Learn how to grow and scale a successful consumer tech business and hit your stride

StartUp
Academy 5.0

Registration for this batch is closed, but feel free to apply
for the Startup Academy 5.0 and be the first to know the updates.

The program is

  • Equity-free
  • Fully online program  with on-site Pitch Day
  • 3 months long

For

  • Pre-seed – Seed stage
  • Consumer tech startups, in domains like Health & Wellness, EdTech, Fintech etc.

During StartUp Academy, founders can

  • Commit to only what your business truly needs
  • Navigate your startup journey with a dedicated mentor
  • Involve your team members in all program activities
  • Pitch and connect with investors
  • Choose advisors for specific challenges
  • Receive 24/7 access to the content library

What we’ve achieved

7500

applications from over 60 countries

188

startups participated in the program

60

VC funds attended StartUp Academy 4.0 Pitch Day

$17M

invested in our founders during and after the program

22

companies are providing friendly deals for our community

Program

Go-to-Market
User Acquisition
Product-Led Growth
Team, Ops & Infrastructure
Fundraising

Growth, Acquisition & Conversion

  • GTM strategies for consumer startups
  • Market and competition research
  • Defining and validating your Ideal Customer Profile
  • Building your first sales motion

User Acquisition

  • Launching paid channels without burn
  • Creative mechanics and testing tactics
  • Organic growth: community, brand, virality hacks
  • Early-stage sales and partnership strategies

Product-Led Growth

  • Cohort retention analysis for maximizing LTV
  • Onboarding, push notifications, and reactivation tactics
  • Monetization testing: increasing end-to-end conversion
  • User patterns behind key engagement metrics
  • Monetization testing: increasing end-to-end conversion

Team, Ops & Infrastructure

  • Building and growing team: hiring, in-house vs outsourcing
  • Payments infrastructure: setup, analytics, workflows
  • Customer support as a core ops function

Fundraising

  • Investment relationships: data room, pitch deck, updates.
  • Structuring seed round: SAFE, valuation, cap table.
  • Funding benchmarks and trends in 2025
  • Pitch Hard Knocks: live feedback from VCs and founders
Go-to-Market
User Acquisition
Product-Led Growth
Team, Ops & Infrastructure
Fundraising

Go-to-Market

  • GTM strategies for consumer startups
  • Market and competition research
  • Defining and validating your Ideal Customer Profile
  • Building your first sales motion

User Acquisition

  • Launching paid channels without burn
  • Creative mechanics and testing tactics
  • Organic growth: community, brand, virality hacks
  • Early-stage sales and partnership strategies

Product-Led Growth

  • Cohort retention analysis for maximizing LTV
  • Onboarding, push notifications, and reactivation tactics
  • Monetization testing: increasing end-to-end conversion
  • User patterns behind key engagement metrics
  • Structured multiplayer interaction and network effects

Team, Ops & Infrastructure

  • Building and growing team: hiring, in-house vs outsourcing
  • Payments infrastructure: setup, analytics, workflows
  • Customer support as a core ops function

Fundraising

  • Investment relationships: data room, pitch deck, updates.
  • Structuring seed round: SAFE, valuation, cap table.
  • Funding benchmarks and trends in 2025
  • Pitch Hard Knocks: live feedback from VCs and founders

Mentor checkpoints

Advisory sessions

Deep-dive workshops

Case studies

Panel discussions

Knowledge library

Pitch practices

Our experts

Shawn Gong

Product Growth Advisor at Tinder, ex-Grindr, ex-Snapchat

13 years of experience launching and scaling global consumer apps at Tinder, Grindr, GOAT, and Snap. Expertise in product growth/management, international expansion, monetization, and behavioral science

Miglė Barauskaitė

CEO at Alota, Ex-Head of Opportunities at Kilo Health

Miglė transforms health & wellness brands through strategic growth marketing, having scaled teams from zero to 10+ specialists and managed $30M+ in ad spend. As the CEO of Alota, a health & wellness growth agency based in Finland, she specializes in unlocking revenue from emerging platforms like TikTok, Pinterest and ones you likely haven't even heard of.

Vital Laptenok

General Partner
at Flyer One Ventures

Vital founded Flyer One Ventures in November 2018 and at this point an international venture capital firm have $35 million invested in 60+ companies. He has more than 15 years of professional and entrepreneurial experience. Before becoming a VC, Vital founded Genesis, which develops global tech businesses born in CEE.

Simona Vilkaite-Marcinkevice

Creative Strategiest at Meta

More than ten years in the social media business industry - from the agency world to Meta - and still entirely in love with this mobile-first world. As a creative strategist, Simona has been discovering new creative possibilities at the intersection of people, culture, and technology. She has helped many brands adopt a mobile-first mindset and continually seeks recent trends and "hacks" to improve their creatives to achieve their business goals.

Sälli Silm

Localization Manager
at Lightyear. ex-Bolt,
ex-Booking.com

Sälli has an experience in the localization industry for more than 14 years. She has held various positions in localization for Booking.com, Bugaboo, FedEx, Bolt and is currently building the localization program at Lightyear.
With such diverse experience, she’s encountered varying levels of localization proficiency over the years, but has developed a strength for building efficient processes and dedicated teams.

