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Egor Nefedov

Egor Nefedov

Egor Nefedov is the founder and managing director of ArtMoment, creative experiences where people with no art background paint a picture of their own. ArtMoment has welcomed more than 40,000 guests in more than 20 cities.

Founder and Managing Director of ArtMoment · Prague

About Egor

Egor was born in Moscow on 12 October 1999. He came to the Czech Republic in 2017, aged 17, and spent his first year learning Czech in Poděbrady. To get fluent, he then worked at the brewery in Malešov near Kutná Hora, both brewing beer and behind the bar. After that he was a barista at Starbucks, where he realised he never wanted to be an employee and wanted to build his own projects instead.

He graduated from the Prague University of Economics and Business (VŠE) with a bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s degree in marketing (Ing.). He started ArtMoment and his other projects while still at university.

He founded ArtMoment during the pandemic, after the first wave of restrictions in 2020, together with his VŠE classmates Jaroslav Kevin Peterka and Polina Burkova. Polina brought the idea back from a trip abroad, where she had come across an event combining art, relaxation and fun. The first painting evenings took place in Prague restaurants, and the project then went through the VŠE business accelerator and the CzechCrunch Startup Academy.

His first company is PaperTime, a brand of design paper models he founded with Kevin Peterka. It is still running; Egor works on it seasonally before Christmas, and the brand’s vision is to become the LEGO of paper. He shares his experience with automation and web and app development with other companies through one-to-one consulting under the Lagom brand. For ArtMoment he built the new website and a whole range of automations.

ArtMoment in numbers

40,000+guests at our creative experiences
20+cities where ArtMoment runs experiences
500+corporate events

Interview

Egor answered our questions on 13 October 2026.

How did you come up with the idea of turning painting into a business?
“I’ve always loved creativity and experiences. When a colleague came to me saying this was something missing here, I felt it was a great opportunity to start a business with something creative and interesting that could make other people’s lives better.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
When and how did ArtMoment start?
“During the pandemic, after the first wave of restrictions. People had been stuck at home and wanted to meet again, and restaurants needed guests. Abroad we discovered a concept that didn’t exist in the Czech Republic yet, and we felt it was missing here. We reworked it into a premium experience, tried it out on our friends and launched the first public events.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
What was the very first ArtMoment like?
“We invited ten friends and acquaintances to the first event, and the reactions were more than positive. People loved the process, and what convinced us most was that every single one of them managed to create their own painting. It looked really nice in the photos too, and it all took place in a stylish venue. The concept clearly worked, so we told ourselves we had to keep going.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
Why the Czech Republic and Prague?
“I first came to the Czech Republic as a tourist when I was fourteen, on a week-long holiday with my dad, and we both fell in love with Prague. We found out it’s a good place to study and to live in peace and safety. My parents wanted to give me a better life somewhere safe and pleasant.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
How did one event grow into more than 20 cities?
“It definitely didn’t happen overnight. At the beginning we were a really small team and did everything ourselves: we went to every event in person as couriers, photographers and co-organisers so that we could fine-tune the whole project. What moved us forward most was studying abroad, when we had to run the company remotely and started hiring capable people. That’s how we built a team of skilled, interesting and motivated people, which let us grow faster, keep the quality up and gradually add new concepts and new cities.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
What is the hardest part of running ArtMoment?
“The hardest part is keeping the quality of our experiences as high as possible, so that everyone who comes to any of our 30 formats in more than 20 cities gets an experience as good as the very first one we created. We have a great team of managers and instructors who know exactly what our values and standards are and do everything they can to make sure people have a great time. We listen to our customers and take every piece of feedback very seriously. We keep improving our products and everything around them, and we keep looking for ways to offer our services even better.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
Why do you automate so much at ArtMoment?
“We started from scratch and knew nothing about processes, data or running systems, so we did everything rather amateurishly and kept putting improvements off for a long time. Today we can see how hard it is to keep a company running when its processes don’t work. Automation lets us work fast and make better decisions based on data, and above all it gives our employees more interesting, creative work instead of spending dozens of hours clicking, filling in spreadsheet fields and stitching different tasks together. It’s also important to us to answer customers straight away with the help of AI, or to let them make any change to their booking themselves. We constantly analyse the data we have so we can see which experiences are more popular and better rated and which ones our customers are missing.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
What’s next?
“We keep creating new experiences so that people have more ways to meet up with their loved ones or friends, spend a pleasant evening in a creative setting, or find another gift. In the Czech Republic we’ve reached almost every region, and besides expanding to smaller towns we’re starting to grow abroad: into Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, gradually, step by step. In summer 2026 we opened a second studio in Brno, and we’re getting ready to open more locations.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
What would you advise someone who wants to start a business?
“Find a great team that will push you forward, as early as you can. I can’t imagine we’d be where we are today if we hadn’t invested in good people right away and kept looking for ways to improve our product. I believe that striving for the best result, transparent communication and a truly customer-first approach are the best way to succeed in the market. It isn’t enough just to start a business; you need to know what makes your company different from the competition, why you’re doing it and where it’s heading, and why customers should choose you.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
Do you paint yourself?
“I’ve never been a professional artist, and I wouldn’t say painting is one of my hobbies. But I see creativity all around me, and it doesn’t have to be on a canvas. I see every chance to improve the lives of my colleagues or our customers as a creative exercise and an opportunity to find a new, unconventional approach to how things are done.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026
What should people remember about you?
“You don’t need big capital, expertise or connections to build a successful, efficient company. Sometimes all it takes is a creative idea, a few good people who share your enthusiasm, and a constant drive to improve, learn and grow. With that, plus a pinch of stubbornness and determination, any success is within reach.”
Answer given to artmoment.cz, 13 October 2026

