Venture capital and private equity

Service description
Awards and Media
Team

We have been focusing on private equity and venture capital since 2005. Our dedicated team of approximately 20 lawyers is comprised of transaction specialists, experts in IP rights, technological law and related regulatory matters, and colleagues specialising in corporate law and taxes. We intensely advise investors and prospective start-ups worldwide. We understand modern trends in the world of technologies and we have detailed knowledge of the market, the investment environment and start-up business.

We know how important the business aspects of each transaction are for our clients. Together, we look for practical solutions for your business, whether you are a businessman establishing or intending to invest into a start-up.

New or developed start-up

Once, our company was also an ambitious start-up. Thanks to our own business and managerial skills, we are truly able to efficiently assist our clients and significantly support them in their growth and development in legal and tax terms.

We most often assist clients as founders of start-ups with

  • Recommending the most suitable legal form of business (limited liability company, joint-stock company and other forms of legal entities) or selecting the registered office of the start-up (Czech Republic/Slovakia, elsewhere in the EU or the US)
  • Suitable set-up of internal relationships with employees or other cooperating persons/self-employed persons (programmers, copywriters, developers or inventors), primarily from the perspective of copyright
  • Treatment of IP rights, strategies for their registration, holding, licensing and transfers, including the protection of inventions by patents in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and worldwide
  • Other issues how to make a start-up attractive for investors, e.g., in connection with the technological and legal set-up, digitisation and fulfilment of regulatory requirements for the business concerned (personal data, cyber security, sector regulation of areas such as fintech, B2B and B2C platforms, blockchain and crypto, artificial intelligence and others)
  • Drafting employee virtual or equity option plans, or assisting with alternatives to a regular ESOP
  • Mediation of transactional advisory, e.g., to determine the pre-money value of a start-up, or the mediation of contact information to suitable investors
  • Creation and review of comprehensive investment documentation from term-sheets to shareholders agreements
  • Alternative funding methods, including crowdfunding
  • New stock issuance via IPO, including the Start Stock Exchange or other exit forms

VC fund or an independent investor

We have made investments into a number of venture capital funds and start-ups and we thus know how to walk a mile in investors’ shoes. We are regularly contacted for advice by investors of all categories from angel investors to renowned VC funds.

  • Preparation of due diligence prior to the intended investment into a start-up, including the remedy of discovered risks for investments into the start-up (typically in the areas of intellectual property, including patents, employee relationships, regulation)
  • Drafting of investment documentation, including shareholder agreements for all start-up development stages
  • Protection of investors’ investments into specific start-ups
  • Drafting of less formal documentation in early stages for angel investments and syndicated investments of minor investors
  • Drafting of documentation for convertible or bridge debt financing
  • Establishment and set-up of joint-venture cooperation
  • Tax advisory and structuring

We also address all these topics as part of our active participation in the local start-up scene.

The law firm HAVEL & PARTNERS was instrumental in completing one of the largest and, in terms of its structure, most exceptional deals combining fund structuring and venture capital that took place in the Czech Republic this year. We represented Tomáš Čupr’s Rohlik Group in the formation of a unique investment fund Rohlik Growth SICAV, […]
HAVEL & PARTNERS represented HP Invest as the majority shareholder in a transaction in the consumer electronics retail sector. Thanks to this, DATART, the leading national network of electrical appliance stores, has once again a single owner, namely HP Invest. The seller of the stake was the Luxembourg-based Genesis Private Equity Fund III. The firm’s […]
Slovak law firm HAVEL & PARTNERS advised the Slovak state-owned joint stock company Slovak Investment Holding (SIH). SIH has recently become a major investor in InoBat, a company specialising in the research, development and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. SIH provided InoBat with an equity investment of EUR 12 million, or approximately CZK 303 […]
HAVEL & PARTNERS advised Hungarian venture capital and private equity firm Lead Ventures on its investment, through fund Enter Tomorrow Kockázati Tőkealap, in CloudTalk, a Slovak start-up active in the field of cloud-based solutions for call centres. It was one of the largest venture capital investments in the history of Slovakia. Lead Ventures was one […]
The specialised M&A, banking and finance teams of HAVEL & PARTNERS provided comprehensive legal advice to Turkish company TURK Electronic Para on the acquisition of Czech fintech start-up Twisto Payments. The seller was Australian firm Zip. The financial services provider Twisto has introduced the first Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment system in the Czech […]
HAVEL & PARTNERS represented Česká spořitelna Seed Starter, one of the shareholders in Investown Technologies, in connection with the entry of a new investor into the company, which operates an online crowdfunding application for real estate projects. Comprehensive legal support for Seed Starter throughout the transaction, including negotiation of the contractual documentation, was coordinated by […]
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ dedicated Venture Capital team has been strengthened to include Tomáš Cironis for the position of Investment Principal. In this position, Tomáš is in charge of strategic and business development of this practice area and strengthening relationships with start-up founders. He is responsible for market analysis, investment management, seeking new opportunities, and professional […]
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ team of experts participated as a legal advisor to venture capital funds Atmos Ventures, Lighthouse Ventures, and Tera Ventures in an investment round in which the Czech logistics fintech company 4Trans raised EUR 18 million from investors. In this round, 4Trans also attracted private investors from Silicon Valley, and is thus aiming […]
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ venture capital specialists provided comprehensive legal services to Credo Ventures in its investment in the start-up EquiLibre Technologies. Legal advice was provided by partner Václav Audes and senior associate Tomáš Navrátil, tax aspects were handled by partner Josef Žaloudek, and corporate, contractual and employment law services were provided by senior associate Irena […]
The M&A team of HAVEL & PARTNERS led by Václav Audes (Partner) and Juraj Petro (Senior Associate) assisted the investment fund Lighthouse Ventures in the sale of PEKAT VISION. The buyer was the Italian company Datalogic. The value of the transaction reached CZK 400 million. The sale of the company brought significant appreciation of the […]
The HAVEL & PARTNERS team acted as legal counsel to investors in a Series A investment round in which the Czech travel start-up Daytrip raised new capital totalling EUR 6.14 million. Daytrip is a global platform that offers tourists in 85 countries worldwide private transport with local drivers directly in the places people visit. The […]

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