Dan Kleiman

Chief Creative Officer at Bambasadors

Dan is a creative founder and growth operator. He runs Bambassadors (UGC ads), Actyvv (DTC brand builder), and previously scaled Jottix Media (performance marketing in entertainment). From strategy to execution, he helps brands grow fast and convert better.

Imti Basharat

VC at Heartfelt Capital

London-born, now in Berlin, Imtiyaz is an investor at Heartfelt (backed by Axel Springer & Porsche) with a decade of experience across VC, PE, credit, and policy.

Taras Yarosevych

Senior Product Manager
at Spotify

Taras possesses over a decade of experience in product management within the fintech, mobility, currently performing at Spotify. He demonstrates profound expertise in developing consumer-facing products as well as has significantly contributed to the growth and successful acquisitions of multiple SaaS startups.

Roman Prokofyev

Founder at Jooble

Co-founder & CEO at Jooble — a global job search platform operating in 70+ countries and used by millions. Started as a local startup, grew it into one of the top 3 job sites worldwide. Background in software development, with deep focus on product, team building, and long-term growth. Experienced in navigating global expansion, market shifts, and crisis management.

Ilya Lukach

Head of B2B & Partnerships at Headway

Ilya leads B2B and growth partnerships at Headway Inc., where they drive innovation across corporate learning products and strategic deals. With a background in enterprise sales and venture advising, they focus on scaling impact-driven education through collaboration and revenue strategy.

Olena Mazhuha

Partner
at Flyer One Ventures

Expertise in deal sourcing, fundraising, introductions to VCs, and deck composition. Before joining Flyer One Ventures, she worked as an investment analyst at TA Ventures.

Sofia Vyshnevska

Co-founder and COO at Jome

As a proud Techstars 2020 Alumni, NewHomesMate’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Starting as a 15-member team, the company has skyrocketed to 90+ members across Ukraine and US, with an 11x increase in revenue. Moreover, the recent achievement of securing $6.7 million in funding from prominent investors further solidifies NewHomesMate’s position as a leading player in the real estate technology sector.

Slava Matskov

CEO at Howly by SKELAR

CEO of Howly, a global marketplace for online consultations. Previous experience in finance (PE, IB) and consulting (McK).

Ilya Liasun

Sr. ML Manager at Pinterest, Ex‑CEO & Co‑founder at Vochi

Ilya co‑founded Vochi, an AI-driven mobile video‑effects app that was acquired by Pinterest in late 2021, and now serves as a Senior Manager in Pinterest’s Machine Learning team. He's a serial builder—from launching a vision-packed deep‑tech startup to scaling it through acquisition—and a passionate tech leader focused on computational photography and ML innovation.

Alexandra Naidonova

Global Brand Lead at HOLYWATER. Brand lead at Yope

10 years of experience working in a creative agencies and in venture capital. As a Head of Marketing in Flyer One Ventures helped 60 portfolio companies with their marketing, including analytics and customer development. Degree in Brand Strategy Planning from Miami Ad School. Won the international Beautiful Minds competition in New York.

Yaroslav Morozov

Founder and CEO at Universe Group

In the world of IT since 2014. In 3 years of work, he presented his own business idea, marking the beginning of the Universe story. Launched three businesses whose products are used by 62 million people worldwide and coined the team's unofficial slogan: "We need to test it”

Eugene Kashuk

Founder and CEO at Brighterly

Eugene is a serial founder with two exits, now building Brighterly, an AI-powered math tutoring platform for kids. He brings hands-on experience across marketing, growth, and leadership in fast-scaling edtech and DTC startups.

Anna Khoma

ex-CMO at OBRIO (Genesis). ex-CGO Kissmyapps

Anna in an ex-CMO at Ukrainian IT product company, who led a team of 30+ specialists, managed $10M+ annual advertising budgets, and created and lead teams in performance, product, and brand marketing. Was responsible for business revenue and profits, CAC, LTV, retention rates, brand awareness, etc. Currently advises startups on marketing, growth, and strategy, and is a co-founder of an early-stage sustainable startup Vive.

Denys Sychkov

Principal at Horizon Capital

Denys has holistic end-to-end investment experience at Horizon Capital, the leading PE Fund in the region, with a core focus on portfolio value add in fast-growing tech companies, particularly in eCommerce, EdTech and MobileApps segments.

Jakub Zimola

VC at  J&T VENTURES

Jakub is a VC investor at J&T Ventures, an early-stage fund backing startups with up to $2.5M in initial funding. Based in the Bay Area, they support founders across Europe and the U.S., bringing a background in partnerships, early-stage growth, and ecosystem development.

Tiberiu Iacomi

Startup Growth Coach at TRAINED INTUITION

For 15 years, Tiberiu has been working with accelerators, universities & startups in Europe, Asia & MENA. He has advised >500 startups on achieving PMF, optimizing business models and GTM strategies, scaling to new markets and pitching to investors.

