Meet the team

Portrait of Michal Zalesak
Founding & Managing Partner

Michal Zálešák

Michal Zálešák

12 years in start-up industry Private investor, founder of Prague Startup Centre, official incubator of the City of Prague

Michal Zálešák is an experienced startup investor and mentor with international investment experience in Silicon Valley, India and Czech Republic, and including exits to global players. Zálešák has established a Czech ICT Incubator at the Silicon Valley, bringing Czech startups to the Silicon Valley and global mentors to Prague.

In 2005, Zalesak established the Czech ICT Alliance, working closely with Czech IT companies and organizing dozens of IT-focused trade missions globally to support expansion of Czech IT to international markets. In 2016, Zálešák established the Prague Startup Centre, operating two branches in Prague and having its own incubation program, targeting early stage startups. Zálešák is a Managing Partner in Lighthouse Ventures since its establishment in 2019.

In 2015, Zálešák was named a TOP30 IT personality by ComputerWorld Magazine. Zalesak holds MBA in marketing and management. He is a member of the advisory board on e-commerce of the Czech government, and a former member of the advisory board on smart city of the Prague Council.

Portrait of Ravit Avidor
Founding Partner

Ravit Avidor

Ravit Avidor

10 years in Tech Mergers and Acquisitions. Former Vice President, Corporate Development at AVG Technologies

Ravit Avidor has been engaged in Corporate M&A and Venture Capital since 2006, executing a wide range of acquisitions from small-scale deals to acquisitions exceeding $600 million, across North and Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. Avidor has been a Partner at Lighthouse Ventures since its founding in 2019.

In her previous role as VP of Corporate Development at AVG (NYSE: AVG), a consumer and business security company, Avidor led several acquisitions. Notably, she has initiated and led the acquisition of an early-stage Android security startup that, within three years, became the world’s most downloaded Android security app, reaching over 100 million downloads on Google Play by 2013—a milestone previously achieved only by major players like Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Before joining AVG, Avidor held a Corporate Development role at Check Point (NASDAQ: CHKP), where she played a key role in large-scale acquisitions involving hundreds of employees and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Avidor holds a Bachelor of Laws and an MBA from the Hebrew University, where she was selected as one of 15 top rated students for an advanced program. Additionally, she has acquired executive education in M&A from INSEAD.

Portrait of Vladislav Vintner
Founding Partner

Vladislav Vintner

Vladislav Vintner

22 years in IT industry in top management positions

Vladislav Vintner has been holding top managerial positions in the IT industry since 1996. He had a key role in the establishment of the operations of Indra (formerly Soluziona), a global IT company, in the Czech Republic. As the COO for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine he oversaw the operations as they grew to over 200 employees.

In 2009, Vintner established Pontech, a system integrator, implementing ICT projects across Europe, and led the company to a successful exit to NTT Group, a global telecommunication company, headquartered in Japan, in 2015.

Following the sale of Pontech, Vintner has continued his successful path, this time as an investor, when Mluvii, one of his portfolio companies was sold to O2 corporation. He is a Partner in Lighthouse Ventures since its establishment in 2019.

Vintner holds MA in International Business from the University of Economics in Prague.

Portrait of Robert Reich
Partner

Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Seven years experience in VC industry. Supporting global expansion of Czech startups.

Robert Reich has seven years of experience with startups. He has been working as a manager at Prague Startup Centre since 2016, and as an Investment Associate in Lighthouse Ventures since its establishment in 2019 to 2022 and as Investment Manager from 2022 to 2023. Currently, working as a Partner and COO of Lighthouse Ventures.

At Prague Startup Centre, Reich has been helping Czech startups to expand globally. He also served as a Project Manager for various projects and organized international events, targeted at startups and innovation.

Reich holds MA in Finance and Financial Engineering from the University of Economics in Prague. During his studies, he served as the president of the university’s Investment Club, one of the biggest student clubs in the Czech Republic.

Damir Špoljarič
Head of Advisory Board

Damir Špoljarič

Damir Špoljarič

Successful long-time entrepreneur, investor, and professional pilot

Damir Špoljarič is a visionary entrepreneur, technology investor, and professional pilot, known for his contributions to the tech and aviation industries. Born in 1988 in the Czech Republic, he founded VSHosting at 17, growing it into one of Central Europe’s leading web hosting and cloud service providers, with three successful exits. Under his leadership, the company expanded significantly before integrating with Contabo Group, strengthening its global market position.

A licensed private jet and Airbus A320 pilot, Damir channels his passion for aviation into Alpha Aviation, part of the G21 portfolio, which has become the largest business aviation company in Central Europe. In 2022, he founded Gi21, investing in dozens of successful projects. As managing partner, he remains actively involved in investment selection and serves on the boards of multiple portfolio companies.

Ory Weihs
Scaling Advisor

Ory Weihs

Ory Weihs

Serial founder in the performance marketing sector and an angel investor since 2010

Ory founded XLMedia PLC (LON.XLM) in 2003 and was CEO until 2019. He bootstrapped the business from the “basement” to a large international London stock exchange listed company. Today, XLMedia remains one of the largest publishers of gaming, sports betting, and personal finance comparison sites worldwide. During his time at XLMedia Ory was focused on strategy, scale-up, M&A and shareholder engagement. He remains a non-executive director.

He recently founded Team Odeon, a performance marketing company focused on the higher education and vocational training market. An “impact for profit” venture.

Since 2010 Ory has been investing in a variety of companies in different sectors such as Mews, Medorion LTD, Gigantic, Legly.io, Dumarca Holdings (Sold in 2014) and more. He is particularly interested in strong teams focused on execution in a variety of sectors such as SAAS, price and product comparison, gaming and more.  He holds a variety of director and advisory roles in his portfolio companies.

Ory holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the Technion, Israel institute of Technology and has been living in the Czech Republic for 10 years.

Lucie Slaninová
Investment Manager

Lucie Slaninová

Lucie Slaninová

Lucie has over 20 years of working experience at a myriad of companies.

At Lexmark Electronics, she worked as a transportation specialist, focusing on customs clearance. Lucie then spent many years as a senior logistics specialist at Honeywell Czech Republic.
From 2011 Lucie worked as project manager for the Czech ICT Alliance. From 2016, she works there with start-ups, focusing on finance and human resources.

Lucie has been with Lighthouse Ventures since 2018, where she works as a communication specialist. Lucie provides project management support to our start-ups, administration support and specializes in reporting, HR and payroll.