From media interviews

Quotes from interviews Egor has given to Czech media, translated from Czech. Each one links to the original article (in Czech).

When did you realise what ArtMoment is really about?
“We realised it’s about the experience, not about anyone learning to paint. And that defined how we approached the project from then on.”
Source: CzechCrunch, 8 January 2024
Who comes to ArtMoment?
“Most of our participants last held a brush at primary school. Our goal is to show them that absolutely anyone can create a beautiful painting, even without any special artistic talent. At the same time, it’s not about turning them into Picasso in one evening.”
Source: Forbes, 25 November 2023
What kind of feedback do you look for from guests?
“I’m not interested in positive feedback, I’m interested in criticism – it’s the only thing that moves you forward. Only constructive feedback from customers that points out shortcomings shows you how to improve a product or service.”
Source: Praha 7 – Hobulet, 23 August 2024
What are corporate events like before Christmas?
“Interestingly, some specific dates are very popular with companies – in the team we always joke about the jinxed date of 14 December. This year we’re organising five parties on that day alone.”
Source: E15, 15 December 2023
Where do you want to take ArtMoment?
“We don’t want to be the biggest. We want to be the best – the most authentic, friendly and inspiring experience you can treat yourself to.”
Source: Euro.cz, 16 July 2025

Did you know?

  • Asked whether he has a role model, he replied: “I’m not looking for a role model, I’m looking for inspiration.” (Praha 7)
  • The founders got their first tips on how to run a painting evening from Kevin’s cousin, who studied art education. (CzechCrunch)
  • ArtMoment has a “jinxed” date among companies: 14 December. In 2023 the team ran five Christmas parties on that day alone. (E15)
  • Together with the cosmetics brand LUSH, ArtMoment launched an experience that combines making bath bombs with abstract painting. (HMG Magazine)

Egor in the media

Interviews and articles in Czech media in which Egor talks about ArtMoment. Article titles are shown in the original Czech.

More articles about ArtMoment

In print

For journalists: photos, logos and facts about ArtMoment are on our Media page.

Egor’s articles in our magazine (in Czech)

Contact

You can write to Egor at egor@artmoment.cz or reach him on LinkedIn. Journalists can also contact our PR manager Zuzana Plachá at pr@artmoment.cz.

Updated 13 October 2026

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