Ksenia Novikova

Head of Operations at Flyer One Ventures

Ksenia helps F1V and its portfolio with operational processes. She specializes in enhancing operational efficiency for organizational success. Ksenia is 3x COO with 7+ years of experience. Before joining F1V, she worked at Smart Group, Genesis, AMO, and Roosh Tech.

Max Zubenko

Head of Product Marketing at Jooble

9+ Years in Marketing: Spearheaded product growth, led 4 departments. ~$300k Deal / 3x Revenue: Directly influenced business revenue.

Viacheslav Tsurkan

Head of Product Marketing
at Jiji

Managing multimillion-dollar marketing budgets. His expertise lies in leveraging experiments, analytics, and effective marketing strategies to foster product development and growth.

Igor Kachura

Head, GM & Engineering at Wix.com

15 years of experience in the IT industry. I have worked in companies of various sizes, from startups to Big Tech. For the last 5 years, I have been building and developing mobile teams and Wix products.

Olga Shapovalova

CEO at Addmile

Strategic Management, B2B & Partnerships Expert. She helps tech businesses in various markets ranging from Ukraine to the US and Africa build new teams, develop communication strategies and drive sales.

Max Lukominskyi

CMO at OBRIO (Genesis)

Lifetime ad budgets > $100M. Max successfully launched 4 businesses from scratch, two of which are $30M+ ARR. Author of a book - included in the Top 3 books about business in Ukraine 2020. Condicted two successful Kickstarter campaigns with over $1M raised.

Tetiana Hryshchenko

Head of Performance Marketing at Promova

Tetiana is a performance marketing expert with hands-on experience scaling paid acquisition across web, iOS, and Android. At Promova, they led a 27-person team, managed multi-million dollar budgets, and launched high-ROI campaigns globally. Their expertise spans media buying, creative strategy, data-driven growth, and team leadership in fast-growing consumer apps.

Vadim Rogovskiy

Serial founder and investor, Partner at Geek Ventures

Under his leadership, the company has raised nearly $15M from global investors and received prestigious industry awards.Vadim is also a partner at Geek Ventures, an early-stage VC firm supporting immigrant founders as they build world-changing solutions in the US market.

Maksym Shmalii

Founder and CEO at MaxBeauty by SKELAR

Built a career in FMCG (Philip Morris), Strategy consulting (Deloitte) & Private Equity (Dragon Capital). Swtiched to marketing to become a CMO in late-stage Tier-1 focused B2C product company. Currently launching a B2C product as a Founder.

Hanna Shuvalova

Principal at Horizon Capital

During her tenure at Horizon, she focuses on tech portfolio companies and NBD leads. After Stanford Graduate School of Business, Hanna went on to co-found Pawa, an AI-focused venture studio, which under her leadership, secured funding from international investors and incubated several AI startups.

Stanislav Rybachuk

Reddit Partner Director at Aleph, Ex-Senior TikTok Client Partner at Aleph

Since 2018, Stanislav has scaled digital revenue - driving BetterMe’s app growth through data-led user acquisition, building Httpool’s global Snapchat performance unit that fused B2B ad sales with creative strategy, and now, as Reddit Partner Director at Aleph, crafting multi-market go-to-market plans and streamlining sales ops to accelerate growth in 29 emerging markets.

Yuliia Hrabenko

Marketing Lead at memoryOS, Ex-Reface

A performance marketing and mobile growth expert with hands-on experience scaling apps like Reface and memoryOS. Skilled in managing cross-platform campaigns (Meta, TikTok, Google, ASA), optimizing funnels, and driving user retention. Has led marketing for apps with over 250M+ downloads, combining data, creative, and strategy to fuel sustainable growth.

Andrii Brodetskyi

Investment Associate at Horizon Capital

His profound interest in the tech industry and finance led him to make the transition to finance from his previous role as an editor for a prominent national business media outlet. Andrii further enriched his experience as an Analyst at Adamant Capital, where he skillfully conducted startup sourcing, market research, investment analysis, and adeptly managed media relations.

Daria Yaniieva

Investment Director at Sigma Software Labs

Managing a portfolio of $2.1M invested in 18 companies. Working closely with startups from pre-screening stages and up to scaling opportunities through 250+ business contacts in 30+ locations globally.

Sofia Brutsyak

Of Counsel at DWF Law, Ex-Senior Legal Counsel at  TA Ventures

Legal counsel with expertise in VC investments, due diligence of startups, IP & data privacy regulations. Previous experience in a top-tier law firm in Ukraine with a focus on legal support to IT companies and consulting for startups. Currently, joined TA Ventures to facilitate and close VC investments, assist with fundraising matters (due diligence, negotiation of terms, structuring of deals), and provide general corporate governance and KYC / AML compliance services.

Andrew Zinchuk

Founder and Managing Partner at ZAS Ventures

Andrew Zinchuk is an experienced Ukrainian entrepreneur, investor, ecosystem builder, and startup advisor. He is a Founding Partner at ZAS Ventures, an early-stage VC that invests in SaaS and cloud startups in Central and Eastern Europe.

