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

StartUp
Academy 4.0

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

  • Free
  • Online
  • 3 months long

For

  • Pre-seed – Seed stage
  • Software startups, both B2C and B2B, in different domains like FinTech, EdTech, Mobility, etc.

During StartUp Academy, founders can

  • Commit to only what their business needs
  • Navigate their startup with a trusted mentor
  • Involve the first people on their team in program activities
  • Pitch and connect with investors
  • Choose advisors for specific challenges
  • Receive 24/7 access to the content library

Program

Market
& strategy
Financial benchmarks
Marketing tools
& sales hacks
People & numbers management
Data-driven product
Tech
lifecycle
Pitch hard
knocks

Market
& strategy

  • Global GTM strategy
  • Market research toolset
  • Pivot strategies
  • Key startup survival metrics
  • Seed stage founder’s focuses

Financial benchmarks

  • Unit economy frameworks
  • Due diligence & company valuation
  • Fundraising round formation

Marketing tools & sales hacks

  • Paid user acquisition
  • Virality, influencers, integrations
  • Startup CMO operations & budgeting
  • B2B sales management
  • Corporate negotiations

People & numbers management

  • Revenue formula driven operations
  • Co-founder engagement in a target market
  • Hiring model to find the right first people in your team

Data-driven product

  • Engagement hacks for retention growth
  • Custdev in seed+ stages
  • Growth model frameworks
  • Product analytics with the relevant metrics

Tech lifecycle

  • Generative AI business opportunities
  • CTO operations in seed+ stages
  • Non-tech founder ways to build a solution
  • Development resource optimization

Pitch hard knocks

  • Pitch every two weeks and receive feedback on your deck from different stakeholders
  • Join Pitch Day as a final step of the program and meet investors from all over the world
Market & strategy
Financial benchmarks
Marketing tools
& sales hacks
People & numbers management
Data-driven product
Tech lifecycle
Pitch hard knocks

Market
& strategy

  • Global GTM strategy
  • Market research toolset
  • Pivot strategies
  • Key startup survival metrics
  • Seed stages founder’s focuses

Financial benchmarks

  • Unit economy frameworks
  • Due diligence & company valuation
  • Fundraising round formation

Marketing tools & sales hacks

  • Paid user acquisition
  • Virality, influencers, integrations
  • Startup CMO operations & budgeting
  • B2B sales management
  • Corporate negotiations

People & numbers management

  • Revenue formula driven operations
  • Сo-founder engagement in a target market
  • Hiring model to find the right first people in your team

Data-driven product

  • Engagement hacks for retention growth
  • Custdev in seed+ stages
  • Growth model frameworks
  • Product analytics with the relevant metrics

Tech lifecycle

  • Generative AI business opportunities
  • CTO operations in seed+ stages
  • Non-tech founder ways to build a solution
  • Development resource optimization

Pitch hard knocks

  • Pitch every two weeks and receive feedback on your deck from different stakeholders
  • Join Pitch Day as a final step of the program and meet investors from all over the world

Mentor checkpoints

Advisory sessions

Deep-dive workshops

Case studies

Panel discussions

Knowledge library

Pitch practices

Mentor checkpoints

Advisory sessions

Deep-dive workshops

Case studies

Panel discussions

Knowledge library

Pitch practices

Our experts

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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 at Meta

Niko is responsible for forming strategic partnerships with global companies from various industries such as CPG, Auto, and Retail. During his time at Meta, he has worked closely with global media agencies to help them digitalize their operations.

Maciej Szelag

CEE FinTech Lead
at AWS

Result oriented and highly motivated individual contributor or manager with good all-round supervisory and technical expertise demonstrating drive, enthusiasm and initiative. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 SKLR

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.

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.

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

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

Сreative 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.

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.

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.

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 and 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.

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.

Timeline

Mar 4th – Apr 28th
Application process
Apr 22nd - Apr 30th
Online testing
May 2nd - May 9th
Pitch deck review
May 11th - May 23rd
Personal interview
June 3rd
Program start day

Pitch day

Hybrid event. Warsaw, Poland & Livestream

Pitch Day is the program finale. We prepare startups over a period of three months and select those ready to meet investors for Pitch Day.
‍
However, we cannot guarantee funding – it's all up to you!

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
  • $5000 in AWS Credits 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

investment partners

Unlock connections to 40+ VCs

What we’ve achieved

5800

applications from over 60 countries

135

startups participated in the program

45

VC funds attended StartUp Academy 3.0 Pitch Day

$7M

invested in our founders during and after the program

14

companies are providing friendly deals for T4.Community

Alumni stargazing

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 became the most-funded app in Kickstarter history, and raised $600K.

Alex Ruzh

CEO at memoryOS
Participant of StartUp Academy 3.0

"Throughout StartUp Academy 2023, we've gained valuable practical insights that have helped elevate our startup game across all business areas: management, hiring, analytics, product development, unit economics, performance marketing, negotiations, fundraising, and more. We're happy to keep in touch with experts and all members of the TRMNL4 network."

Alex Ruzh

CEO at memoryOS, Participant of StartUp Academy 3.0

"Throughout StartUp Academy 2023, we've gained valuable practical insights that have helped elevate our startup game across all business areas: management, hiring, analytics, product development, unit economics, performance marketing, negotiations, fundraising, and more. We're happy to keep in touch with experts and all members of the TRMNL4 network."

memoryOS became the most-funded app in Kickstarter history, and raised $600K.

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."

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."

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."

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.

FAQ

1. Who are the organizers?

  • Genesis, together with Meta, launches StartUp Academy — a free international program for founders of startups on how to build, operate, and scale profitable tech businesses. 
The program is a part of TRMNL4 powered by Genesis.
  • Learn more on the Organizers page.

2. How to join the StartUp Academy?

  • Fill out the application form. After submitting, you will receive an email confirmation. If you do not receive this email, please check your junk folder. The selection stages include an online test, a pitch deck review, and an interview. We inform applicants about the results of each preliminary stage by email and our social media.

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.
    *For convenient communication, we use Slack. 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 is our working language.

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

  • Sure! For complex growth, your C-level 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 50 participants.

7. What are the entry requirements?

  • The program is designed mainly for tech-driven software startups from Pre-Seed to Seed stages, both B2C and B2B in different domains like FinTech, EdTech, SaaS, Mobility, AdTech, etc.

8. Is participation free?

StartUp Academy is free. Genesis, Meta, and partners support startups without exchanging equity or fees.
Although we inspire founders giving back to the community maintaining the following points:

  • To actively engage with assigned mentors and advisors, seeking guidance and feedback to enhance the business’s growth and development. To participate in program-related events, workshops, and meetings.
  • To maintain transparent communication regarding any challenges, progress, or changes in business direction.
  • To leverage the resources and opportunities to maximize the potential for growth and success.
  • To actively contribute to the TRMNL4.Community by sharing knowledge, experiences, and insights with fellow members and stakeholders.
  • If your startup raises investment or performs a significant progress with the assistance of the TRMNL4 team, you agree to acknowledge TRMNL4 and StartUp Academy in any media or press releases for at least one year.

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 100 founders from CEE for ongoing activities. But even if you don’t make it into the program, feel free to apply to T4.Community for 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].
  • If you’re an investor, check out more info on the TRMNL4 website and fill out the form to join the network.
  • 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.