Founder Zdenek Cendra retains majority stake and CEO role as company targets edge computing and AI workloads
Prague, 24. September 2026 — CDN77, the engineering-led internet infrastructure company whose network powers some of the world’s most demanding online platforms, said Wednesday that it has chosen CVC as a minority partner to support its next phase of growth.
CVC, through its long-duration investment platform Strategic Opportunities, will acquire a minority stake in the Prague-based company. Financial terms were not disclosed. Founder and CEO Zdenek Cendra, who started the business in 2011, will remain the majority owner and continue to lead the company.
The partnership is intended to accelerate CDN77’s expansion beyond content delivery — the business it was founded on — into a broader suite of infrastructure services including storage, edge computing and dedicated CPU and GPU infrastructure for applications ranging from low-bandwidth workloads to bandwidth-heavy applications and artificial intelligence.
CDN77 builds and operates its own network, hardware platforms and software stack. The company has grown into a global edge network spanning more than 230 locations and 330 terabits per second of capacity. Its customers include some of the largest video, gaming, software and media platforms in the world.
“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,” Cendra said in a statement. “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. This does not and will not change.”
Cendra described CVC as a “sparring partner who has helped companies like ours go from big to much bigger, and who opens doors we could not open ourselves.”
Jakub Canda of CVC said the firm had assessed numerous technology companies and found CDN77 to be “truly one of a kind.”
“Its core asset is not the 230-plus locations around the world but its people and unique culture that Zdenek has been able to build over the last fifteen years,” Canda said. “Our key task is to let Zdenek and his team continue to focus on their valued customers while at the same time build faster and go further wherever they can.”
CDN77’s Deliberate Search for the Right Partner
CDN77 said it ran a deliberate process to find a partner, with one priority above all others: that customers would see no difference the day after the transaction. The company also sought a partner with an understanding of internet infrastructure, the patience for a long-term build and a track record of backing founder-led companies.
CVC, a global private markets manager with approximately €212 billion in assets under management and 30 office locations across EMEA, the Americas and Asia, has worked with technology businesses globally while backing founders to accelerate growth.
The majority of CDN77’s senior team has been with the company since its founding and will remain in their roles, the company said, preserving what it described as its nimble decision-making, closeness to the product, customer-centricity and technical excellence.
Completion of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Valouch Servus and Latham & Watkins acted as legal advisers to Cendra and CDN77, while White & Case and Ernst & Young advised CVC.
About CDN77
CDN77 is the infrastructure company behind some of the world’s most demanding online platforms. Founded in 2011 by Zdenek Cendra, an internet infrastructure entrepreneur with 25 years in the industry, CDN77 provides a full stack of infrastructure services. The product portfolio runs from content storage and processing, through global delivery and edge computing, to dedicated servers and CPU/GPU infrastructure for the AI ecosystem, all on a network CDN77 designs, builds and operates itself. Some of the largest streaming, gaming and software companies globally rely on CDN77 to deliver, store and process their data at scale. The company has grown profitably since day one and is known for its hands-on, engineering-led culture and for treating customers as long-term partners. More at CDN77.com.
About CVC
CVC is a leading global private markets manager with a network of 30 office locations throughout EMEA, the Americas and Asia, with approximately €212 billion of assets under management. CVC has seven complementary strategies across private equity, secondaries, credit and infrastructure. Funds managed or advised by CVC’s private equity strategy are invested in approximately 150-plus companies worldwide. CVC’s Strategic Opportunities team offers longer-term capital to founders, founding families or partners of high-quality businesses in low-volatility sectors, working in close partnership with CVC’s country and sector teams to identify attractive investment opportunities.
For further information about CVC, visit https://www.cvc.com/ and Strategic Opportunities | CVC. Follow us on LinkedIn.
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