Georgiy Fomichev

CEO at TENTENS Tech
by SKELAR

8+ years in IT products development. Partner at SKELAR tech & LP at F1V. Previously, worked at Microsoft

Valeriia Ketrysh

Senior Investment Associate at Horizon Capital

Valeriia joined the investment team in September 2023, bringing her extensive experience in investment analysis and portfolio management.As a Corporate Finance Manager at KPMG she was engaged in various areas, including business valuation, business modeling, management consulting, and M&A.

Anna Shcherba

Senior investment analyst
at Genesis

- Business and Financial Economics at Kyiv School of Economics
- Financial analyst at Procter & Gamble
- Senior investment analyst at Genesis"

Volodymyr Mnogoletniy

Co-founder and CEO
at Genesis

Most of the 20+ businesses co-founded by Genesis generate revenue of tens of millions of dollars each. Genesis is approaching a capitalization of $1 billion now.

Vasile Tofan

Senior Partner at Horizon Capital

Senior Partner at the leading privat equity firm in Emerging Europe, with over $1,6 billion under management. Prior to joining Horizon Capital, Vasile was a Consultant with Monitor Group and a Senior Manager with Philips in their Corporate Strategy team, both in Amsterdam

Stanislav Birov

Client partner, CEE
at Meta

Commercial and business development manager with experience in leading global companies, including Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, and HansaWorld, building high-performing teams of up to 300 employees.

Cathy Wang

Business advisor at Matters Partners

She specialises in business strategy, go-to-market, digital products, and propositions. Cathy has spearheaded numerous ambitious endeavours, with commercial results of $90M Enterprise Value.

Vital Laptenok

General Partner at Flyer One Ventures

He has more than 15 years of professional and entrepreneurial experience. Before becoming a VC, Vital founded Genesis, which develops global tech businesses born in CEE.

Sälli Silm

Localization Manager at Lightyear. ex-Bolt, ex-Booking.com

Sälli has an experience in the localization industry for more than 14 years. She has held various positions in localization for Booking.com, Bugaboo, FedEx, Bolt and is currently building the localization program at Lightyear.

Ian Carroll

Venture Capital and Start-Up Partner at Meta

Over 10 years in social media helping Start-Ups to large corporates scale across an array of industries from Fintech, Ecomm, Apps to Gaming. Ian's focus is now on supporting the Central Europen Start-Up ecosystem to bring the next wave success on Meta.

Vadym Voitiuk

Principal Solution Architect at AWS

He has previously served as CTO or Co-Founder of multiple startups, including one that ranked among the Top5000 most visited websites. Vadym has also held senior engineering leadership positions at Flixbus, Careem(Uber).

Denys Sychkov

Investment Director at Horizon Capital

Denys has holistic end-to-end investment experience at Horizon Capital, the leading PE Fund in the region, with a core focus on portfolio value add in fast-growing tech companies, particularly in eCommerce, EdTech and MobileApps segments.

Hanna Shuvalova

Principal at Horizon Capital

During her tenure at Horizon, she focuses on tech portfolio companies and NBD leads. After Stanford Graduate School of Business, Hanna went on to co-found Pawa, an AI-focused venture studio, which under her leadership, secured funding from international investors and incubated several AI startups.

Mikko-Pekka Hanski

Co-Founder at Double Tap Investments. Chairman of the board at YTK

He is an early stage investor to start-ups and also an investment committee member in family offices, venture capital firm and institutional investment.

Simona Vilkaite-Marcinkevice

Business advisor at Matters Partners

More than ten years in the social media business industry - from the agency world to Meta - and still entirely in love with this mobile-first world. As a creative strategist, Simona has been discovering new creative possibilities at the intersection of people, culture, and technology. She has helped many brands adopt a mobile-first mindset and continually seeks recent trends and "hacks" to improve their creatives to achieve their business goals.

Taras Yarosevych

Senior Product Manager at Spotify

Taras possesses over a decade of experience in product management within the fintech, mobility, currently performing at Spotify. He demonstrates profound expertise in developing consumer-facing products as well as has significantly contributed to the growth and successful acquisitions of multiple SaaS startups.

Sofia Vyshnevska

Co-founder and COO at NewHomesMate

As a proud Techstars 2020 Alumni, NewHomesMate’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Starting as a 15-member team, the company has skyrocketed to 90+ members across Ukraine and US, with an 11x increase in revenue.

Alex Serdiuk

Co-founder and CEO at Respeecher

During 6 years Alex has been building respeecher, a trusted for Hollywood studios in synthetic voices. The team of 55 delivered more than 150 projects awarded with Emmys, Clio, Webby.

Niko Bolkvadze

Client Partner CEE at Meta

He has holistic
end-to-end investment experience at the leading PE Fund in the region. Before Horizon Capital, he worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company and audit manager at PwC.

Maciej Szelag

CEE FinTech Lead at AWS

Respected builder and leader of customer-focused team able to instill a shared commitment to customer service as a key driver of company goal attainment. Equipped with practical knowledge of how to lead teams during business transformation process and support people and organization during these changes.

