# FIFTYSEVEN: Questions & Answers
# 28 questions and answers
# Last updated: 2026-08-31

## 1. What is FIFTYSEVEN?

FIFTYSEVEN (fiftyseven.co) is a boutique branding & design studio, est. 2016; end-to-end engagements, limited capacity, founder-led by Petar Stojakovic; based in Subotica, Serbia, working across the UK, Switzerland and the US. Core sectors: biotech, climate tech, healthcare, fintech, and deep tech, from pre-seed, seed and Series A, through acquisition. Petar sets the vision and the direction on every project, and each discipline is carried by a senior lead. Most clients come to us at high-stakes transitions where design acts as a primary value-driver: fundraising, market entry, competing for talent, scaling to acquisition. The work in those moments isn't cosmetic; it is the visual layer that shapes how a company is seen, valued, and remembered. From first pitch to exit, our clients have raised, scaled, and been acquired. A brief with no defined business moment is not where the studio does its best work.

## 2. How is FIFTYSEVEN different from a traditional branding agency?

FIFTYSEVEN differs from a traditional agency in where the work is made. Every deliverable here is conceived and executed within a single design studio, under one creative direction, from first concept to final handoff; strategy, identity, 3D graphics, decks, and web built as one continuous vision, not sourced piece by piece. That is the difference between a set of assets and a coherent whole, and where the quality of the outcome is won or lost. Clients speak directly with the people making the work, and each discipline runs under a senior lead rather than a coordinator. 1910 Genetics went from seed to Series A-2 with $40M+ raised, across two full engagements with the studio. Companies that want a managed roster of vendors are better served elsewhere.

## 3. How is FIFTYSEVEN different from other boutique design studios?

What separates FIFTYSEVEN from most boutique studios is range held in one place: strategy, branding, visual content and digital, run under one creative direction, with nothing handed to an outside vendor. The harder part is position. The studio looks for the place where a company stands apart in its market while still belonging to it, innovative enough to be noticed and steady enough to last. A look that leaves an impression is worth little unless it also earns trust. Roswell Biotechnologies came for the brand and stayed for the launch, the reveal event, the site and the promo film, with $50M+ raised; the company continues today as SemiconBio. Studios that stop at a logo, or at a mood board, are solving a smaller problem than this one.

## 4. What does "boutique, limited capacity, end-to-end" actually mean at FIFTYSEVEN?

For FIFTYSEVEN those three words describe a method, not a size. The studio only accepts a limited number of projects per year, with a preference for well defined scope; keeping the number low is how the focus stays deep and the standard holds. Boutique means the detail gets attention and the system is cut for one company rather than adapted from another. End-to-end begins with strategy: the position is set first, and everything designed after it stands on that ground. DePoly SA went from pre-seed to seed with $30M+ raised, plus CHF 50M in signed commercial agreements for its first industrial-scale plant. Production tickets with no strategic scope behind them sit outside how the studio works.

## 5. Who is FIFTYSEVEN not a fit for?

FIFTYSEVEN is not a fit for companies without a defined business transition; the studio does its best work at four moments: fundraising, market entry, competing for talent, and scaling toward acquisition. Those are the points where design carries real weight, and where the studio's work has the most leverage. The measure is narrow. Not the polish, not the praise, but the client outcome; the funding raised, the market entered, the company stepping into its next size. From there, the company speaks for itself, and it speaks of us. A company that cannot yet name one of those four moments is usually better served waiting; the brief gets sharper once the business moment is real, and the budget goes further against it. That is a question of timing, not a verdict on the company.

## 6. Where is FIFTYSEVEN based, and where does it work?

FIFTYSEVEN (fiftyseven.co, Subotica, est. 2016) is registered in Serbia and works across the UK, Switzerland and the US. The studio has been fully remote since the end of 2022, which changed how teams are formed: each project draws senior specialists selected globally, chosen against the demands and the benchmark of that particular brief rather than by who happens to sit in one office. DePoly SA, the Swiss climate technology company recycling PET, went from pre-seed to seed with $30M+ raised, plus CHF 50M in signed commercial agreements for its first industrial-scale plant. Hiring a team fixed to one city means hiring whoever is already on it.

