Investor Profile: Rockaway Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Rockaway Ventures funding comes from one of Central Europe's most established venture investors, a Prague firm backing technology that modernises traditional industries. This profile explains how to get funding from Rockaway Ventures, what its second fund targets, and why its ESG stance and media network matter to founders raising in the region.

Thesis and investment focus

Rockaway Ventures is the venture capital arm of Rockaway Capital and focuses on early-stage startups driving innovation and disrupting traditional industries, with a core emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe and the German-speaking DACH countries, while considering opportunities worldwide. It also supports founders from the Czech and regional diaspora building companies in Western Europe and the United States. It was among the first funds in the region to assess investments on environmental, social and governance criteria as well as future revenues.

Sectors, stages and cheque size

Rockaway Ventures targets late-seed and Series A technology startups. Its stated interests include retail and e-commerce, digital logistics, digital media, cybersecurity and data management, cleantech, defence, and travel and hospitality, with artificial intelligence cutting across many of them. A specific initial cheque size is not publicly disclosed on the firm's founders page, so founders should treat the ticket as a matter to discuss directly rather than assume a standard range. The emphasis is on transformative technology that modernises sectors slow to change.

Fund size and track record

Rockaway Ventures closed its second fund, Rockaway Ventures II, in May 2025 at nearly €55 million, to support early-stage startups in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Its first fund backed companies including Productboard, Brand Embassy, Gjirafa and Storyous, with Storyous exiting in 2021 and Techloop and Bezrealitky also among its exits. The firm benefits from the wider Rockaway group's private equity and operating experience across the region.

Notable portfolio

German cloud hotel platform Apaleo serves accommodation providers across multiple countries, while CulturePulse uses AI to simulate and predict human behaviour for media, policy and crisis communication. Filuta AI builds composite AI agents for game testing and other complex environments, Cruxo optimises retail media for e-commerce, and Valpas brings IoT bedbug prevention to hotels. Travel names include Raus, Campiri and FreewayCamper, while Productboard and Gjirafa, the Albanian e-commerce and media platform, anchor its earlier portfolio.

Partners and programmes

The Rockaway Ventures Fund was launched under general partners Andrea Lauren and Dušan Zábrodský, and Petr Šmíd spoke for the firm at the close of its second fund. Rockaway also draws on StartupYard, the Prague seed accelerator whose startups have raised more than €35.8 million, as a source of leads and contacts. Beyond capital, the firm offers a network of industry experts from its private equity portfolio and help marketing a startup through its media exposure. It runs no separate named accelerator of its own.

How to apply for funding from Rockaway Ventures

Founders can approach Rockaway Ventures through its founders page. A strong pitch shows how technology transforms an established industry, why the team can win across CEE and DACH markets or from a diaspora base, and how the company addresses sustainability alongside growth — the firm's ESG lens is a genuine part of its assessment, not a footnote. Consumer and travel founders should spell out how they would use the firm's media and industry network, since that distribution help is part of what the cheque buys.