REPORT / Q3 2026 UPDATE / DATA TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Slovakia startup funding report
Slovak startups raised €55m in 11 rounds in the first nine months of 2026, against €72m in 18 rounds a year earlier.
Funding data for Slovak startups is scattered. Rounds are announced by companies, funds, angel networks and the press, often months after they close, and no single database has them all or has them right.
This report builds one record from all of them. We cross check startup databases against company, investor and press announcements, take out grants and loans that are reported as rounds, and add the rounds that were never fully recorded.
It covers venture rounds and exits of startups headquartered in Slovakia, and of startups that started here and moved their headquarters abroad. It uses the same record and rules as our CEE startup funding report, so Slovakia can be set against the other nine countries.
We add a quarter every three months. If you are raising in Slovakia, it shows how many rounds close, at what size, and who writes the first cheques.
Highlights
€55m in the first nine months, down 24% on a year earlier (€72m). The largest round is GA Drilling's €40m growth round, 73% of the total.
9 seed and later rounds this year, against 13 a year earlier, and 11 rounds in all against 18. Pre-seed is where the record of recent rounds is least complete, and its count will rise as late rounds surface.
No venture-backed exits by September, against 0 in the same months of 2025.
01 / THE MARKET
The market
Capital down 24% on the same months of 2025. Rounds: 11 against 18.
SHOW DATA
| Row | Pre-seed | Seed | Series A | Growth | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.3 | 13 | 9.4 | 171 | 196 |
| 2025 | 1.5 | 14 | 16 | 80 | 112 |
| 9M 2026 | 1.3 | 8.2 | 5.5 | 40 | 55 |
Slovakia raised €195m in 2024 and €112m in 2025. The largest 2025 round, Greenway Infrastructure's €50m, was 45% of that year. 2026 has €55m so far.
9M 2026 covers January to September 2026. The dashed line marks the same months of 2025.
SHOW DATA
| Row | Pre-seed | Seed | Series A | Growth | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 26 |
| 2025 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 22 |
| 9M 2026 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
26 rounds in 2024, 22 in 2025 and 11 so far in 2026. Some rounds are recorded months late, so the latest quarters will rise.
| Row | 9M 2025 | 9M 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | €72m | €55m | ▼ -24% |
| Rounds | 18 | 11 | ▼ -39% |
| Pre-seed rounds | 5 | 2 | ▼ -60% |
| Seed rounds | 11 | 7 | ▼ -36% |
| Series A rounds | 1 | 1 | flat |
| Growth rounds | 1 | 1 | flat |
Quarter by quarter, capital swings with the timing of large rounds. The count of rounds is the steadier signal.
The latest quarter is still filling in and will rise.
02 / SLOVAKIA IN THE REGION
Slovakia in the region
Slovakia raised €21 per person in 2025, 6th of the ten countries.
The same record and rules for all ten countries, so the comparison is like for like. Capital per person divides each country's capital by its population.
| Country | €m 9M 2026 | Change | Rounds 9M 2026 | Change | € per person 2025 | € per person 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 133 | ▼ -48% | 39 | ▼ -49% | 258 | 97 |
| Lithuania | 182 | ▲ +3% | 28 | ▼ -42% | 75 | 63 |
| Czechia | 513 | ▲ +101% | 47 | ▼ -15% | 28 | 47 |
| Bulgaria | 199 | ▲ +91% | 22 | ▼ -4% | 32 | 31 |
| Hungary | 122 | ▲ +3% | 22 | ▼ -35% | 13 | 13 |
| Slovakia | 55 | ▼ -24% | 11 | ▼ -39% | 21 | 10 |
| Ukraine | 282 | ▲ +336% | 50 | ▼ -29% | 2 | 7 |
| Poland | 226 | ▼ -10% | 67 | ▼ -27% | 10 | 6 |
| Latvia | 12 | ▼ -84% | 4 | ▼ -73% | 43 | 6 |
| Romania | 105 | ▲ +14% | 30 | ▼ -6% | 9 | 6 |
Population on 1 January 2025.
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | 195 | 112 | 55 |
| Czechia | 386 | 303 | 513 |
| Poland | 263 | 367 | 226 |
| Hungary | 59 | 122 | 122 |
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | 26 | 22 | 11 |
| Czechia | 87 | 74 | 47 |
| Poland | 133 | 129 | 67 |
| Hungary | 48 | 45 | 22 |
In 2025, Slovakia closed 22 rounds, against 74 in Czechia, 129 in Poland and 45 in Hungary.
03 / STAGES AND ROUND SIZES
Stages and round sizes
The typical seed round in 2025 was €1.1m.