Daria Yaniieva

Investment Director at Sigma Software Labs

Managing a portfolio of $2.1M invested in 18 companies. Working closely with startups from pre-screening stages and up to scaling opportunities through 250+ business contacts in 30+ locations globally.

Max Zubenko

Head of Product Marketing at Reply.io

9+ Years in Marketing: Spearheaded product growth, led 4 departments. ~$300k Deal / 3x Revenue: Directly influenced business revenue.

Max Shtepa

CEO at SKELAR

Previously was a Partner and Director of business development at Genesis  His expertise is in emerging markets, valuation, financial modeling, and asset management.

Oleksii Yermolenko

Co-founder & Partner at Flyer One Ventures

Experienced consultant working in the corporate finance and accounting industry. His skillset lies in valuation, presentation, management, and financial accounting. Previously worked for KPMG, Deloitte.

Artem Kopaniev

COO at Genesis

Currently, manages the business processes of an ecosystem of more than 25 IT businesses with 3,000+ employees and operates in the US, African, and European markets

Ruslan Nazarenko

Growth Advisor. Ex-Vimeo, Ex-Bird

Took a few startups from 0 to 1M users, and another one from 0 to $1M/mo. Recently led a PLG at Vimeo, and got 4x user and 3x revenue growth. Part of Sequoia’s 1% talent pool.

Olga Shapovalova

CEO at Addmile

Strategic Management, B2B & Partnerships Expert. She helps tech businesses in various markets ranging from Ukraine to the US and Africa build new teams, develop communication strategies and drive sales.

Igor Kachura

Head of Engineering at WIX

15 years of experience in the IT industry. I have worked in companies of various sizes, from startups to Big Tech. For the last 5 years, I have been building and developing mobile teams and Wix products.

Serhii Bohoslovskiy

CEO at Trible by SKELAR

Launched dozens of startups, and some of them even survived and scaled. Ex-RnD Officer at Genesis, ex-Growth Officer at SKELAR

Ksenia Novikova

Head of Operations at Flyer One Ventures

Ksenia helps F1V and its portfolio with operational processes. She specializes in enhancing operational efficiency for organizational success. Ksenia is 3x COO with 7+ years of experience. Before joining F1V, she worked at Smart Group, Genesis, AMO, and Roosh Tech.

Iryna Kraichyk

Chief Growth Officer at Universe

Growth Marketing Strategist, performance marketing from zero to $M-ons and TOP charts (apps and web), ex-brand marketer, ex-audit

Oleksandr Matsiuk

COO at Trible by SKELAR

Expert in customer operations, sales, support, customer success, and product. Prior experience – VC and Strategy&Growth at venture builder.

Slava Chernyavskiy

Head of Strategy & Growth at SKELAR

He is responsible for the governance of SKELAR portfolio companies, from R&D to late-stage businesses. Slava’s background is in the management consulting industry where he built a successful career at Oliver Wyman and Mastercard.

Valeriia Ketrysh

Senior Investment Associate at Horizon Capital

Valeriia joined the investment team in September 2023, bringing her extensive experience in investment analysis and portfolio management.As a Corporate Finance Manager at KPMG she was engaged in various areas, including business valuation, business modeling, management consulting, and M&A.

Andrii Brodetskyi

Investment Analyst at Horizon Capital

His profound interest in the tech industry and finance led him to make the transition to finance from his previous role as an editor for a prominent national business media outlet. Andrii further enriched his experience as an Analyst at Adamant Capital, where he skillfully conducted startup sourcing, market research, investment analysis, and adeptly managed media relations.

Max Lukominskyi

CMO at OBRIO (Genesis)

Lifetime ad budgets > $100M. Max successfully launched 4 businesses from scratch, two of which are $30M+ ARR. Author of a book - included in the Top 3 books about business in Ukraine 2020. Condicted two successful Kickstarter campaigns with over $1M raised.

Alexandra Naidonova

Fractional Brand Lead

10 years of experience working in a creative agencies and in venture capital. As a Head of Marketing in Flyer One Ventures helped 60 portfolio companies with their marketing, including analytics and customer development. Degree in Brand Strategy Planning from Miami Ad School. Won the international Beautiful Minds competition in New York.

Anna Shcherba

Senior investment analyst at Genesis

- Business and Financial Economics at Kyiv School of Economics
- Financial analyst at Procter & Gamble
- Senior investment analyst at Genesis

Slava Matskov

CEO at Howly by SKELAR

CEO of Howly, a global marketplace for online consultations. Previous experience in finance (PE, IB) and consulting (McK).

Anna Khoma

Co-founder at Vive, ex CMO at OBRIO (Genesis)

Anna in an ex-CMO at Ukrainian IT product company, who led a team of 30+ specialists, managed $10M+ annual advertising budgets, and created and lead teams in performance, product, and brand marketing. Was responsible for business revenue and profits, CAC, LTV, retention rates, brand awareness, etc. Currently advises startups on marketing, growth, and strategy, and is a co-founder of an early-stage sustainable startup Vive.

