The third path between unicorn & shutdown.

Most venture-backed startups are treated as if there are only two outcomes: raise again or shut down. But there is a large middle ground. Companies with customers, revenue, good people and real value that have simply lost momentum.

The companies nobody knows what to do with.

They're too early for traditional private equity. Too slow for venture. Too valuable to simply shut down.

We've spent years working inside these companies, and the pattern is remarkably consistent. The numbers become harder to trust. The real problem gets buried under more initiatives. The board deck gets further from the business. Eventually, everyone starts talking about the next round instead of asking the harder question: what is this company actually worth, and what should happen next?

That's where we come in.

We go inside, rebuild the economics from raw data, identify the rate-limiting problem, and determine the highest-value path forward.

Sometimes we run the turnaround alongside the founder.
Sometimes we prepare the company for an acquisition.

Where nobody will fund the fix, we can acquire the company and carry the turnaround risk ourselves.

The objective isn't to keep every startup alive. It's to recover the value that's still there.

Venture capital in Europe has a liquidity problem. LPs aren't seeing the returns they expected. GPs are finding it harder to raise their next funds. And across the ecosystem are thousands of venture-backed companies that will never become unicorns. But "not a unicorn" doesn't mean "no value." Many of these companies have revenue, customers, technology, teams, and valuable positions in their markets. They can still become great businesses. And many of them can, and should, be acquired. The problem is that venture is built around the power law. VCs have to spend their time on the companies with the potential to return the fund. That leaves little time to work through the companies that are underperforming but still have meaningful value. That's why I built Pisana Labs.

I've spent 7+ years working across more than 320 startups, alongside building and exiting my own companies and investing as an angel. That experience has shown me the same thing repeatedly: there is often much more value inside a struggling company than the latest round, board deck, or growth rate suggests. Pisana Labs exists to find that value and create the best outcome for it. Our team brings together exited founders, operators from high-growth companies, investors, and specialists across different industries. For each company we work with, we build a dedicated team around what that business actually needs to become acquisition-ready, turn around, or find its best next outcome.

The goal is simple: give founders a second chance, give investors a path to liquidity, and help build a healthier venture ecosystem in Europe.

Venture capital in Europe has a liquidity problem. LPs aren't seeing the returns they expected. GPs are finding it harder to raise their next funds. And across the ecosystem are thousands of venture-backed companies that will never become unicorns. But "not a unicorn" doesn't mean "no value." Many of these companies have revenue, customers, technology, teams, and valuable positions in their markets. They can still become great businesses. And many of them can, and should, be acquired. The problem is that venture is built around the power law. VCs have to spend their time on the companies with the potential to return the fund. That leaves little time to work through the companies that are underperforming but still have meaningful value. That's why I built Pisana Labs.I've spent 7+ years working across more than 320 startups, alongside building and exiting my own companies and investing as an angel. That experience has shown me the same thing repeatedly: there is often much more value inside a struggling company than the latest round, board deck, or growth rate suggests. Pisana Labs exists to find that value and create the best outcome for it. Our team brings together exited founders, operators from high-growth companies, investors, and specialists across different industries. For each company we work with, we build a dedicated team around what that business actually needs to become acquisition-ready, turn around, or find its best next outcome. The goal is simple: give founders a second chance, give investors a path to liquidity, and help build a healthier venture ecosystem in Europe.

Venture capital in Europe has a liquidity problem. LPs aren't seeing the returns they expected. GPs are finding it harder to raise their next funds. And across the ecosystem are thousands of venture-backed companies that will never become unicorns. But "not a unicorn" doesn't mean "no value." Many of these companies have revenue, customers, technology, teams, and valuable positions in their markets. They can still become great businesses. And many of them can, and should, be acquired. The problem is that venture is built around the power law. VCs have to spend their time on the companies with the potential to return the fund. That leaves little time to work through the companies that are underperforming but still have meaningful value. That's why I built Pisana Labs.

I've spent 7+ years working across more than 320 startups, alongside building and exiting my own companies and investing as an angel. That experience has shown me the same thing repeatedly: there is often much more value inside a struggling company than the latest round, board deck, or growth rate suggests. Pisana Labs exists to find that value and create the best outcome for it. Our team brings together exited founders, operators from high-growth companies, investors, and specialists across different industries. For each company we work with, we build a dedicated team around what that business actually needs to become acquisition-ready, turn around, or find its best next outcome.

The goal is simple: give founders a second chance, give investors a path to liquidity, and help build a healthier venture ecosystem in Europe.

Aleksandrina Ikonomova

Partner & Angel Investor