Rounds by company stage. Where one round can move a stage's total, the count and the typical round tell more than the capital.
| Row | Rounds 2024 | €m 2024 | Rounds 2025 | €m 2025 | Rounds 9M 2026 | €m 9M 2026 | Median 2024 | Median 2025 | Median 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | 7 | €2.3m | 5 | €1.5m | 2 | €1.3m | €0.3m | €0.4m | - |
| Seed | 9 | €13m | 13 | €14m | 7 | €8.2m | €1.6m | €1.1m | €1.2m |
| Series A | 4 | €9.4m | 2 | €16m | 1 | €5.5m | €1.7m | - | - |
| Growth | 6 | €171m | 2 | €80m | 1 | €40m | €20m | - | - |
Median shown where at least three rounds of the stage disclosed an amount.
Pre-seed
Seven rounds in 2024, 5 in 2025 and 2 so far in 2026. The typical pre-seed round in 2025 was €0.4m.
Seed
Nine rounds in 2024, 13 in 2025 and 7 so far in 2026. The typical seed round in 2025 was €1.1m.
Series A
Four rounds in 2024, 2 in 2025 and 1 so far in 2026.
Growth
Six rounds in 2024, 2 in 2025 and 1 so far in 2026.
04 / SECTORS
Sectors
Energy and climate raised the most this year: €41m in two rounds.
By number of rounds since 2024, the largest sectors are AI (17), enterprise software (13) and marketing and media (12). A company can sit in several sectors, so sector totals overlap.
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy and climate | 146 | 51 | 41 |
| Hardware and robotics | 146 | 2.0 | 40 |
| Enterprise software | 31 | 5.5 | 10 |
| AI | 1.8 | 13 | 5.7 |
| Marketing and media | 27 | 1.4 | 4.1 |
| Fintech | 1.0 | 8.4 | 2.0 |
| Education | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Health and bio | 9.2 | 8.8 | 0.0 |
Ranked by 9M 2026 capital. Sectors overlap.
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy and climate | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Hardware and robotics | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Enterprise software | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| AI | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Marketing and media | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Fintech | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Education | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Health and bio | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Same sectors, counted by number of rounds.
05 / LARGEST ROUNDS
Largest rounds
The largest round this year: GA Drilling, €40m.
| Company | Stage | Amount | Month | Lead or first investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GA Drilling | Growth | €40m | Mar 2026 | TomEnterprise AB |
| Sloneek | Series A | €5.5m | Jun 2026 | Slovakia Venture to Future Fund |
| Definic | Seed | €2.5m | Jun 2026 | J&T Ventures |
| Veslo | Seed | €2.0m | Jul 2026 | Slovak Investment Holding |
| VisionFlow | Seed | €1.4m | Sep 2026 | Slovak Investment Holding |
| DAITABLE | Seed | €1.0m | Jul 2026 | Undisclosed |
| Readmio | Seed | €1.0m | Feb 2026 | Simpact Ventures |
| TrollWall | Pre-seed | €0.8m | Apr 2026 | Seed Starter SK |
| AdSpawn | Pre-seed | €0.5m | Apr 2026 | Rockaway Ventures |
| Deal machine (CloseRocket) | Seed | €0.3m | Apr 2026 | Slovak Investment Holding |
Rounds with a disclosed amount.
| Company | Stage | Amount | Month | Lead or first investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenway Infrastructure | Growth | €50m | Mar 2025 | Mirova |
| GymBeam | Growth | €30m | Nov 2025 | PortfoLion Capital Partners |
| Finax | Series A | €8.4m | Dec 2025 | Undisclosed |
| Hilbi | Series A | €8.0m | Apr 2025 | Ishtar Advisory Limited |
| PERRY SOFT (Simplicity) | Seed | €3.0m | Sep 2025 | Slovak Investment Holding |
| Vestberry | Seed | €2.2m | Mar 2025 | Slovakia Venture to Future Fund |
| Cequence.io | Seed | €2.0m | Jun 2025 | Jet Investments |
| CulturePulse | Seed | €1.4m | Feb 2025 | Rockaway Ventures |
| AgeVolt | Seed | €1.3m | Feb 2025 | Slovak Business Agency |
| Boataround | Seed | €1.0m | Nov 2025 | Miton |
06 / STARTED IN SLOVAKIA, BASED ELSEWHERE
Started in Slovakia, based elsewhere
Five rounds since 2024 by companies that started in Slovakia and are based elsewhere. They count in the totals.