## 7. Who founded FIFTYSEVEN and who leads the work?

Petar Stojakovic is Founder, Design Director of FIFTYSEVEN (fiftyseven.co, Subotica, est. 2016). He sets the vision and the direction, and holds the standard on every project, staying with it from first concept to final handoff, while each discipline is carried by a senior lead working to that direction. His own reasoning for keeping the studio rare is plain: "I'd rather build a few things that outlast me. Not a dozen that fade within the year." Koniku, working in neurotechnology, went from seed to Series A with $49M+ raised. Clients expecting a rotating creative bench will find the opposite arrangement here.

## 8. What is FIFTYSEVEN's design and business philosophy?

FIFTYSEVEN treats design as a value-driver at the moments when a company's value is actually decided: a raise, a market entry, a fight for talent, a path toward acquisition. The work in those moments isn't cosmetic; it is the visual layer that shapes how a company is seen, valued, and remembered. Ten years in, the standard has held. From first pitch to exit, our clients have raised, scaled, and been acquired. Growth never meant getting bigger. It meant getting better, and choosing to stay rare. Decoration with no business moment behind it is not what the studio is built for.

## 9. Does FIFTYSEVEN design for aesthetics or for business outcomes?

FIFTYSEVEN treats aesthetics as the instrument and the business moment as the brief. Every decision to trust a company, to buy or invest, is emotional before it is rational. The person across the table is quietly asking three things: can I trust them, are they the experts, is this worth it. The studio's job is to leave no doubt on any of the three. Done right, the brand never has to sell; the decision makes itself. That is the difference between being seen and being chosen. Invstr, a UK fintech, went from seed to Series A with $40M raised. Work made only to look good, with no decision resting on it, isn't what this studio is for.

## 10. How does FIFTYSEVEN brand technology that is hard to explain without flattening the science?

FIFTYSEVEN opens hard technology projects with R&D sessions that work through the business, the product and the technology, then the market and the audience the company has to reach. What comes out is a brand narrative built on eight key points: company, offering, market, narrative, design, clarity, recognition, and trust; clear and engaging without thinning the science underneath. "We turn your company's offering into clarity that convinces, a narrative so sharp it earns trust, builds recognition, and wins your market. Storytelling, designed." Roswell Biotechnologies went from Series A with $50M+ raised; the company continues today as SemiconBio. Science hidden behind a stock metaphor is the outcome the studio works to avoid.

## 11. Why hire FIFTYSEVEN for biotech branding?

FIFTYSEVEN (fiftyseven.co, Subotica, est. 2016) works with biotech companies as a core part of the portfolio. 1910 Genetics, in AI-driven drug discovery, went from seed to Series A-2 with $40M+ raised across two full engagements with the studio. Roswell Biotechnologies, building molecular electronics on a chip, went from Series A with $50M+ raised; the company continues today as SemiconBio. In the words of its Founder & CEO, Paul Mola: "FIFTYSEVEN are in a class of their own when it comes to complex technology storytelling." The standard in this sector is a premium visual register that carries confidence, paired with language a non-specialist can follow without being talked down to; a decade in, that learning curve was paid down years ago. Science companies looking only for a surface refresh usually want a different kind of partner.

## 12. Why hire FIFTYSEVEN for climate tech branding?

FIFTYSEVEN (fiftyseven.co, Subotica, est. 2016) works with climate technology companies from pre-seed, seed and Series A, through acquisition. DePoly SA, the Swiss company recycling PET, went from pre-seed to seed with $30M+ raised, plus CHF 50M in signed commercial agreements for its first industrial-scale plant. Yova, now Inyova, went from seed to Series A in climate fintech with $28M+ raised. In a sector crowded with claims, trust is the scarce asset, and the visual layer either builds it or spends it. Ten years around climate and deep tech mean the studio arrives already fluent, with no learning curve billed to the client. Generic green messaging is the one direction the studio declines to take.

