Bratislava-based CloudTalk, which makes AI-powered software for call centres, has raised a €26m Series B (€20m in equity and €6m in debt) co-led by Dutch CVC KPN Ventures and Budapest-based Lead Ventures.
Launched from Silicon Valley, Plug and Play has created the world’s largest corporate innovation platform in a decade and a half. During this period, they nurtured a dozen unicorn companies, among them names such as Paypal payment system or Vudu streaming service. The network of Plug and Play, which extends to several industries, numbers over 30,000 startups, more than 500 leading global corporate partners and 200 venture capital firms, and even includes universities and government agencies. Lead Ventures will be the first Hungarian partner of Plug and Play.
„Without a doubt, the unique and global ecosystem of Plug and Play played the greatest role in agreeing to the cooperation” – explained Ábel Galácz, CEO of Lead Ventures. This background offers great opportunities for the venture capital firm, which manages funds of MOL, MFB Invest and Eximbank.
Since its foundation in 2006, over 2,000 companies participated in Plug and Play’s accelerator programs, raising a total of USD 9 billion venture capital. Annually, they launch more than sixty business accelerator programs, and invested in more than 250 startups in 2019 alone. Nearly 1,000 companies are in their current investment portfolio, among others, Dropbox cloud-based storage, N26 mobile bank, SoundHound voice and speech recognition application, or Zoosk online dating.
„ With Lead Ventures, we are proud to welcome a strategic VC partner with a great reputation, a wealth of experience in the CEE region and a very strong portfolio that will strive in in our eco-system of more than 500 global corporations. With their focus on b2b, mobility, energy and sustainability, Lead Ventures is a great addition to our platform, and we are excited to kick-off this synergetic partnership and expand our footprint in CEE."– stated Benjamin Kloss, director of Plug and Play’s Vienna office. The unique ecosystem, according to Ábel Galácz, is invaluable for companies included in Lead Ventures’ portfolio as well, since it offers new promising connections for fast growing, tech companies.
