I am Ivana, come from Serbia, and over last 16 years, I've lived in the UK, Brazil, France and now call Germany my home. I worked in investment banking for 5 years, was a founder of an international trade company with food focus, spent a few months as an expert in a Foodtech VC fund and most recently as a VC investor with HealthTech focus. My passion lies with early stage startups - I understand what it feels like to be a founder and challenges one goes through. I've also been on the other side of the table and understand what investors are looking for.
As a VC, I worked very closely with my portfolio companies, helping them with fundraising, hiring, go-to-market, strategy, internationalisation.
I am a now mentor to a few startups based in DACH, Western Balkans and Brazil, focusing on Health, Food & Agri, Education and Climate sectors. Now I am a fundraising advisor for early stage startups, helping with storytelling, business and go-to-market strategy, preparation of fundraising materials as well as with introductions to investors. As of recently, I am also an accredited coach with focus on startup founders.
Last but perhaps least as it could come in handy: I am fluent in 5 languages (Serbian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Germany) - for those that like to speak in their first language!