Recapitulation of the Flagship event 2024

This year, we once again continued the annual tradition at the (THE SPOT, Bottova 2/A, 811 09 Bratislava) with the SLOVCA Flagship Event, which consists of the Members' Meeting followed by the Flagship Event open to the general public.

Members' Meeting

The SLOVCA Members' Meeting was attended by the members of the association, including regular and associate members.

The SLOVCA Members' Meeting included a recap of activities from the past year and the plan for upcoming activities, a report on the current state of finances and accounting, and the approval of the 2023 financial statement presented by Branislav Kováč from VGD Slovakia.

The most important part of the Members' Meeting was the vote on new associate members of SLOVCA: Across Private Investment and Hillbridges.

As in previous years, the Flagship Event was opened by SLOVCA Board Chairman Ján Kutan, who welcomed the participants. Lukáš Baloga then summarized SLOVCA's activities since the last Members' Meeting, and finally, Ján Kutan introduced the new Chairman of the Legal & Tax Committee (LTC), Peter Varga.

Flagship event

PANEL 1: Consolidation Package Challenges for Private Investing

The first panel was moderated by Jana Deverová (Senior Tax Manager at PWC Slovakia), who, along with panelists Peter Pašek (Managing Director / Partner at Accace Slovakia / Co-founder of AceON Accelerator) and Martin Chlebec (Director of M&A Tax at Deloitte), discussed key measures of the tax consolidation package. They covered its impact on M&A transactions, investors, and sellers, as well as due diligence, valuations, financial modeling, and whether we can expect tax-deductible interest on acquisition financing and tax-neutral reorganizations.

PANEL 2: Investment vehicles: Investors vs. Lawyers

The next panel, moderated by Lukáš Baloga (Investment Analyst at Genesis Growth Equity and Project Manager at SLOVCA), featured speakers Marián Porvažník (Co-founder of Sparring) and Igor Strečko (Owner & Managing Partner of Strecko Investments). They provided insights into common investment structures for qualified investors, a comparison from legal and tax perspectives, and experiences with EuVECA funds.

We would like to thank all participants for their attendance and feedback. We are convinced that one of SLOVCA's main goals is to unite the ecosystem in Slovakia, which includes all stakeholders in the venture capital and private equity sectors. We are pleased to announce that we will continue organizing networking opportunities for our members. The discussion evening also aimed to inform the public about investment opportunities in venture capital and private equity, and we will actively pursue this role going forward.

After the formal part of the program, a networking mixer followed. The evening was filled with a relaxed atmosphere, light catering, and a wine tasting by Róbert Páleník.