Companies that started in Slovakia, or keep their main team here, but are headquartered elsewhere. They count in the totals, under Slovakia. Companies that Slovak founders built abroad, with no base here, are not included.
| Company | Based in | Amount | Month | In totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sloneek | United Kingdom | €5.5m | Jun 2026 | Yes |
| Sloneek | United Kingdom | €3.6m | Sep 2024 | Yes |
| SurgLogs | United States | €2.3m | Oct 2024 | Yes |
| Hypherdata | Netherlands | €0.9m | Aug 2024 | Yes |
| SurgLogs | United States | Undisclosed | Nov 2024 | Yes |
07 / INVESTORS
Investors
Slovak Investment Holding joined the most pre-seed and seed rounds since January 2025: 10.
Most active at pre-seed and seed since January 2025: Slovak Investment Holding (10 rounds), Czech Founders VC (4 rounds) and Simpact Ventures (3 rounds). Investors are ranked by the rounds they joined, led or followed, over 2025 and 2026 together.
| Investor | Based in | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovak Investment Holding | Slovakia | 10 | 4 |
| Czech Founders VC | Czechia | 4 | 3 |
| Simpact Ventures | n/a | 3 | 2 |
| Seed Starter | Czechia | 3 | 0 |
| Rockaway Ventures | Czechia | 2 | 1 |
| Seed Starter SK | Slovakia | 2 | 1 |
| undisclosed private investor | n/a | 2 | 0 |
| Baryon Fund | Luxembourg | 1 | 1 |
| Gluon Syndicate | Slovakia | 1 | 1 |
| Innovatrics | Slovakia | 1 | 1 |
| Investor | Based in | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ishtar Advisory Limited | United Kingdom | 1 | 1 |
| Mirova | France | 1 | 1 |
| PortfoLion Capital Partners | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| TomEnterprise AB | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| EBRD | n/a | 1 | 0 |
| Nabors Industries | Bermuda | 1 | 0 |
| Orbit Capital | n/a | 1 | 0 |
| Slovakia Venture to Future Fund | Slovakia | 1 | 0 |
| Underground Ventures | Denmark | 1 | 0 |
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All rounds | 50% | 17% | 43% |
Rounds with a fund from outside CEE: 50% in 2024, 17% in 2025 and 43% in 2026 so far, of rounds where investor headquarters are known.
Share of rounds where investor headquarters are known: 16 in 2024, 12 in 2025, 7 in 9M 2026.
08 / EXITS
Exits
The most recent: Photoneo, bought by Zebra Technologies, December 2024.
One venture-backed exit since 2024: 1 in 2024, 0 in 2025 and 0 in 2026 so far. Deal values are rarely disclosed, so we count exits instead of summing them.
| Company | Month | Type | Buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photoneo | Dec 2024 | Acquisition | Zebra Technologies |
09 / METHODOLOGY
Methodology
What the report covers
Period: January 2024 to September 2026. Past years are shown in full. The current year runs to the end of the last complete quarter.
Companies: startups headquartered in Slovakia, and startups that began in Slovakia or keep their main team here and later moved their headquarters abroad. Every kind of startup is included: software and hardware, business and consumer.
Events: venture funding rounds, and exits (acquisitions, buyouts and stock market listings).
Sources: public sources only, namely startup databases, company, investor and angel network announcements, and the press.
Every round and exit named in the report links to its announcement. Totals, changes and charts are built from all rounds and are not linked.
This edition covers 59 venture rounds (49 with a disclosed amount) at 50 companies, and 1 exits. Next update: January 2027, adding Q4 2026.
Stages
Stages are the label the company announced or the source assigned. Where a label clearly does not fit the size of the round, such as a very large round called seed, the round is placed by its size. Where there is no label, round type and size decide.
How it is counted
- Funding rounds are equity and convertible venture rounds, including angel network rounds. Grants, loans, state support programmes, crowdlending, secondary sales and investments after a listing are not counted.
- Amounts are in euros, converted at about 1.10 US dollars to the euro. Rounds without a disclosed amount count toward the number of rounds but not toward capital.
- Companies that are not startups are left out even when they raise venture money, such as established manufacturers, service firms and lenders.
- Rounds and exits are cross-referenced against company, investor and press announcements where possible.
Limits
- Public data does not capture every round, so counts are a floor. Small angel rounds are the most likely to be missing.
- Some rounds are recorded months after they happen. Each update adds them to the month they happened in, so recent quarters, the latest above all, will rise.
- Slovakia's record includes our own search of local press, investor portfolios and companies based abroad (October 2026), which added rounds the startup databases had missed.
- Where a country raises a few dozen rounds a year, one round can move a total by more than half. Read changes in capital with the largest round in mind.
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: BADIDEAS.FUND.
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