From Ukraine to Canada: Becoming a Fintech Investor with Luge Capital
I was born and raised in a small village in Western Ukraine, near the Carpathian mountains, but I always felt the drive to explore the larger world. Looking back at my childhood, I clearly see that my life journey has taught me how to be consistently patient and resilient. Yet the beginning of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine was something that I neither expected nor was prepared for. This unfortunate turn of events, however, brought me to Toronto, and presented me with the larger world that I always dreamed about. I stepped into the Canadian VC ecosystem, and started my new path. I am very excited to join Luge Capital, working alongside a team of highly professional and experienced investors.
As a kid, I sincerely enjoyed doing two things: watching detective TV shows (especially mock court hearings), and solving logic and math problems. My mom was a math teacher in Ukraine, and was the source of my passion. I also had a passion for law but, at the time, I was very shy and could not imagine pushing myself into constantly speaking publicly in a courtroom (yes, I believed that all lawyers were litigators). So when choosing a high school, I decided to focus predominantly on math at a specialized physics and technology lyceum in a small Western Ukrainian city. As a 15-year old kid, a daily two-hour math class was heaven!
Yet my passion for law and justice was not forgotten…
When the time came to select a university, I had become more confident and realized that it was a chance for me to explore my unrealized passion for the law. Combined with my background in math, I decided to focus on tax and corporate law. When I was offered an internship position within Baker McKenzie’s Corporate and M&A practice group, it was a chance for me to dive deeper into the corporate world.
After a few internship months at Baker McKenzie, I obtained a Master’s degree in law at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. There, I published a thesis related to the highly debated corporate governance topic of directors’ fiduciary duties in Delaware corporations (accessible here).
After graduating from CEU, I continued my career at the Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie as a Junior Attorney and was quickly promoted to Junior Associate. I advised clients on cross-border and domestic private M&A deals, and routine corporate restructurings and corporate governance matters.
In 2021, I joined the legal department of Genesis, one of the largest tech companies in Ukraine, as in-house counsel. Within their company-creation model, Genesis co-founded a payment processing platform called Solidgate, which was later spun off as a separate business. My time spent working on Solidgate was my first direct exposure to the exciting world of Fintech.
Flyer One Ventures (F1V), an emerging venture capital firm, was another project co-founded by Genesis. It became my new home in late 2021. We invested in early-stage startups from the CEE region across B2B & enterprise SaaS, Fintech, EdTech, mobile apps, games, and FoodTech. I was directly involved in closing and providing ongoing support for most of the Fintech investments, including Wectory, the UK’s first platform for upfront rental payments, and FintechFarm, a UK company that creates digital bank applications in emerging markets.
Taking a step back, I recognized that my biggest thrill throughout my career was helping exceptional teams in building thriving and successful businesses. Leveraging my legal background, I wanted to focus my efforts on building experience as an investor.
I am now very excited to join Luge Capital and its team of exceptionally professional investors. The Luge crew brings a wealth of experience in technology, financial services, investing, strategy, sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Each team member has a unique set of skills which allows us to offer portfolio companies a wide array of ongoing operational support and strategic advice. I am looking forward to supporting prominent founders who are eager to shape financial services on a global scale.
Looking back at the sharp twist of events in 2022, I can clearly state that leaving behind my home, my friends and family, and my entire life in Ukraine was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever taken. It was an unwilling choice as a result of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Yet, I strongly believe that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and here I am today, starting my new career chapter at an incredible firm, in a promising industry and in a very welcoming country. I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way and I am looking forward to many more.
If you would like to support Ukraine during these difficult times, you can help by donating to Come Back Alive Charity Foundation or one of the funds listed here.