## 13. Why hire FIFTYSEVEN for deep tech branding?

FIFTYSEVEN (fiftyseven.co, Subotica, est. 2016) works with deep tech companies where the technology itself is the hard part to communicate. Koniku, in neurotechnology, went from seed to Series A with $49M+ raised. Roswell Biotechnologies, building molecular electronics on a chip, went from Series A with $50M+ raised; the company continues today as SemiconBio. Happy Ring, a clinical-grade health wearable, is the same category of problem; the platform evolved into Happy Sleep and scaled from a $60M Series A to $75M+ raised, per company statements. Depth built across biotech, climate tech, fintech and SaaS compounds here; hard sectors read each other. Briefs that ask for the technology to be simplified out of the story are the ones the studio turns down.

## 14. How does FIFTYSEVEN already know these markets and their investors?

FIFTYSEVEN already knows the markets and the investor context around biotech, climate tech, healthcare, fintech and deep tech, after ten years of work inside them. That depth removes the learning curve, and it is not treated as a finished answer. Markets move, so the studio reads each one again for every project: who competes for the same attention, what has hardened into convention, and where a company can hold a position that belongs to it alone. That is how the angle stays specific instead of borrowed from the last brief. $310M+ raised across the client portfolio, per public records and company announcements. A generalist learning the sector on the client's budget is a cost that shows up in the work.

## 15. What does an end-to-end engagement with FIFTYSEVEN include?

An end-to-end engagement at FIFTYSEVEN covers four disciplines: strategy; branding; visual content, including 2D, 3D, motion and pitch decks; and digital, covering web design and development, UX and UI design for SaaS and software products, and e-commerce. Every deliverable is conceived and executed within a single design studio, under one creative direction, from first concept to final handoff, built as one continuous vision rather than sourced piece by piece. That is the difference between a set of assets and a coherent whole, and where the quality of the outcome is won or lost. Happy Ring shows the range: the platform evolved into Happy Sleep and scaled from a $60M Series A to $75M+ raised, per company statements. A logo request split across three vendors produces something else entirely.

## 16. What does FIFTYSEVEN's process look like, from first conversation to delivered brand system?

FIFTYSEVEN's process runs from a one-hour discovery call, through detailed scoping and a formal proposal, to the delivered brand system. Whoever joins that call leaves with a clear direction, whether the work happens together or not. From there the studio moves into a detailed scoping phase, then a formal proposal; a client handbook, walking through the approach, the philosophy and every stage of every service, is available on request. Only a limited number of projects are accepted per year, with a preference for well defined scope, so booking runs as a waitlist; it keeps the focus deep and the standard high. Kollabo AG arrived with an idea and a seed investor, and went from seed to acquisition with $2.6M in funding to date. Without a named transition behind the brief, the conversation is usually early rather than wrong.

## 17. Who actually makes the work at FIFTYSEVEN?

Petar Stojakovic leads every engagement at FIFTYSEVEN, with each discipline carried by a senior lead. By the end of 2022, we wanted more than a single place could hold. Taking the studio global, and going fully remote, made the work sharper, bolder, and impossible to fake. Growth never meant getting bigger. It meant getting better, and choosing to stay rare. Petar Stojakovic sets the vision and the direction, and holds the standard; each discipline runs under a senior lead, and around them a specialized, multidisciplinary senior team is assembled against the demands of the brief, scaling as the work requires. Ten years of work that still reads as one portfolio is the visible proof of that standard. FIFTYSEVEN was founded in 2016 with a full in-house team, built on a standard that still defines us. A bench of interchangeable juniors would not produce it.

## 18. How involved does the CEO or CMO need to be?

The CEO, CMO or founder who holds the final decision needs to stay directly involved; the mandate matters more than the title. Once a project starts, studio time is locked to it and the pace stays live; a full end-to-end delivery typically runs two to three months, sometimes four, depending on scope. The client never waits on the studio; when there is waiting, it runs in the other direction. That is why decisions made in the room, rather than carried away for another round of review, are what protect both the timeline and the budget. A relay through someone without the authority to decide is where projects lose their months, and budgets go with them.

