CEO Ondřej Dvořák on why Czech firms are ready to expand to North American markets
Czech firms have increasingly been looking across the ocean at opportunities to expand to North American markets, specifically in fields such as IT. But what specific skills can Czech born businesses offer these already competitive marketplaces, and why is now a good time for expansion? I put those questions to CEO of COPS Solutions, Ondřej Dvořák.
“COPS is an international IT group, and we are mainly operating around Europe. I would say that on one hand we are an IT service provider to corporations, but we are also acting as a venture studio. We help start-ups upscale, and this coincides well with the plans we have to expand to the US and other markets.”
I want to talk about expansion for Czech firms to North American markets. Why is it an exciting time for Czech firms looking to expand to North America right now?
“I think there are two reasons. Firstly, Czechia has long been an important point for American tech giants like Microsoft. Firms like this have been employing talented IT professionals for years in Czechia. Many Czech graduates have also left the country to go and work in America. We are reaching a point where many of these skilled individuals have great experience with the American market and have started their own businesses, and are prepared and equipped to expand internationally.
“The second thing is that the North American market is very dynamic and hungry for innovation. This has created the perfect environment for Czech firms to showcase their capabilities, and many innovations are based on artificial intelligence. There’s a great pool of individuals with a lot of great experience.”
How is your firm going to be moving towards the North American market?
“For the last while, we’ve mainly been acting around Europe. Part of our business is around supporting start-ups and scale ups, so we are always seeking ambitious founders and are trying to help them shape their concepts, connect with investors, or aid them with IT development. When it comes to the scale ups, we’ve been searching for interesting companies that are well established, and we help them to enter other markets.
“Our plans to expand go hand-in-hand with this, since a few of our clients are in North America. We have been working with a co-founder in the Montreal area in Canada, shaping and building his start-ups over the last few years. We’ve also been serving Czech start-ups that are acting on the North American market.
“When it comes to our next steps for expanding, we are interested in getting involved with angel investors, venture capitalists, or anyone who helps in these start-up communities. At the same time, we’re getting engaged with the communities such as technology parks and innovation centres. For our next steps, we are really testing the waters to try and understand how the North American market behaves, so we can build our business entity in the US.”
