Who We Are
NoStress Ventures is a holding company that brings together three lines of business around one theme: the growth of companies. We advise, we build our own ventures, and we take on leadership roles inside companies. Which of the three applies depends on what a given situation calls for.
We work at the intersection of the corporate world and the startup world – in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Our team has been on both sides of that line: in senior roles inside corporations and financial institutions, and in building and investing in startups.
How We Think About Growth
Growth is not a single discipline. It can mean an outside view and a structured process, it can mean founding something entirely new, and it can mean someone taking the wheel inside the company for a while. We keep all three options open instead of forcing every situation into one of them.
What holds the three pillars together is the experience of the people behind them – senior roles in technology and financial companies, corporate venturing, and hands-on work with startups from the first idea onwards.
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An outside view, or a seat at the table
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Corporate world and startup world in one team
What We Do
Three Pillars
Three equal lines of business, one team behind them. Each pillar describes a different way we work with a company – from the outside as an adviser, from the inside as a founder, or in the role itself as a temporary leadership team.
Pillar 01
Advisory & Consulting
Advisory work for corporations and for startups. We bring venture capital insight together with strategic consulting and transaction work. Corporate venturing (CVC) is one of the specialisations within this pillar.
What the pillar covers
- CVC-as-a-Service – design, implementation and operation of corporate venturing programmes
- Strategic and growth advisory for corporations and for startups
- M&A across the full scope of the transaction
- Business and financial due diligence
- Advisory on raising funds (CVC, VC and other sources)
- Startup scouting and proof-of-concept projects
How the collaboration works
- An assignment with an agreed scope, output and timeline
- We work alongside the client’s own team, not instead of it
- One-off engagements (a transaction, a due diligence) as well as continuing ones (an operated programme)
- Open to both sides of the table – corporations and startups
Pillar 02
Venture Studio
We do not only advise on building companies – we build them ourselves. In the venture studio we take the position of a co-founder: we bring the idea, the team, the capital and the day-to-day operational work, and we carry the risk with the company.
What the pillar covers
- Identifying and validating the business idea
- Founding the company and setting up the ownership structure
- Assembling the founding team and the initial operation
- Product, go-to-market and the first customers
- Preparing the company for external investors
Phases of our involvement
- Idea and validation – work on the concept before the company exists
- Build – founding the company and running it day to day
- Scale – handing over operational leadership, staying on as shareholder and on the board
- Independence – the company stands on its own, with or without our further stake
Pillar 03
Interim Management
Sometimes a company does not need advice from the outside, but someone to take the role. People from NoStress Ventures step directly into executive and operational positions and hold the responsibility for an agreed period, with a defined mandate and a defined handover.
Roles we take on
- CEO / Managing Director
- CFO and finance leadership
- Head of innovation or corporate venturing
- Leadership of M&A and transactions
- Leadership of a specific programme, unit or market entry
Typical situations and duration
- Transformation or a change of direction for the company
- A gap in a key role until a permanent hire is in place
- Launching a new unit, programme or market
- Preparation for a transaction and post-merger integration
- Measured in months rather than weeks, with a clear mandate and handover
Our Team
Each member of our team has a hands-on experience of working in corporations, CVCs, VCs and startups.
Kateřina Manley
Managing Partner
Jiří Skopový
Managing Partner
Elias Maier
PartnerOur Partners