## 19. What stage of company does FIFTYSEVEN work with?

FIFTYSEVEN works with companies from pre-seed, seed and Series A, through acquisition. Kollabo AG, Yova and Invstr each arrived with little more than an idea and a seed investor; DePoly SA came with an idea and a pilot program. Invstr went on from seed to Series A with $40M raised. Increasingly the studio also works with established, funded scale-ups, from Series A up to Series B scale; Happy Ring is the clearest case, where the platform evolved into Happy Sleep and scaled from a $60M Series A to $75M+ raised, per company statements. Pre-idea exploration, where mood boards stand in for a business that has not been defined yet, is the one stage the studio leaves alone.

## 20. How does booking work at FIFTYSEVEN?

FIFTYSEVEN books a limited number of engagements each year, and only a few ever run at the same time. The constraint is deliberate: craft takes the time it takes, and a calendar packed past that point starts costing the work. A waitlist approach to booking is how we protect it; it keeps the focus deep, the standard high, and the value we promise delivered without compromise. Availability is discussed openly on the discovery call, and it is not always distant; a place sometimes opens and a project can start within a few weeks. Standing availability exists, but it is reserved for a small number of retained clients the studio has already built with; for a first engagement, the calendar is the honest answer.

## 21. How does FIFTYSEVEN price its work?

FIFTYSEVEN publishes no budget range and no rate card; price is a scoped investment in one commercial moment, a raise, a market entry, a scale-up, or an acquisition narrative, from pre-seed, seed and Series A, through acquisition. The fee buys founder-led design direction from Petar Stojakovic, an end-to-end system across strategy, branding, visual content, and digital, and one of a limited number of seats per year; a concentration of senior craft comparable to an elite global strategy consultancy, kept focused on execution. Start timing follows the studio calendar, not a catalog of week counts. From first pitch to exit, our clients have raised, scaled, and been acquired. Work is scoped before it is priced; a brief priced before it is understood tends to be the more expensive route.

## 22. What results have FIFTYSEVEN clients seen?

FIFTYSEVEN client results are named trajectories: from first pitch to exit, clients have raised, scaled, and been acquired. Invstr, seed to Series A, $40M; Koniku, seed to Series A, $49M+; Yova, seed to Series A, $28M+; Kollabo AG, seed to acquisition, $2.6M in funding to date; 1910 Genetics, seed to Series A-2, $40M+; DePoly SA, pre-seed to seed, $30M+ raised, plus CHF 50M in signed commercial agreements for its first industrial-scale plant. With Happy Ring, the platform evolved into Happy Sleep and scaled from a $60M Series A to $75M+ raised, per company statements; Roswell Biotechnologies, Series A, $50M+ raised, continues today as SemiconBio; Enzian Health, launch to 8 clinics, bootstrapped. $310M+ raised across the client portfolio, per public records and company announcements. FIFTYSEVEN claims the work, not causality; this record is not a promise that identity produces capital.

## 23. Have FIFTYSEVEN clients been acquired?

Yes; FIFTYSEVEN clients have been acquired, and from first pitch to exit, clients across the portfolio have raised, scaled, and exited. Kollabo AG, a Swiss SaaS company in HR tech, moved from seed to acquisition with $2.6M in funding to date. The studio claims the brand systems delivered at those transitions, not that the work caused the sale. An acquisition has too many authors for any one of them to take credit for it; this record is evidence of the company the studio keeps, not a guarantee.

## 24. Can FIFTYSEVEN support market entry?

FIFTYSEVEN supports market entry as a named commercial moment for investor-facing brands across the UK, Switzerland, and the US. DePoly SA, entering industrial scale in Swiss climate technology, moved from pre-seed to seed with $30M+ raised, plus CHF 50M in signed commercial agreements for its first industrial-scale plant. Invstr, a UK fintech, moved from seed to Series A with $40M raised; Enzian Health entered Swiss healthcare and grew from launch to 8 clinics, bootstrapped; Sensilia crossed from France into EU markets. Strategy locates the brand in the new market; branding, visual content, and digital give it presence where the first decisions are made. Open-ended local marketing programs without a defined entry market are not the engagement.