Georgiy Fomichev

CEO at TENTENS Tech by SKELAR

8+ years in IT products development. Partner at SKELAR tech & LP at F1V. Previously, worked at Microsoft

Olena Mazhuha

Investment Director at Flyer One Ventures

Expertise in deal sourcing, fundraising, introductions to VCs, and deck composition. Before joining Flyer One Ventures, she worked as an investment analyst at TA Ventures.

Yaroslav Morozov

Founder and CEO of Universe Group

In the world of IT since 2014. In 3 years of work, he presented his own business idea, marking the beginning of the Universe story. Launched three businesses whose products are used by 62 million people worldwide and coined the team's unofficial slogan: "We need to test it”

Idealers

Creative marketing agency working with startups

They develop brand essence and effective tools for communication and engagement with the market and investors. Support startups with Brand Strategies and Identity, Web Development Services, Video Production. Assist startups in conveying efficiently their key value right from the first touch.

Alex Fedorov

CEO at OBRIO (Genesis)

He started his career at PwC Cyprus in 2015 and joined Genesis as an Operations Manager in 2017. In May 2019, he founded the company OBRIO. Then, the team launched the flagship product Nebula, which has 30 Million users worldwide and with $50 million ARR and is the top world brand in the niche.

Viacheslav Tsurkan

Head of Product Marketing at Jiji

He has holistic
end-to-end investment experience at the leading PE Fund in the region. Before Horizon Capital, he worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company and audit manager at PwC.

Oleksii Nischyk

Education Operations Director at Genesis

Oleksiy manages the education department. He has experiencein building and scaling teams and educational projects. Morethan 45,000 specialists and founders have completededucational programs created by his team.

Julia Mazyryka

Partner Enablement Lead | Germany & Europe Central | AWS

Strategic, data-driven professional with 5 years in Academic Research and over 10 years of international experience in Business Development, Sales, Channel Partner Management and Learning & Development within the software/technology industry.

Ihor Zakutynskyi

Tech Lead at FORMA in Universe Group

With over 10 years of experience in development, he has worked with various technologies, projects, and teams. He specializes in creating high load and distributed systems.

Olha Storozhylova

Head of Product Guru Apps at Universe Group

Started her career in tech over 8 years ago, during which she worked on B2B and B2C products in various European countries. She loves achieving ambitious goals and fostering a product mindset in all team members.

Alex Pasykov

Founder and CEO of Hily and Taimi

As of now, Hily has reached 31m+ users, and Taimi has 18m+ users. Both apps were launched in 2017 to make dating an entertaining, high-quality experience, implementing inclusivity and diversity.

Roshni Wijayasinha

CEO, Founder of Prosh Marketing

Marketing leader with over 17 years of experience, built reputation by bringing creativity and strategic insights to global tech companies Microsoft, Sony and Kobo, and built out marketing teams and brands at tech startups like JUICE Mobile, Thinking Capital and Kobo.

Andrew Zinchuk

Founder and Managing Partner at ZAS Ventures

Andrew Zinchuk is an experienced Ukrainian entrepreneur, investor, ecosystem builder, and startup advisor. He is a Founding Partner at ZAS Ventures, an early-stage VC that invests in SaaS and cloud startups in Central and Eastern Europe.

Vadim Rogovskiy

CEO abd Co-Founder at 3DLOOK

Under his leadership, the company has raised nearly $15M from global investors and received prestigious industry awards.Vadim is also a partner at Geek Ventures, an early-stage VC firm supporting immigrant founders as they build world-changing solutions in the US market.

Sofia Brutsyak

Legal & Investor Relations at TA Ventures

Legal counsel with expertise in VC investments, due diligence of startups, IP & data privacy regulations. Previous experience in a top-tier law firm in Ukraine with a focus on legal support to IT companies and consulting for startups. Currently, joined TA Ventures to facilitate and close VC investments, assist with fundraising matters (due diligence, negotiation of terms, structuring of deals), and provide general corporate governance and KYC / AML compliance services.

Guided Startup Growth

Founders, domain experts, and investors who match your company profile will help you build progress around your goals, staying on track with bi-weekly meetings

Dedicated Mentor

3 months of
one-on-one support

Get yourself into calendars of entrepreneurs who built +200M ARR companies, VCs with billions AUM and experts from Meta, Bolt, Spotify, Pinterest are there for your hypergrowth.

Advisors Network

Over 80 experts from world's top companies

Polish your deck with regular investor feedback and build VC connections to bring your next round closer.

Investment Relationships

Pitch and connect with VCs every 2 weeks

Pitch day

Pitch at Demo Day during one of Europe’s top conferences

This is your moment to present to 60+ top investors after weeks of focused preparation. Be also ready to party with VCs and fellow founders sharing meaningful talks and fun pics.

A lot of work to be done after the event, we’ll be there for you to empower connections with investors all the way.

