As a small boy, Filip Lukáč spent his free time playing computer games – until his parents were afraid that he would become nothing. Thanks to this, he was already able to program at the age of 15. And four years later, he started his own IT company Hardsun in his native Košice, reminds Slovakian Forbes.
Hardsun gradually managed to acquire more and more customers, including clients from France or the Caribbean island of Martinique. During his engagement on the iDovolenka project, he met Milan Rataj and Václav Martin and found out that their work would have to be buried and completely redone. “From a simple vacation management application, we started to build a comprehensive solution for HR,” recalls Lukáč.
I’m looking for people hungry for success. The West has resigned, we invest mainly in the East, says Vojta Roček
A well-known investor from Presto Ventures is trying to make sure that people don’t take working in a startup just like a classic job. “They should see it as an investment not only in their life, but also in a company that will pay them back in a big way one day,” he says in an interview.
A well-known investor from Presto Ventures is trying to make sure that people don’t take working in a startup just like a classic job. “They should see it as an investment not only in their life, but also in a company that will pay them back in a big way one day,” he says in an interview.
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Filip Magalhães
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May 22, 2024 / 6:05 am
Thus, a new startup Sloneek was born, whose goal is to turn boring HR processes into fun ones. It allows managers and HR professionals of small and large companies to see their teams in data, support and develop talent, and manage employee effectiveness and motivation. It thus enables “HRists” to replace bureaucracy with working with people thanks to the involvement of artificial intelligence.
In 2020, Sloneek received 350,000 euros (almost 8.8 million crowns) from Slovak investor Vision Ventures for its development. Two years later, Vision Ventures and the Prague venture capital firm Presto Ventures sent him one million euros (25 million crowns). Now he can count on another 3.6 million euros, i.e. more than 90 million crowns.
Purple Ventures II, Venture to Future Fund and Vision Ventures became the main investors of the current late-seed round. The new financing comes at a time when Sloneek is said to be growing at a more than threefold rate, this year’s turnover is expected to be in the higher units of millions of euros, it has doubled the number of clients and is already acquiring most of the new ones outside the Czech Republic.
“The investment comes at the right time. Not only European companies are preparing for a new stage – more than half of the productive employees are already millennials and Generation Z, opening up opportunities for more efficient work, but at the same time increasing risks if companies do not manage the change. Without exaggeration, people are the alpha and omega of the success of any economy, and we have the opportunity to take work with them to a completely new level,” says Lukáč.
The investment will also serve for further technological development. Next year, Sloneek wants to introduce an advanced platform for detailed analysis of human potential through so-called “people analytics”, i.e. behavioral and intelligence tests.
Today, Sloneek already operates in dozens of foreign markets, and its clients include, for example, Volvo, Lindt, Carvago or Košík. The next stop should now be Italy.
“It is a very interesting market for us. On the one hand, local companies have been dealing with a long-term lack of talented people, which the government is trying to attract back to the homeland with incentives, on the other hand, there is a lively startup scene where the value-added economy is being developed,” adds Lukáč.
My first investments failed. That’s why the Venture Club was created, says a doctor who sold garage doors
“I fell terribly in love with a lady who didn’t have good ideas on how to invest. That’s why I lost all my money. It was an expensive life lesson for me. In any case, I told myself that I will never invest again without knowing what is happening with my money,” says investor Petr Šedivý in an interview.
“I fell terribly in love with a lady who didn’t have good ideas on how to invest. That’s why I lost all my money. It was an expensive life lesson for me. In any case, I told myself that I will never invest again without knowing what is happening with my money,” says investor Petr Šedivý in an interview.
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Filip Magalhães
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August 27, 2024 / 7:35 am
According to Martin Banský from Venture to Future Fund, Sloneek will be able to succeed even with new customers on the international market. “From our experienced point of view, it has an interesting and long future ahead of it,” he says. “During close cooperation during the investment, we experienced first-hand what competent management, a sophisticated business plan and a clear strategy for entering new markets look like. You just don’t see that in startups at this stage.”
Přemysl Rubeš, founder of Presto Ventures, then points to the rapid growth of the startup in recent years. “In addition, more and more companies are jumping into hybrid mode, which brings with it challenges in the field of onboarding, daily functioning and long-term employee engagement. Modern companies already perceive Sloneek as an essential part of the SaaS suite (software as a service – note ed.) tools for their management.”
“Sloneek allows HR professionals to develop people in companies and leave administration to technology thanks to the involvement of AI tools,” adds Purple Ventures partner Jan Davídek. According to Sloneek, however, the goal is not to replace human resources staff with artificial intelligence, but to get rid of repetitive and often unskilled work that is prone to human error.
