E duard Kucera is a Czech self-made billionaire and a pioneer of the country's post-communist technology scene. He is the co-founder of the cybersecurity giant Avast, along with his longtime business partner, Pavel Baudis. A mathematician by training, he and Baudis started their business in the late 1980s, working on antivirus software as a cooperative before formally founding Avast after the Velvet Revolution.

They built Avast into a global leader in cybersecurity software through a highly successful "freemium" model, offering a robust free version of their antivirus software to millions of users worldwide, many of whom then upgraded to premium, paid versions. This strategy allowed them to achieve massive scale and brand recognition. After a long and successful run as a private company, they took Avast public on the London Stock Exchange and, in 2022, completed a massive merger with their rival, NortonLifeLock (now Gen Digital). Kucera has since retired from an active role but remains a major shareholder.