Until recently, it was a symbol of modern domestic energy and a success story for the Czech startup scene. Now, Woltair, a company that supplied heat pumps and photovoltaics, has announced that it will file for insolvency.
“Due to the current financial situation of the company and in accordance with its legal obligations, Woltair and its subsidiary W‑House CZ will submit an insolvency petition to the Municipal Court in Prague, requesting a declaration of bankruptcy,” the company stated in its communication to shareholders.
Woltair was widely regarded as one of the most prominent Czech startups in recent years. Founded in 2018 under the name Topíte.cz, it championed the digitalization of the entire ordering process for heat pumps. Its founders—Karel Náprstek, Jiří Švéda, and Daniel Helcl—grew the company into an enterprise operating in Germany, Poland, and Italy, earning it a spot among the fastest-growing European companies in the Financial Times rankings.
However, the company encountered the reality of a cooling market. After the energy crisis in 2022, when demand for alternative heating sources skyrocketed, energy prices stabilized – and with it a sharp decline in interest. According to the Association for the Use of Heat Pumps and EY, around twenty thousand pumps were sold in the Czech Republic last year, which is only a third compared to the crisis year of 2022.
Woltair has been trying to save itself in recent months. In April, it applied for a three-month moratorium, during which it withdrew from unprofitable foreign markets, among other things. “We were given the opportunity to transfer open orders to FleetCom, which operates the Boiler House, in order to fulfill our obligations to our customers. We also left the Polish and German markets… we continued to reduce operating costs to an extreme extent,” explained CEO Karina Přibylová. But even these measures were not enough.
At the time of the moratorium application, the company had 24.2 million CZK in its accounts, while its payable liabilities amounted to 25 million crowns. According to data for 2023, it earned more than 1.1 billion CZK, but at the same time it reported a loss of over 374 million. In the most successful period, it employed around 300 people, today there are around fifty of them left and even fewer after the layoffs.
Strong players invested in Woltair. Already in 2022, the Inven Capital fund (part of ČEZ) and Petr Šmída’s Enern group each held 23 percent of the shares. Last December, the company closed an investment round worth a few hundred million CZK with the participation of Fifth Wall, ArcTern Ventures, Westly Group and again Inven Capital, which, increased its commitment by 88.7 million CZK. At the end of last year, Inven valued its stake at 137 million CZK.
