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 … Read more
Aukro completes its first foreign acquisition
Aukro entered five new markets in 2025 and completed its first ever foreign acquisition. Further details were reported by CzechCrunch.
After several difficult years, Aukro has regained momentum following its takeover by Jan Barta and his partners and has now embarked on its first acquisition drive.
11 December 2025, CzechCrunch, Filip Magalhães
One of the Czech Republic’s largest auction platforms … Read more
Pale Fire Capital invests in French meal-voucher heavyweight
Hospodářské noviny has revealed a new investment by Pale Fire Capital and fresh details on the growth in the value of its portfolio.
Another big bet by Barta and his partners: Pale Fire Capital invests in a French meal-voucher giant
22 December 2025, Hospodářské noviny, Michael Mareš
Discount platform Groupon, online marketplace Aukro, travel start-ups Daytrip and Davinci, cycling … Read more
Pale Fire Capital Supports Czech Universities on Their Journey Toward Global Excellence
At Pale Fire Capital, we believe that Czech capital should aspire to succeed under the toughest conditions on global markets. We are convinced that the same ambition is relevant for Czech science. Sharing knowledge, research methods, and experience with leading international scholars is one of the key ways to strengthen the innovation capacity and competitiveness of the Czech Republic.
This … Read more
Aukro Now Operates in Six European Countries
Aukro, a leading online auction and marketplace platform in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and part of the Pale Fire Capital portfolio, expanded into five new countries this year. As a result, Aukro listings are now available in markets with over 120 million people. The company has made significant progress in its strategy to become a unique international platform connecting … Read more
Pale Fire Capital sells its stake in the growing agency teamIT back to the original founders
Today, teamIT ranks among the most respected recruitment agencies in the Czech Republic specializing in IT professionals. After six years of partnership, the investment group Pale Fire Capital is selling its stake in the company back to its original founders and existing co-owners — Jan Birás, Michal Tomek, and Petr Kropáček.
The teamIT agency connects top experts in information technology … Read more
Pale Fire Capital Becomes Official Partner of the Czech Paralympic Team
Pale Fire Capital has become an official partner of the Czech Paralympic Team. The first joint activity is the establishment of a new Paralympic Day, which will be celebrated for the first time on October 6, 2025.
Its aim is to honor the history of parasport in the Czech Republic, to recall its core values, and to express respect for … Read more
From the first SEO tool to the SaaS empire itrinity
Martin Toma is one of the founders of itrinity, a company that today forms an important part of the Pale Fire Capital portfolio. In an interview for Slovak Forbes, he described the roots of itrinity’s success and the DNA on which it continues to build to this day.
Slovaks Quietly Build Their Software Empire
Forbes.sk, September 1, 2025, Simona Gulisová… Read more
Since the slump, Groupon’s value has risen by more than 800 percent
An article in Hospodářské noviny summarizes Groupon’s journey from “the fastest-growing start-up in history” through crisis to its transition into the hands of Dušan Šenkypl and Pale Fire Capital.
Since the slump, Groupon’s value has risen by more than 800 percent. How did Šenkypl’s team and others manage to achieve this, and why might the stock still soar?
Hospodářské noviny, … Read more
From vision to a market leader in open-source data analytics. Semantic Visions now acquired by Behind Investments
Semantic Visions was part of the Pale Fire Capital portfolio for more than a decade. At the time, large-scale semantic text analysis was still more of an emerging vision than an established business segment. Today, Semantic Visions is one of the leading providers of open-source data analytics, serving banks, investment firms, global manufacturers, media outlets, and multinational corporations, including SAP … Read more