The 26th edition of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards has unveiled the winners of the first two regional rounds, announced in late January. A panel of judges, composed largely of past laureates, selected Dušan Šenkypl, a partner at Pale Fire Capital, as Entrepreneur of the Year in Prague. The award for the Central Bohemian Region went to Michal Urbánek of CIUR.
“Ten years ago, we said we wanted to give Czech capital more confidence that it can, and should, succeed internationally,” Šenkypl said, describing Pale Fire Capital’s mission. “We wanted to help our founders expand into new markets and to build global companies with Czech teams,companies that are sustainable over the long term and beneficial. The first decade is a good milestone to look back at what we’ve achieved.”
Šenkypl added that he valued the recognition and saw it as a shared success. “I appreciate the award greatly and I’m genuinely delighted. I see it as a collective one — belonging not only to me
personally, but to the whole team, our partners and employees, who have delivered an enormous amount of outstanding work alongside us.”
One of the criteria assessed by the judges is the relationship to sustainability and responsibility. EY said Pale Fire Capital emphasises long-term relevance, positive impact and sustainable operations in its business and investment decisions, with philanthropy and support for education and disadvantaged regions forming a natural part of its approach. The group’s activities, EY added, have long been directed towards improving quality of life in the Czech Republic.
“We are huge patriots, we try to give as much as possible back to the Czech Republic,” Šenkypl said. “We focus on big, systemic areas that may not be especially attractive and are not so visible, but can help our whole society to be more satisfied and stronger over the long term.”
Martina Kneiflová, EY’s managing partner in the Czech Republic, said this year’s winners in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region represented “two faces of Czech entrepreneurship”. While Šenkypl is “conquering the world” through digital technologies and top-tier investment management, she said, Urbánek embodies the strength of family tradition and the circular economy — turning waste paper into a product of global significance. “Both prove that, even in the Czech Republic, we have companies with global reach and, at the same time, a broader societal impact,” she added.