VC AT TRMNL4 NETWORK

Unlock connections to 40+ VCs

Mentor checkpoints

Advisory sessions

Deep-dive workshops

Case studies

Panel discussions

Knowledge library

Pitch practices

Timeline

June 10 – July 17
Applications open
June 23 – July 28
Pitch deck review
July 30 –August 8
Final interviews
Program Duration
August 18 – November 20

Alumni stargazing

Alex Ruzh

CEO at memoryOS, Participant of StartUp Academy 3.0

"We raised from F1V, SID Venture Partners, Vesna Capital & Angel One — all of them were connected through TRMNL4. The StartUp Academy also led us to our now Head of Marketing, Anna Khoma. In 6 months, MAUs grew 12× and revenue jumped 27×."

memoryOS (EdTech) raised funding from 4 European VCs

Easy Sales (Romania)close the round of €1.1M.

Irina Zamfir

Chief Revenue Officer at easySales
Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

"Startup Academy provided me the structure. It's like putting gold information in one big picture and then start applying it."

Emil Chichioi

Founder and CEO at Bloomcoding, Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

"An insane amount of value add through the meetings that I had with the C-levels suite of Genesis portfolio companies. This contributed by generating exposure for us in front of VCs. Winning [StartUp Academy Pitch Day] was another proof point which helped us speed the conversation and win the trust of uventures and raised $1 million totally in this round."

Moldovan EdTech Bloomcoding raises €1M from three European VC funds

Moldovan EdTech Bloomcoding raises €1M from three European VC funds

Emil Chichioi

Founder & CEO at Bloomcoding
Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

"An insane amount of value add through the meetings that I had with the C-levels suite of Genesis portfolio companies. This contributed by generating exposure for us in front of VCs. Winning [StartUp Academy Pitch Day] was another proof point which helped us speed the conversation and win the trust of uventures and raised $1 million totally in this round."

Irina Zamfir

Chief Revenue Officer at easySales, Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

"Startup Academy provided me the structure. It's like putting gold information in one big picture and then start applying it."

Easy Sales (Romania)
close the round of €1.1M.

memoryOS (EdTech) raised funding from 4 European VCs.

Alex Ruzh

CEO at memoryOS
Participant of StartUp Academy 3.0

"We raised from F1V, SID Venture Partners, Vesna Capital & Angel One — all of them were connected through TRMNL4. The StartUp Academy also led us to our now Head of Marketing, Anna Khoma. In 6 months, MAUs grew 12× and revenue jumped 27×."

Veronica Covali

Co-Founder, CMO at Stilio, Participant of StartUp Academy 3.0

"TRMNL4 connects an amazing founders. Maria booked a mentorship slot and this is how i learned about Maramio and got really enthusiastic about the team and product! Happy to explore opportunities as a founder and investor."

StartUp Academy alumni invest in each other: Veronica Covali announces investment in Maramio.

StartUp Academy alumni invest in each other: Veronica Covali announces investment in Maramio.

Veronica Covali

Co-Founder, CMO at Stilio
Participant of StartUp Academy 3.0

"TRMNL4 connects an amazing founders. Maria booked a mentorship slot and this is how i learned about Maramio and got really enthusiastic about the team and product! Happy to explore opportunities as a founder and investor."

Oleksii Shaldenko

CEO at Wantent, Participant of Startup Academy 4.0

"The investors and mentors at TRMNL4 really prepare you for scaling and building a go-to-market strategy. Accelerators like TRMNL4 — with international mentors — give you the best of both worlds: local insight and global experience."

Wantent named TRMNL4 the top accelerator in Ukraine, according to Forbes.

Wantent named TRMNL4 the top accelerator in Ukraine, according to Forbes.

Oleksii Shaldenko

CEO at Wantent, Participant of Startup Academy 4.0

“The investors and mentors at TRMNL4 really prepare you for scaling and building a go-to-market strategy. Accelerators like TRMNL4 — with international mentors — give you the best of both worlds: local insight and global experience.”

Levan Kiladze

Co-Founder of QuickShipper, Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

"QuickShipper’s journey began at Startup Academy in 2022, offering us essential resources, valuable connections, and unique startup perks. This experience was instrumental in accelerating our growth. We highly recommend Startup Academy to new startups looking for a strong launchpad."

New Nordic Ventures invested in QuickShipper, Georgia-based startup.

New Nordic Ventures invested in QuickShipper, Georgia-based startup.

Levan Kiladze

Co-Founder of QuickShipper, Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

"QuickShipper’s journey began at Startup Academy in 2022, offering us essential resources, valuable connections, and unique startup perks. This experience was instrumental in accelerating our growth. We highly recommend Startup Academy to new startups looking for a strong launchpad."