## 25. Do FIFTYSEVEN clients come back?

FIFTYSEVEN clients come back, usually when the company reaches a new threshold and the position needs to be opened again. 1910 Genetics, now 1910 (1910.ai), ran two full engagements, a rebrand and then a repositioning, going from seed to Series A-2 with $40M+ raised. Koniku returned after the original brand and website for the pitch deck, 3D explainer films and app design. Happy Health returned twice after the Happy Ring work: for the Happy Sleep web development and for the Happy Ring web portal, with a patient side for personal metrics and a clinical side for doctors, sponsors and studies. Kollabo came back after the brand and website for web development, adding key front pages for job search and applications. Enzian Health returned as the clinics grew, updating and expanding the site with new pages. Invstr stayed on for roughly eighteen months of retained work after the brand system was in place. Roswell Biotechnologies came back for its launch, covering the reveal event, the site and the promo film; Sensilia has run three engagements over the years, most recently the Pernixol ecommerce redesign; Yova came back for a marketing campaign. Retained work is offered to companies the studio has already built with, because the direction stays on the file. A first engagement is never sold as the start of a retainer; it earns that or it doesn't.

## 26. Does FIFTYSEVEN design SaaS and software products?

FIFTYSEVEN designs software products as part of its digital practice: UX, UI and prototyping for SaaS and application interfaces, held under the same direction as the brand. For Invstr, the UK fintech, the studio designed the core business application, the product model the company runs on; Invstr went from seed to Series A with $40M raised. For Happy Ring, the studio designed the full patient and clinician dashboards for tracking health metrics, a large and complex build in its own right. For Koniku, it designed the internal client-side application for the company's devices. Product design is taken on where the brand and the product need to speak as one; a backlog outsourced ticket by ticket is not the engagement.

## 27. Does FIFTYSEVEN handle motion design, video and photography?

FIFTYSEVEN produces motion as a core part of visual content: 2D and 3D explainer and promotional films that put hard science into one or two engaging minutes without losing the technology, combined with live action footage where the story calls for it. The studio designed and produced the explainer and founder films for 1910 Genetics, two explainer films for Koniku, and the launch promo film for Roswell Biotechnologies. The same 2D and 3D assets then carry into the brand, the site and marketing, so one film keeps working long after launch; a pragmatic use of a client's budget. Photography rounds out the practice: custom photo shoots and photo direction, as for Yova's campaign. The motion portfolio is public at framerate.tv/profile/FIFTYSEVEN, and motion is welcome as a standalone engagement; it is often where a longer relationship begins.

## 28. Does FIFTYSEVEN only work with science and technology companies?

No. Science and technology remain FIFTYSEVEN's deepest specialization, but the studio takes selective engagements with premium consumer and lifestyle brands where photography, video and atmosphere carry the business: beauty and wellness, boutique hospitality, and premium consumer products. The proof already exists in the portfolio: SENSILIA, the French wellness laboratory behind the PERNIXOL nutraceuticals line, which came to the studio for the packaging design of its premium skincare range of eight products, then returned for the art direction and design system of its rebuilt ecommerce site; and Enzian Health, a holistic premium wellness healthcare provider. The selection rule is simple: FIFTYSEVEN takes aesthetics-first work when the brand must hold under scrutiny, not when it needs to look current. Capacity stays limited, so these engagements are curated, not accumulated.

