CVC Capital Partners is acquiring a minority stake in CDN77, a Prague-headquartered provider of internet infrastructure services. According to a source who spoke with Reuters, the transaction places the company's valuation at roughly $1.9 billion (€1.7 billion), though neither party disclosed specific financial details.

CVC's leadership characterised the deal as the largest private equity transaction in Central and Eastern Europe's technology sector during the current year. The move reflects mounting investor appetite for infrastructure assets that underpin worldwide digital networks.

Success fueled by engineering excellence and customer focus

Competition to control the internet's physical infrastructure is intensifying, fuelled by the enormous computational demands of artificial intelligence and video streaming services. Capital is increasingly flowing away from consumer-facing software toward organisations that supply the foundational resources: processing capacity, edge networks, and data repositories.

Within this environment of rising infrastructure requirements, a major technology enterprise from Central and Eastern Europe has emerged from relative obscurity, securing outside funding for the first time since its inception.

Zdenek Cendra established CDN77 in 2011. Throughout its fifteen-year history, the organisation has constructed and managed its own worldwide edge network without accepting any external investment. What started as a Prague-based venture has evolved into a worldwide infrastructure operation with presence in more than 230 locations and the capability to handle 330 terabits per second of traffic.

The company supplies foundational services to prominent internet platforms, with clients including Rakuten TV, Udemy, and Starz.

Cendra stated: "We have built CDN77 by picking up the phone when a customer calls, by caring more about whether customers are still with us in ten years than about this quarter, and by letting engineers make engineering decisions."

"CDN77 is truly one of a kind"

The partnership with CVC was shaped significantly by the investment firm's commitment to maintaining CDN77's distinctive operational model. The organisation has maintained positive cash flow for eleven consecutive years through its emphasis on technical quality and direct engagement with customers.

Cendra, who will keep his controlling ownership and remain as Chief Executive Officer, emphasised that the existing leadership structure will be preserved to maintain operational stability.

Cendra explained: "We spent a long time talking to potential partners, and the conversation with CVC was different to others; it was about respect for what we have built so far and where we want to take the company; not about what they would change."

For CVC, the transaction represents a wager on the underlying systems that power contemporary internet services. Jakub Canda, a Senior Managing Director at CVC, emphasises that the company's genuine strength extends beyond its physical server locations to encompass its exceptionally talented engineering workforce that operates with a founder mentality.

Canda stated: "We have assessed numerous technology companies and CDN77 is truly one of a kind. Its core asset is not the 230+ locations around the world but its people and unique culture that Zdenek has been able to build over the last fifteen years: a group of smart and savvy engineers who have grown the company together, caring about customers to a degree that is one of a kind at this scale and who still think and act like founders themselves."

Canda noted that their primary responsibility is enabling Zdenek and his team to "focus on their valued customers while at the same time build faster and go further wherever they can."

We feel privileged to have been chosen to be CDN77's partner for its next stage of growth.

Jakub Canda, CVC Capital Partners

Expanding the infrastructure footprint

The partnership's immediate objective is furnishing CDN77 with the resources and financial capacity to pursue larger, more demanding infrastructure projects while preserving service quality for current customers. The capital injection arrives during a pivotal period for the internet infrastructure sector, where organisations face mounting pressure to consolidate or broaden their service portfolios. Although content delivery—particularly video transmission, protective measures, and origin services—remains the company's primary offering, CDN77 is expanding its service range.

Growth initiatives encompass edge computing capabilities, data storage solutions, and specialised CPU and GPU resources designed for computationally demanding artificial intelligence applications.

Operating proprietary infrastructure rather than reselling third-party systems provides them with a competitive edge when pursuing enterprise contracts against substantially larger corporations. This approach also positions them to pursue rapid expansion in North America, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America.

Setting a new benchmark for CEE tech

The transaction establishes a notable valuation reference point for other founder-controlled infrastructure companies operating in the region. CDN77 is projecting annual revenues of approximately $270 million (€250 million) for the current year, representing growth from $218 million (€201 million) in 2025. Against the stated $1.9 billion valuation, this transaction reflects a multiple of approximately seven times revenue, establishing a benchmark for how private markets currently evaluate profitable, mature infrastructure businesses.

Beyond its immediate financial significance, the transaction marks a watershed moment for the Czech technology startup ecosystem. Cendra has functioned as a significant limited partner in Czech Founders VC and has consistently invested resources in the regional technology community, channelling capital and expertise toward emerging regional entrepreneurs. This valuation of a completely self-funded organisation demonstrates that constructing world-class, internationally scaled infrastructure from Central and Eastern Europe is achievable.

As infrastructure requirements expand across the digital landscape, the collaboration between a self-financed Czech engineering company and a major European private equity firm signals a developing regional technology sector. The partnership represents a crucial phase in CDN77's expansion strategy, with CVC functioning as a strategic advisor capable of facilitating connections and opportunities that the Prague team could not independently access.