Friendly Deals

Get perks from 20+ companies in the TRMNL4 network. Check out the special offers from our valued partners

  • Credits from AWS through the selected VC network and experts' support.
  • 6 months of free Notion towards a Plus Plan.
  • Unlimited AI for 6 months.
  • 6 months free of Zendesk Customer Support Suite and Zendesk Sales CRM
  • 15% discount off the first annual subscription after an initial 6-month free period.
  • 3 months of free attribution + access to any AppsFlyer products and services for the duration of the trial.
  • 15% Discount
  • 20% discount for contractors
  • 20% discount for full-time employees (EOR)
  • 20% discount for Deel Shield
  • 20% discount for Global Payroll
  • 100% discount for 3 months of sales engagement with Reply
  • up to 50% discount afterwards
  • $10k in AWS Promotional Credits for up to 2 years
  • 1:1 meetings with AWS Experts
  • 6 months of free Notion towards a Plus Plan.
  • Unlimited AI for 6 months.
  • 6 months free of Zendesk Customer Support Suite and Zendesk Sales CRM
  • 15% discount off the first annual subscription after an initial 6-month free period.
  • 3 months of free attribution + access to any AppsFlyer products and services for the duration of the trial.
  • 15% Discount
  • 12 free months off a CMS site plan
  • 100% discount for 3 months of sales engagement with Reply
  • up to 50% discount afterwards

and 16 more deals

Moldovan EdTech Bloomcoding raises €1M from three European VC funds
Emil Chichioi

Founder & CEO at Bloomcoding
Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

“I attended the lecture of Genesis co-founder Vladimir Mnogoletny which opened up a lot of key ideas for me. After the lecture, I realized that I did not have a focus on quality hiring.
My company's stage does not meet the team requirements for further growth and scaling.
As CEO I'm not doing my job right. Therefore, my efforts now are aimed at improving the team.”
Moldovan EdTech Bloomcoding raises €1M from three European VC funds
Emil Chichioi

Founder & CEO at Bloomcoding
Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0

“I attended the lecture of Genesis co-founder Vladimir Mnogoletny which opened up a lot of key ideas for me. After the lecture, I realized that I did not have a focus on quality hiring.
My company's stage does not meet the team requirements for further growth and scaling.
As CEO I'm not doing my job right. Therefore, my efforts now are aimed at improving the team.”

DISCOVER MORE FROM TRMNL4.

a connector [for] startups, investors, and global tech players.

Trmnl4.Community

unites one-of-a-kind founders from the CEE region.

Trmnl4.Programs

teach startups how to grow and scale successful tech businesses.

Organizers

TRMNL4 [terminal] — a connector [for] startups, investors, and global tech players.We create educational, networking, and investment opportunities for tech businesses.

FAQ

1. Who are the organizers?

  • TRMNL4, together with Meta, launches StartUp Academy — a free international program for founders of consumer tech startups on how to build, operate, and scale profitable tech businesses.

2. How to join the StartUp Academy

  • Fill out the application form. Once submitted, you’ll receive a confirmation email — if you don’t see it, be sure to check your spam folder. The selection process includes a screening, a pitch deck review, and an interview. You’ll be notified of the results at each stage via email.

3. How is the learning process organized?

  • Meet with an assigned mentor, who guides you for 3 months, determine your goals, develop a startup development plan, and track success.
  • Select and join deep-dive online workshops, case studies, and panel discussions for practical content your startup needs.
  • Explore the Advisors’ network and receive one-on-one support for specific requests.
  • Discover the Knowledge library to power up your expertise and prepare for a meeting with experts.
  • Practice your pitch every 2 weeks and prepare for our final Pitch Day, participation in which is determined by the startup's level of preparation and its progress in the initial program.
  • *All online events take place in Zoom, and interaction with experts and the content library is organized on our T4.Platform.

4. What will be the working language?

  • English.

5. As a founder, can I involve my startup team in the program?

  • For complex startup growth, your team can attend deep-dive workshops, access specialized case studies, meet with advisors, and get help on their field from mentor and other experts, so the entire team can learn and move faster.

6. How many startups are going to take part in the program?

  • The idea of TRMNL4 and StartUp Academy itself is to provide the most efficient learning experience, enable a personalized connection between founders, and help them to connect with experts and investors. That is why we have to form a cohort with a limited number of 30 participants.

7. What are the entry requirements?

  • The program is designed mainly for consumer tech-driven startups from Pre-Seed to Seed stages, in domains like Health & Wellness, EdTech, Fintech, etc.

8. Is participation free?

StartUp Academy is free. TRMNL4 and Meta support startups without exchanging equity or fees.

9. Can I raise investment for my startup at Pitch Day?

  • At the end of the program, the participants who pass the selection will have the opportunity to pitch their startups to TRMNL4’s investment network. However, we cannot guarantee that your startup will receive funding.

10. What do I need to do to become a part of TRMNL4?

  • Participants of Startup Academy will become a part of our network and join more than 200 founders for ongoing activities. But even if you don’t make it into the program, feel free to apply to T4.Community for 100+ hours of workshop sessions, network & more opportunities. Check it out here.

11. I want to partner up with you. Who do I need to contact?

  • If you want to join as a partner and share your service or expertise, send us an email at [email protected].
  • For media and other friends, we recommend visiting the Contact page for more details.
  • If you wish to share your expertise with our founders, please contact [email protected]. Describe your background and how you would like to cooperate. Please note that we are community-oriented and not-for-profit, so we do not involve external expertise commercially.