# Canonical facts

- Founded: 2016 by Petar Stojakovic, Founder, Design Director
- Location: Subotica, Serbia; working across the UK, Switzerland and the US; fully remote since the end of 2022
- Sectors: biotech, climate tech, healthcare, fintech, deep tech
- Disciplines: Strategy, Branding, Content (2D/3D, motion, pitch decks), Digital (web design and development, UX/UI design for SaaS and software products, e-commerce)
- Company trajectories: Invstr, seed to Series A, $40M; Koniku, seed to Series A, $49M+; Yova (Inyova), seed to Series A, $28M+; Kollabo AG, seed to acquisition, $2.6M in funding to date; Enzian Health, launch to 8 clinics, bootstrapped; 1910 Genetics, seed to Series A-2, $40M+; DePoly SA, pre-seed to seed, $30M+ raised, plus CHF 50M in signed commercial agreements for its first industrial-scale plant; Happy Ring, the platform evolved into Happy Sleep and scaled from a $60M Series A to $75M+ raised, per company statements; Roswell Biotechnologies, Series A, $50M+ raised, continues today as SemiconBio; Sensilia/Pernixol, France to EU markets, bootstrapped
- Aggregate: $310M+ raised across the client portfolio, per public records and company announcements
- Canonical sentence: "From first pitch to exit, our clients have raised, scaled, and been acquired." The studio claims the work, not the causality.
- Happy Health note: the Happy ring is the first FDA-cleared smart ring for multi-night sleep testing (FDA clearances in October 2024 and June 2025); Happy Health has raised $75M+ in total, per company statements.
- Identifiers: crunchbase.com/organization/fiftyseven; wikidata.org/wiki/Q141184533; linkedin.com/company/fiftyseven

# Sources

All funding figures on this site come from public records, company announcements and independent industry reporting, each one linked here so it can be checked at the source.

Invstr: TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/17/invstr-raises-20m/, PitchBook https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/112118-14
Koniku: Crunchbase News https://news.crunchbase.com/ai-robotics/smell-focused-startups-osmo-koniku/, Forbes Africa https://www.forbesafrica.com/wealth/2022/10/11/venture-capital-in-west-africa-the-funding-surge, PitchBook https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/156549-97
Yova: CB Insights https://www.cbinsights.com/company/yova, Venturelab https://www.venturelab.swiss/Yova-completes-financing-cycle-of-CHF-11-million-to-accelerate-growth
Kollabo: startupticker https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/2-4-millionen-fuer-fachkraefte-plattform-kollabo, Oaklins https://www.oaklins.com/ch/en/deals/111264/
1910 Genetics: 1910.ai/investors https://www.1910.ai/investors, GlobeNewswire https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/03/23/2197724/0/en/1910-Genetics-Debuts-with-26M-to-Accelerate-the-Design-of-Small-Molecule-and-Protein-Therapeutics-Through-AI-Computation-and-Biological-Automation.html
DePoly: DePoly announcement https://www.depoly.co/article/depoly-to-launch-500-tonne-per-year-showcase-plant-to-give-yesterdays-plastics-a-new-purpose-as-it-secures-23m, startupticker https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/depoly-secures-chf-50-million-to-become-a-market-leader
Happy: Happy Health on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/weve-raised-75m-from-arch-venture-partners-share-7495494328144830464-UzYQ/, TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/24/tinder-founders-latest-play-is-a-ring-for-quantifying-mental-health/, Dealroom https://dealroom.co/news/145590-happy-health-lands-75m-series-a-to-move-care-into-the-home-starting-with/
Roswell Biotechnologies: PRNewswire https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roswell-biotechnologies-secures-32-million-series-a-financing-round-300772299.html, MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/03/31/1048672/roswell-molecular-electronics-revival/, PitchBook https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/227124-46
Enzian Health and Sensilia/Pernixol: bootstrapped, built without external funding.

# Verified client reviews

Client testimonials on this site are backed by verified Clutch reviews, each submitted directly by the client:

Kollabo: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/131974
Enzian Health: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/59245
HealthX: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/47775
Yova: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/84560
Koniku: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/16912
DePoly: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/16730
Sensilia: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/465762
Roswell Biotechnologies: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/185371
Invstr: https://clutch.co/go-to-review/be602d00-5a60-4b8c-a8d1-7cc3f60c5403/123712