Jan Černý has become the new Managing Partner of Pale Fire Capital. He takes on the task of building and developing the group’s private equity portfolio at a moment when one of the greatest investment opportunities in recent years is opening up for PFC — at the intersection of technology, AI, and traditional industries. The group is preparing to accelerate investments into prominent European companies with the goal of building firms with global ambition and reach. Over a five-year horizon, it plans to invest up to CZK 10 billion.

“We have always wanted to build world-class companies. Today we know how to do it — we have the capital and infrastructure to operate at greater scale and even faster. At the same time, we see that artificial intelligence is transforming the logic of entire industries and opening space for a new generation of investors who can connect technological know-how with capital and a real ability to develop businesses. That is where we are strongest. Without an exceptionally capable partner, however, we could never fully pursue this mission,” says Pale Fire Capital partner Dušan Šenkypl, adding: “Jan Černý is the right investment personality with whom we will be able to work at Pale Fire Capital in our second decade even faster and across a much broader scope. We are all looking forward to it. A platform is emerging that opens a new phase of growth for us.”

Within its private equity arm, Pale Fire Capital will focus on investments in companies with a strong market position, whose further growth will be significantly shaped by a combination of technology, artificial intelligence, operational improvement, and international expansion. “A key investment theme will also be generational transitions and succession solutions in companies, where we will offer long-term support to owners seeking a responsible partner for the continued development of their life’s work,” says Jan Černý, who today ranks among the leading investment figures in the Czech Republic. He joins Pale Fire Capital with extensive management experience and deep knowledge of traditional industrial segments, having focused throughout his career primarily on companies with an emphasis on research and development, international expansion, export, and long-term value creation.

With Jan Černý’s arrival, Pale Fire Capital is also strategically broadening its investment scope. “We no longer want to look exclusively at purely digital companies. We are instead interested in the intersection of technology and traditional industries, where exceptionally compelling investment opportunities are emerging today, as well as segments of industry and services that are proving resilient to current technological uncertainty. Going forward, we want to build a portfolio around several strong platforms that can be scaled over the long term,” says PFC partner Jan Barta. “While we are broadening our scope, we remain active hands-on investors who take strategic stakes in companies, help them grow, and enable them to transition into a new era and discover new regions,” adds David Holý.

Alongside Jan Barta, Dušan Šenkypl, David Holý, and Jan Černý, Petr Krajíček and Jiří Ponrt also remain partners of the group.

“With the partners of Pale Fire Capital, I share a similar vision of what a modern investor should look like: long-term, active, and grounded in values. That convinced me that our joint private equity venture is the right path. We do not want to build returns on financial engineering or short-term optimization. We want to build strong European companies with the ambition to become leaders in their fields — companies that will be significantly stronger in ten or twenty years than they are today and that will not leave scorched earth behind them in their dynamic growth. Precisely this combination of entrepreneurial experience, technological know-how, and long-term capital is unique in today’s European market and creates an exceptionally powerful investment platform,” says Jan Černý.

In connection with the development of the private equity segment, Pale Fire Capital plans to strengthen its investment team in the coming months. “Without exceptional people, there are no exceptional results. We plan to expand our team with ambitious investment professionals who have a real drive to win, a hunger to learn quickly, and the courage to build large international projects from the Czech Republic. Such an opportunity to get involved in PFC’s activities is opening up for the very first time,” adds Jan Černý.