Lighthouse Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Lighthouse Ventures is a Prague-based early-stage venture capital firm focused on technology projects with global ambition, investing across B2B software of various verticals, fintech, and AI. Founded in 2019, the firm's mission is to nurture inspiring ideas through their critical early stage, providing not just capital but professional support drawing on an international team's expertise in entrepreneurship, startup mentoring, M&A, media and marketing, technology, and operations. The firm maintains a network of experienced mentors for the benefit of portfolio companies and emphasizes pairing seasoned operators with young, visionary founders — as demonstrated by placing a previously-exited founder (Pavel Pinkas of Persoo) into a Founding Partner/CSO role at portfolio company Ranketta.
Sector Focus
Lighthouse Ventures states its focus as B2B software of various verticals, fintech, and AI. In practice the portfolio spans:
- Developer tools and AI infrastructure (Hermetiq, UptimAI, DecisionRules)
- Fintech and financial services (Malcom Finance, Financial Antivirus/PatronGO, Investown)
- E-commerce and marketplace tooling (Merchantee, Foxdeli, Outfindo, Scaut)
- HR tech and workforce tools (Talentiqa/Jobsider)
- Proptech and IoT (Spaceti)
- Biotech and life sciences (QurieGen, Cytokine)
- Aerospace (NG Aviation)
- Compliance/whistleblowing software (FaceUp)
- Loyalty and marketing tech (Trifft, Ranketta, Localazy)
Stage Focus
Lighthouse Ventures targets the Idea and Seed stages as its preferred investment stage, positioning itself as an early, often first institutional check into CEE-based technology companies.
Check Size
The firm states a typical investment range of €200K to €1M per single startup, consistent with an Idea/Seed-stage focus.
Lead Tendency
Not consistently stated. The firm both leads (e.g., Hermetiq's pre-seed round, which it announced without naming other leads) and co-invests alongside other funds — the Merchantee €1.8M round was completed "alongside Reflex Capital and Czech Founders VC," suggesting a syndicate-friendly, not-always-leading posture.
Recent Activity
Fund II launched in 2024 and appears actively deploying based on a steady cadence of new investments and portfolio milestones through 2026:
- August 2026: Participated in Hermetiq's $2.2M pre-seed round (AI-native build infrastructure)
- June 2026: Backed Merchantee's €1.8M round alongside Reflex Capital and Czech Founders VC
- June 2026: Portfolio company DecisionRules closed another funding round
- Throughout 2026: Multiple portfolio milestones (QurieGen at RAISE Summit and named a top European deeptech startup; DeepMark joining Y Combinator; FleetFox named to Sifted's 100 Fastest-Growing Startups in DACH & CEE; Ranketta hiring a Founding Partner/CSO)
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio spans roughly 39 active companies. Notable recent standouts include:
- DeepMark — AI content-authentication infrastructure, admitted to Y Combinator (2026) and expanding to San Francisco
- QurieGen — cancer-treatment/cellular-mechanism decoding platform; won the Global RAISE Summit 2026 (Google for Startups / DeepMind-powered) and named a top-17 European deeptech startup to watch
- FleetFox — B2B 3PL fleet-services marketplace; named to Sifted's 100 Fastest-Growing Startups in DACH & CEE (2026)
- Hermetiq — AI-native build/CI diagnostics infrastructure, running billions of build events daily for customers
- Ranketta — AI-search visibility ("agentic commerce" / AI answer engine optimization) tooling
- DecisionRules — no-code business rules engine used across finance, insurance, e-commerce, logistics, and healthcare
- Persoo — e-commerce search tool, successfully exited to Luigi's Box (an LHV realized exit)
- Merchantee — AI "copilot" automating marketplace pricing and advertising for Amazon/Allegro sellers
Team
- Michal Zálešák, Managing Partner — Founding Managing Partner since 2019; 12 years in the startup industry; founder of Prague Startup Centre (official City of Prague incubator) and the Czech ICT Alliance; named a TOP30 IT personality by ComputerWorld (2015); sits on the Czech government's e-commerce advisory board.
- Ravit Avidor, Partner — Partner since founding in 2019; 10+ years in tech M&A, formerly VP of Corporate Development at AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG), where she led the acquisition of an Android security startup that reached 100M+ Google Play downloads; prior Corporate Development role at Check Point (NASDAQ: CHKP).
- Vladislav Vintner, Partner — 22 years in IT leadership; led Indra/Soluziona's Czech Republic operations to 200+ employees as COO; founded system integrator Pontech and sold it to NTT Group (2015); portfolio company Mluvii was later sold to O2.
- Robert Reich, Partner & COO — With the firm since its 2019 founding (Investment Associate, then Investment Manager, now Partner/COO); also a manager at Prague Startup Centre since 2016, supporting global expansion of Czech startups.
- Jiří Janků, Partner — 20 years in marketing and SMB business strategy; founded digital marketing agency e-BRÁNA and AI chatbot/voicebot provider Feedyou; director of the Pardubice Business Incubator since 2022.
- Damir Špoljarič, Partner — Founder of VSHosting (three successful exits, later integrated into Contabo Group); founder of aviation company Alpha Aviation and investment vehicle Gi21.
- Ory Weihs, Partner — Serial founder and angel investor since 2010; founded and led XLMedia PLC (LSE: XLM) as CEO (2003–2019); active investor across SaaS, price/product comparison, and gaming sectors.
Decision Process
Multi-partner structure (seven partners spanning investment, operations, and sector expertise) suggests a partnership-based decision process rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
The firm favors technical and execution-focused founders building B2B software, fintech, or AI products with global ambitions from a CEE base, and it actively works to pair experienced operators into founding teams (as with Pavel Pinkas joining Ranketta) to accelerate commercial execution.
Geographic Focus
Lighthouse Ventures invests in European, CEE-based startups, benefiting from synergies with regional startup hubs, tech partners, and tech universities. The firm is headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, and its Lighthouse Seed Fund is backed by the Czech ESIF Fund of Funds (a Ministry of Industry and Trade / EIF initiative under the European Regional Development Fund's Venture Capital OP EIC program).