Mentors

Aurora Tech Award isn’t just a recognition — it’s a launchpad for the next generation of unicorn founders in emerging markets. With funding, high-profile investor access, and global connections, we back the boldest women in tech who are building ventures that will redefine industries.
Through our tailored Mentorship Program, finalists access expert guidance on fundraising, business growth, marketing, legal strategy, and market entry, powered by our network of entrepreneurs, consultants, and inDrive professionals.
Learn more about our mentors and get inspired by their projects
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  • A mentor for the STEM Technovation and Techgirls programs, graduate of the University of Glasgow and IMD Business school with 15+ years of management experience in the financial industry, banking business and 8+ years in digital business transformation.
  • Leading the practice of digital transformation of financial institutions at Strategy&, part of PwC in the Eurasia region.
Zhanargul Izimova
Strategy and Operations, Eurasia Advisory, PwC
  • A mentor for the STEM Technovation and Techgirls programs, graduate of the University of Glasgow and IMD Business school with 15+ years of management experience in the financial industry, banking business and 8+ years in digital business transformation.
  • Leading the practice of digital transformation of financial institutions at Strategy&, part of PwC in the Eurasia region.
  • A strong leader with a vast experience in building customer experience and operational processes in fast-growing businesses. 
  • Sharing her background in project management, process optimization and organisational changes obtained in industry leading companies.
Olga Ivanova
ex-Customer Experience Director at Citymobil
  • A strong leader with a vast experience in building customer experience and operational processes in fast-growing businesses. 
  • Sharing her background in project management, process optimization and organisational changes obtained in industry leading companies.
  • An entrepreneur with 16+ of experience in the financial industry: Investment banking, Investment Management, and Capital Markets in Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, Reuters, and BMCE International London. 
  • Empowering women and underrepresented communities to attain a responsible and sustainable future for themselves and their generation through financial education and investing.
Rukayyat Kolawole
Founder and CEO PaceUP Invest
  • An entrepreneur with 16+ of experience in the financial industry: Investment banking, Investment Management, and Capital Markets in Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, Reuters, and BMCE International London. 
  • Empowering women and underrepresented communities to attain a responsible and sustainable future for themselves and their generation through financial education and investing.
  • An experienced legal practitioner with a diverse professional background in IT, focusing on dispute resolution, compliance, global expansion projects, and more.
  • Advising tech start-ups and investors on various matters related to fundraising, shareholders’ disputes and legal due diligence of strategic investments.
Elena Mazetova
ex-Vice-President of Legal at InDrive
  • An experienced legal practitioner with a diverse professional background in IT, focusing on dispute resolution, compliance, global expansion projects, and more.
  • Advising tech start-ups and investors on various matters related to fundraising, shareholders’ disputes and legal due diligence of strategic investments.
  • Communication, Branding, PR, Events, Finance, Telecommunications, Cultural, and many more.
  • Excels in creating and executing successful marketing campaigns, driving results, and fostering growth.
Julieta Trotta
Creator - Doer - Passionate - Builder
  • Communication, Branding, PR, Events, Finance, Telecommunications, Cultural, and many more.
  • Excels in creating and executing successful marketing campaigns, driving results, and fostering growth.
  • An experienced professional with skills in managing, marketing and strategy, a member of the Forbes Council and the American Marketing Association.
  • Challenging commonly accepted business models while in search of new and innovative ideas to help move iDrive forward as a global society.
Egor Fedorov
Chief of Staff at inDrive
  • An experienced professional with skills in managing, marketing and strategy, a member of the Forbes Council and the American Marketing Association.
  • Challenging commonly accepted business models while in search of new and innovative ideas to help move iDrive forward as a global society.
  • Leading the finance division of inDrive, developing and executing the finance division’s strategy.
  • Raising equity and debt financing, as well as preparing the company for an IPO.
Dmitry Sedov
CFO at inDrive
  • Leading the finance division of inDrive, developing and executing the finance division’s strategy.
  • Raising equity and debt financing, as well as preparing the company for an IPO.
  • A venture capital expert with 14+ years of experience.
  • Co-founding an AdTech startup and boasting a successful track record as a startup mentor.
  • Playing a pivotal role in helping 30 startups discover their product-market fit.
Nikita Yuriev
Investment Director, ultra.vc
  • A venture capital expert with 14+ years of experience.
  • Co-founding an AdTech startup and boasting a successful track record as a startup mentor.
  • Playing a pivotal role in helping 30 startups discover their product-market fit.
  • Building and shipping SaaS enterprise solutions.
  • Offering mentorship in challenges regarding digital product design and frameworks which founders could apply in order to experiment and learn fast. 
  • Sharing his experience with product roadmaps, product development and versioning for incremental releases.
Bruno Paim
Head of Product at Cromai
  • Building and shipping SaaS enterprise solutions.
  • Offering mentorship in challenges regarding digital product design and frameworks which founders could apply in order to experiment and learn fast. 
  • Sharing his experience with product roadmaps, product development and versioning for incremental releases.

With 10+ years of experience in sports management across 13 countries, I have developed and implemented impactful programs reaching over 10,000 participants. I specialize in leading diverse teams, securing funding, and building international partnerships to drive social change.

Anna Fedorchuk
Head of Sport inDrive

With 10+ years of experience in sports management across 13 countries, I have developed and implemented impactful programs reaching over 10,000 participants. I specialize in leading diverse teams, securing funding, and building international partnerships to drive social change.

