Why I started the Engaged Investments Club

Seven years ago, we invited a few Czech angel investors to a small meeting. Last week, hundreds of angels, VCs, family offices and founders filled the National House in Prague. What I saw in those halls convinced me of one thing: the biggest value we create is not the conference. It's the people.

Europe has great founders and more experienced investors every year. But we still invest country by country, each of us with our own small slice of deal flow. A strong defence team in Kyiv or a space startup in Toulouse often never reaches the investor who would back it in Prague, Warsaw or Munich. Meanwhile, most of the capital going into European resilience still comes from the US. We are leaving our best opportunities to others.

I started this club to help all of us, and the whole ecosystem, work better together. I'm a big believer in the invisible hand of the market. When investors help each other, good companies get funded, the ecosystem grows, and sooner or later that comes back to everyone, me included. That's my honest motivation.

It's simple. Every member has a profile showing what they invest in: sectors, stages, ticket size and what's not a fit. Anyone can share a deal they find interesting. You see who else is looking at it, and you talk to the founder or to each other directly. There are no fees, no syndicates, no middlemen. Everything here is public information.

A word on trust

After many years of organising Engaged, I hope I've earned some of your trust. So let me be clear: I'm not doing this for DEPO. DEPO will not misuse anything shared here. It is a member like everyone else, with no early access and no special treatment.

At the start, I will be the admin. That means I can see what members share, and my job is to make sure nobody misuses it. As the club grows, we will hire an independent admin to take over that role. Trust is everything in a club like this, and I want it built into how we run it, not just promised.

What makes it work is giving back. Share good deals and you'll see good deals. Tell others honestly why you passed, and you'll save someone weeks.

Let's invest together, as Europeans.