After working with more than 300 startup founders in the past six years, we have learned that the fundraising process can be both scary and exhilarating. It cannot be taken lightly, and our goal is to help founders learn how to navigate this emotional rollercoaster more effectively. That’s why we created the Ready to Raise Program, which is structured in two phases:

• Mapping the investors (ticket size, verticals, geographies, etc)
• Warm intros to exclusive investors
• Feedback sessions with Rubik Hub experts
• Peer-to-peer learning groups

Rumen Iliev is a Partner at LAUNCHub Ventures (Launch hub), a Seed fund, focused on investing in entrepreneurs from the SEE region.

Working every day with bright and dedicated founders and entrepreneurs is what Rumen does for a living. A long, long time ago Rumen received a degree in business and got involved with several multinational organizations before setting up his own consultancy business and then leaving it to become a VC.

Gautam is the Head of Accelerator Investments & Education at GoingVC which is a Silicon Valley based firm training the next generation of VCs and investing in pre-seed and seed-stage companies across the world. Formerly, Gautam was a Senior Investment Manager at SeedBlink. He is also a founding partner of Inbond Tech, a growth studio based in France and Germany focusing on pre-seed to seed SaaS B2B companies. Prior to founding Inbond Tech, Gautam had cross-functional roles in fund management, dealflow generation and portfolio management at Quake Capital Partners and Multiple Capital. Besides venture capital, Gautam was a content strategist at Kushim where he grew the revenue by 10x in less than six months.
He leverages his operational and venture capital experience to back ambitious founders to achieve their next round of funding and growth. He is also an active mentor at WeWork Labs, Supercharger Ventures, IIDF, Rubik Hub, WEVE New York and many others.

Karolina was born and raised in Prague before moving to New York in her early 20s. She began her professional life at 18, building a successful career as a fashion model. While modeling, Karolina graduated cum laude from NYU Stern School of Business with a dual degree in Finance and Marketing. In 2018, she joined White Star Capital where she spent five years investing in North America with a focus on consumer internet and marketplace businesses across different verticals.

At Credo, Karolina loves connecting with ambitious and talented founders from the CEE region, sharing a common history, humor and culture, while being able to provide help, the perspective of a Series A investor, and a bridge to North America.

She loves spending her free time with family and friends, in nature, and staying active. She enjoys running, cycling, horseriding, and snowboarding in the winter. She also picked up chess, where she’s (slowly) learning how not to be a sore loser. Karolina lives between Istanbul and Prague.

Mark was previously a founder before joining an early-stage B2B SaaS company where he scaled from $0 to $20MM in ARR and from Seed to Series C as the go-to-market lead and sales leader. He has brought 5 different products to market, generated millions in revenue individually, and hired and scaled a commercial B2B revenue team.

He spent two-and-a-half years in venture capital investing roles, including with the UVA Seed Fund, Sands Capital Ventures, and Fuel Venture Capital, where he met Vlad. Mark earned his Bachelor’s in Peace & Conflict Studies at Colgate University and a Master’s in Business Administration with concentrations in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and management science at UVA’s Darden School of Business.

Theo is an Investment Manager at Roca X and has over 3 years of experience in Venture Capital, Startup Growth and Investments and over 7 years of experience within financial institutions. He is specialized strategy, stakeholder management, research and holds a certification in Risk and Crisis Management from The London School Of Economics & Political Science. Theo is actively engaged in Roca X’s portfolio in verticals such as MedTech, EduTech, FinTech & PropTech.

Sonia is a General Partner and the Head of Legal at Roca X, she holds a Master’s Degree in Law & Technology from The University of Oslo and is one of the most experienced VC and startup lawyers in Eastern Europe. She has managed the legal & due diligence aspects of every transaction that Roca X has been a part of since its inception and has also led the team’s efforts to become the first Romanian management team to be registered under the European Venture Capital Regulation.

After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he started his career in Private Equity at Blackrock Private Equity Partners and then transitioned into venture capital. Before moving back to Budapest and joining Portfolion, he worked as a Fintech investor at Fidelity International Strategic Ventures based in London, which span out of Eight Roads Ventures in 2020. At Portfolion, Bence focuses on early-stage investments from Seed to Series B and is especially excited about fintech, infrastructure software, and climate technology.

In 2021, Oleh began his journey with Flyer One as a Growth Manager, where he focused on enhancing the portfolio’s growth, performance marketing, and B2B sales. He has since transitioned to the role of Investment Manager and Head of Platform, where he oversees pipeline management, startup due diligence, and the development of their community and fund partnerships. Before this, he kick-started his career at Deloitte, attempted to launch his own direct-to-consumer food startup, and engaged in public sector consulting for the development of the Ukrainian Economic Strategy 2030.