Safetica founder Jakub Mahdal, who previously left active management of the company, also invested again. Mahdal is the second largest shareholder with just under 25 percent.
The new funds are intended to strengthen the company’s customer support and sales and marketing team in the United States and Canada, which develops software for protecting corporate data from loss.
The Brno-based company has been helping its expansion in the US since the beginning of last year with new CEO Mirek Křen. He previously held the same position at the Czech software company Kerio Technologies, which was acquired by the American company GFI Software in 2017. According to e15, the transaction was worth tens of millions of dollars.
Safetica has moved its headquarters and entity to the US with a new investment. The engineering base will remain in the Czech Republic. “This is due to simpler administration around things like the employee stock option program (ESOP), greater transparency for global medium and large customers, and also to increase attractiveness for foreign investors,” Křen described.
Domestic startups have long been warning the government and politicians that rules need to be set for areas like ESOP, because the Czech Republic is not attractive for establishing local entities and startups prefer to choose a headquarters elsewhere, especially in the US. Recently, a new startup association led by former Pirate MP Martin Jiránek began lobbying for such changes.
According to official data, Safetica increased its turnover by 25 percent year-on-year last year to around 400 million crowns. Customers include Doosan, DPD and McDonald’s. Competitors of Czech software include tools from companies such as Symantec, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks and Cisco.
