Jakub Havrlant

Founder & CEO Rockaway Capital

Last Reviewed: September 18, 2026

Executive Summary

Jakub Havrlant is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rockaway Capital, a Czech investment group he established in 2013 that builds, invests in and acquires internet and digital economy companies across e-commerce, media, blockchain and venture capital. He is an operator turned investor rather than a financier: he founded his first company, the property portal w.cz, while still a student at the University of Economics in Prague, built and sold Bezrealitky.cz to Naspers in 2010 at the age of twenty-six, and served as CEO of MallGroup, one of Central Europe’s largest e-commerce businesses. He was named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 for the Czech Republic.

Career Highlights

• Founded Rockaway Capital in 2013 and leads it as CEO.
• Named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 for the Czech Republic.
• Founded Bezrealitky.cz and sold it to Naspers in 2010 at twenty-six.
• Founded the property portal w.cz as a university student, among the first Czech companies to attract local venture investment.
• Served as Chief Executive Officer of MallGroup.
• Launched the Rockaway Ventures Fund, targeting startups with social and environmental impact.

Professional Journey

Havrlant was drawn to business early and founded his first company while studying at the University of Economics in Prague: w.cz, an online real estate portal that became one of the first Czech internet companies to receive local venture investment, at a point when the Czech venture market barely existed. He followed it with Bezrealitky.cz, a property listings business built on disintermediating estate agents, and sold it to Naspers — the South African group that became one of the world’s most successful internet investors — in 2010, when he was twenty-six.

He subsequently served as Chief Executive Officer of MallGroup, among the largest e-commerce operations in Central Europe, giving him operating experience at a scale well beyond his own founded companies.

In 2013 he established Rockaway Capital. Its model is deliberately not conventional venture capital: rather than taking minority positions and waiting, Rockaway builds, acquires, and operates internet businesses, taking control positions and running them. That approach suits the Central and Eastern European market, where the depth of later-stage capital and the number of natural acquirers are both thinner than in the United States, and where a group willing to operate as well as invest can take positions others cannot.

The group’s portfolio spans e-commerce, e-travel, media, and blockchain, and includes businesses that are leading players in their respective markets. Havrlant has since launched the Rockaway Ventures Fund, targeting startups with social and environmental impact alongside the group’s core digital economy holdings. In 2023 he was named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year for the Czech Republic.

Education

University of Economics, Prague

Degree