Central and Eastern Europe has a well-documented structural problem: strong technical talent and deep engineering culture, but a shallow capital base at the earliest stages. Local angel ecosystems are a fraction of the size of those in London, Paris or Berlin, and Western European VCs overwhelmingly wait for Series A commercial traction before crossing the border. The result is that world-class PhD teams coming out of universities in Brno, Prague, Warsaw and Bratislava often stall for 18 months looking for a first institutional check — or worse, relocate.
JIC Ventures is attacking exactly that gap with institutional discipline. A €1M check is enough to hire a real founding team, build a meaningful MVP in capital-intensive categories like semiconductors or space, and still leave runway for the 18-24 months it takes to reach a fundable Series A. The fund's 20-company target over four years implies concentrated conviction rather than spray-and-pray, which is the right posture for deep tech where winners are picked by technical insight, not portfolio math.
The timing is also favorable. Europe's sovereignty and defense agenda has unlocked capital for dual-use technologies that would have been untouchable five years ago. NATO spending, the European Defence Fund, and the European Innovation Council are all pouring non-dilutive capital into the same categories JIC is targeting, which creates real tailwinds for co-investment and grant stacking — a specialty of Czech operators who've navigated EU funding mechanisms for decades.
Finally, this launch is a signal about how CEE is institutionalizing. A fund anchored by a regional public authority, a major bank, a commercial real estate giant, and successful operator-LPs is a more mature capital structure than the typical emerging-manager debut. It's closer to what you'd see from a second- or third-generation European fund than a debut vehicle.
The Team
Radim Kocourek and Miloš Sochor serve as Managing Partners. Both come out of JIC's operating side, which means they've spent years working directly with founders through JIC's incubator and accelerator programs — rather than arriving at venture from banking or consulting. That operator-led profile matters for pre-seed checks, where pattern recognition on technical feasibility and founder coachability is often worth more than financial modeling. The pair draw on JIC's 20+ year track record building Czech startup infrastructure, including early exposure to companies like Kiwi.com, Y Soft and Flowmon that went on to become anchor success stories for the Czech ecosystem.
What This Means for Founders
If you're a CEE-based deep tech founder — particularly in cybersecurity, space, semiconductors, dual-use or advanced manufacturing — JIC Ventures should be one of the first funds on your target list. The €1M ticket is large enough to meaningfully de-risk the company, and the fund's position inside JIC's broader ecosystem means you get access to lab space, university relationships, EU grant expertise and a community of Czech operators who've been through the same journey. For founders who have historically assumed they needed to move to Berlin or London to raise, this is a concrete alternative.
The value-add profile is notably operator-heavy rather than network-heavy. That's a feature for technical founders who need help translating scientific insight into commercial traction, and less useful for founders who need warm intros to San Francisco growth investors. Pick the fund that matches the problem you actually have.
Fund Momentum Take
This is one of the more intellectually honest fund launches we've seen in the region this year. JIC isn't pretending to be a pan-European generalist or a late-stage AI tourist. It's doubling down on the exact categories where Czech engineering talent has historical credibility, and building a capital structure that matches patient deep tech cycles. The €1M first-check positioning is also sharp: large enough to matter, small enough to protect the portfolio math at 20 companies.
The obvious risk is exit environment. Deep tech CEE companies have historically struggled to reach meaningful scale without relocating or selling early to strategic acquirers. A €16.3M fund backing semiconductor and space plays is betting that European capital markets and defense budgets will finally catch up to the upstream talent. That bet could pay off spectacularly — or take a decade longer than expected.
Our bet: JIC Ventures will be one of the three or four most-watched CEE deep tech funds of the 2026 vintage. If Fund I produces even one break-out dual-use or semiconductor win, the Fund II raise will be materially easier. The structural tailwinds — European sovereignty, NATO spend, and the AI infrastructure buildout — are all pointing in the right direction for this strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is JIC Ventures?
JIC Ventures is a new €16.3M venture capital fund launched by Brno-based innovation agency JIC. It targets pre-seed and seed-stage deep tech founders across Central and Eastern Europe, writing checks of up to €1M.
Who are the Managing Partners?
Radim Kocourek and Miloš Sochor, both long-time JIC operators with direct experience building the Czech startup ecosystem over the past two decades.
What stages and sectors does JIC Ventures invest in?
Pre-seed and seed only. Focus sectors include deep tech, SaaS, cybersecurity, space technology, semiconductors, precision instruments, and dual-use or defense technologies.
Who are the major LPs?
Roughly 40 LPs anchor the fund, including industrial real estate giant CTP, Česká spořitelna, the South Moravian Region as a public-sector LP, and a group of successful Czech founders and family offices such as the IDEA StatiCa founders and Sewio founder Milan Šimek.
How does JIC Ventures compare to other CEE funds like Credo or Kaya?
Credo Ventures is larger and pan-CEE generalist; Kaya is earlier-stage and Poland-anchored. JIC Ventures is narrower: smaller in size, Czech-anchored, and explicitly deep tech focused. It's best understood as a first-check specialist for technical founders who don't fit traditional SaaS-centric CEE funds.
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