Ex-VC with 120+ closed deals and experience vetting over 4,000 startups for investment. Former CFO & CSO at Legionfarm (YCombinator W20), external CFO in several startups, raised and structured $25M+ in venture funding across the US and Europe

Sasha Skurikhin
EBITDA.solutions

Ex-VC with 120+ closed deals and experience vetting over 4,000 startups for investment. Former CFO & CSO at Legionfarm (YCombinator W20), external CFO in several startups, raised and structured $25M+ in venture funding across the US and Europe

Entrepreneur and advisor with 10+ years in the food & agriculture sector, specializing in impact, sustainability, and scaling purpose-driven ventures. Fundraising strategist and mindset coach, helping impact-driven female founders raise $5M+ and achieve product-market fit.

Valerie Hirschhauser
Founder OneMillionWomen, Advisor, Exited Founder

Entrepreneur and advisor with 10+ years in the food & agriculture sector, specializing in impact, sustainability, and scaling purpose-driven ventures. Fundraising strategist and mindset coach, helping impact-driven female founders raise $5M+ and achieve product-market fit.

VC focused on b2b SaaS and fintech, mentor at Alchemist Accelerator.

Denis Efremov
R136 Ventures

VC focused on b2b SaaS and fintech, mentor at Alchemist Accelerator.

Founder and CEO of Mubius WomenTech Ventures. The 1st Venture Builder focused on startups founded or led by women in Latin America.

Carolina Gilberti
CEO of Mubius WomenTech Ventures

Founder and CEO of Mubius WomenTech Ventures. The 1st Venture Builder focused on startups founded or led by women in Latin America.

Worked in VC:

  • Senior Analyst at Altair Capital (fund with a focus on Seed/Series A; invested in Miro, Deel, and many other startups)
  • Head of Analytics at Joint Journey (Sergey Dashkov's fund)
Kirill Lazarev
Independent fundraising consultant / Head of Investments Sally Agency

Worked in VC:

  • Senior Analyst at Altair Capital (fund with a focus on Seed/Series A; invested in Miro, Deel, and many other startups)
  • Head of Analytics at Joint Journey (Sergey Dashkov's fund)

I am an expert in understanding user behavior and optimizing products based on audience characteristics, helping to identify your product’s strengths and avoid potential challenges. Throughout my career, I have conducted over 200 studies across different countries and can share insights on how to make your product as attractive as possible.

Liubov Shantyreva
UX researcher inDrive

I am an expert in understanding user behavior and optimizing products based on audience characteristics, helping to identify your product’s strengths and avoid potential challenges. Throughout my career, I have conducted over 200 studies across different countries and can share insights on how to make your product as attractive as possible.

A lawyer specializing in intellectual property law for over 20 years, patent attorney, a former lecturer at top universities. Developed an intellectual property protection strategy for top IT companies.

Kamila Blagopoluchnaya
Head of Intellectual Property Protection inDrive

A lawyer specializing in intellectual property law for over 20 years, patent attorney, a former lecturer at top universities. Developed an intellectual property protection strategy for top IT companies.

15 years in marketing & customer experience with management consulting background. launching & scaling IT across mobility, ecom & wellness (b2c & b2b)

Natalia Makarenko
Marketing director APAC inDrive

15 years in marketing & customer experience with management consulting background. launching & scaling IT across mobility, ecom & wellness (b2c & b2b)

I'm a strategy and operations leader with over 6 years of experience across consumer apps, digital products, and impact-driven ventures. I’ve led strategic initiatives and investor relations at fast-scaling startups like Prisma Labs (behind AI-powered apps Lensa — the #1 downloaded and grossing app worldwide in Dec 2022 — and Prisma, with 100M+ downloads), and advised early-stage startups in health tech (like Soula Care — an AI assistant for female wellbeing), eco-awareness, drone search technologies, and community-based offline projects.

Elizaveta Filippova
Strategy Manager inDrive

I'm a strategy and operations leader with over 6 years of experience across consumer apps, digital products, and impact-driven ventures. I’ve led strategic initiatives and investor relations at fast-scaling startups like Prisma Labs (behind AI-powered apps Lensa — the #1 downloaded and grossing app worldwide in Dec 2022 — and Prisma, with 100M+ downloads), and advised early-stage startups in health tech (like Soula Care — an AI assistant for female wellbeing), eco-awareness, drone search technologies, and community-based offline projects.

Leading a legal department for the non-profit arm of inDrive. Before that I worked at Yandex for five years leading various legal projects in the spheres of antitrust, platform regulation, corporate and civil law, insider trading and compliance.

Ekaterina Kazmina
Head of Legal for Impact inDrive

Leading a legal department for the non-profit arm of inDrive. Before that I worked at Yandex for five years leading various legal projects in the spheres of antitrust, platform regulation, corporate and civil law, insider trading and compliance.

I'm a Senior Intellectual Property Counsel with expertise in IP, IT, and Digital Law, gained through years of working with both law firms and in-house legal teams at tech companies. I would be happy to support startups on a pro-bono basis by helping them protect their IP assets and navigate legal risks early on.

Arina Volkova
Senior Intellectual Property Counsel inDrive

I'm a Senior Intellectual Property Counsel with expertise in IP, IT, and Digital Law, gained through years of working with both law firms and in-house legal teams at tech companies. I would be happy to support startups on a pro-bono basis by helping them protect their IP assets and navigate legal risks early on.