Sherpa is built on a simple model: twice a year it selects 3–5 early-stage teams out of hundreds of applicants and offers them not only a €40,000 initial investment but, above all, an intensive six-month program. This combines mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, hands-on workshops, and the opportunity to secure follow-on funding of up to €250,000.
Czech Founders VC has built a network of more than forty Czech and Slovak founders who have invested in the fund, some of whom also act as mentors in Sherpa. Among them are the founders of scaleups such as Mews, Brand Embassy, and CDN77. The program thus provides a valuable combination of capital, know-how, and community.
“Sometimes it only takes a different perspective to see where a startup can move next. But for that to work, mentors must be very close to the founders. At Sherpa we work with teams on a daily basis, and some even even move into the office with us. In those moments we become, with a bit of exaggeration, almost their co-founders,” says Adam Bočev, who leads the Sherpa accelerator at Czech Founders VC.
This year’s cohort: gaming, sensors, and timber
The third cohort of Sherpa, running this year, includes four diverse teams: AdSpawn, which is changing how gaming studios test ads; Owa Smooth from Košice, Slovakia, which focuses on improving the quality of data from industrial sensors; Veriteus from Brno, which develops software capable of detecting fraud in real time from voice or video; and Lignufy, which is digitalizing the decades-old timber trade.
“The startup ecosystem is visibly changing. While we used to see many e-commerce or marketing projects, today the focus is shifting toward deeper technologies. Startups that have gone through Sherpa are tackling industrial applications of AI, energy, timber, or applied mathematics – sectors with tangible impact on the economy. Innovation can be found in any industry, but for us it’s important to support teams that have the ambition and capacity to change entire sectors, not just add another digital marketing tool,” says Václav Pavlečka, co-founder of Czech Founders VC.
From AI to VR in medical care
Sherpa alumni are now raising further rounds and expanding internationally. Among them is Flowlance, developing a business management automation platform. Slovak startup Daitable, building energy-saving AI for industrial companies, has already found clients in Japan and Italy, and even the Slovak presidential palace.
Ostrava-based Edmund AI, which identifies faults in industrial equipment using AI, raised a €500,000 pre-seed round earlier this year. And other alumni, such as Zaitra in spacetech or Filuta AI in generative models, have gained attention from global investors.
VR Vitalis, in turn, uses virtual reality in physiotherapy and in supporting patients’ mental health.
The fourth climb begins
The fourth Sherpa cohort will kick off this autumn, with applications open until September 5. The program traditionally begins with a multi-day offsite, including a demanding mountain climb symbolizing the entrepreneurial journey. After that, teams dive straight into work – from defining their MVP and refining their business model to preparing for customers and investors.
