Ambit represented Lafluence in negotiating a CZK 20 million venture capital investment from Venture Club.
Czech startup Lafluence Platform s.r.o., founded by Peter Varga, planned to use the investment to strengthen its technical and sales teams, develop its platform and expand internationally. The financing from angel investor group Venture Club was announced in May 2020. Ambit had previously represented Lafluence in several earlier investments.
Investment in tranches
CZK 20 million was the announced amount of financing. According to CzechCrunch’s report at the time, the company received an initial tranche of CZK 8 million in May 2020. In its own announcement, Venture Club also described the total investment as up to CZK 20 million.
Venture Club was not Lafluence’s first investor. Earlier investors included Josef Matějka through the Nextech Ventures fund, startup studio TopMonks, and Petr Sadílek, Luděk Motyčka and Jiří Fabián.
How the platform connected brands and influencers
Lafluence operated as an online marketplace connecting brands and agencies with content creators. Advertisers posted campaign briefs, and influencers selected opportunities that interested them and for which they met the requirements. The platform supported finding suitable creators, managing collaborations and evaluating results.
Its offering also included a paid tool for finding influencers by follower count, audience composition or content category.
At the time of the investment announcement, the platform had more than 1,700 registered influencers and 1,200 companies. In its first three years, 900 campaigns ran through the platform.
Team expansion, product development and international plans
The investment was intended to support the expansion of the technical and sales teams. In a June 2020 interview with MediaGuru, Varga also discussed product development alongside team expansion. The company planned to use the funds for further work on the platform and its international expansion.
Lafluence was then operating in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was considering neighboring countries, particularly Poland, for its first phase of expansion. Varga also described work on a product that companies could use without Lafluence having to cover the full range of brands and influencers in that market.
In May, the company expected to enter one of the neighboring markets in winter 2020.
Subsequent acquisition of WeDigital
In 2023, Lafluence acquired the agency WeDigital from Andrea Hurychová. According to Médiář, it acquired a 100% stake in We Are Mobile, the company that operated the agency; the agreement was signed on October 13, 2023. Martin Kyncl was to take over management of both agencies, while Peter Varga continued to lead the entire group, including its technology division.
