Founder of SheRise
Katya De Freedericksz
I help accelerators and VCs support founders, and guide entrepreneurs with growth marketing and funding strategy.
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Startup growth strategy
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Ecosystem & community building
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Program design for VCs & Accelerators
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Women entrepreneurship & DEI
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Education program design & Teaching
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Strategic partnerships for ecosystem initiatives
Collaborated with
Hi, I’m Katya, a startup mentor and ecosystem builder
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Advisor to VC funds and accelerators, helping design acceleration programs, investment-readiness tracks, and demo days
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Startup mentor at top global accelerators such as Techstars, Google for Startups and Seedstars
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Mentored 500+ founders across Europe, Asia, MENA, Africa, and the US over the years.
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Founder of SheRise, a platform supporting women in tech and entrepreneurship across Europe
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Growth marketing expert with experience training teams at F500 companies like Unilever and Beam Suntory
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Taught entrepreneurship, growth, and marketing at top business schools in Europe and Asia
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Public speaker and moderator at major tech conferences including Mobile World Congress, EU-Startups Summit, and TNW
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Awarded with The Break Fellowship, a EU-funded initiative
What I offer
Design impactful programs for your VC or accelerator
I build high-impact founder programs for VCs, accelerators, universities & innovation hubs.
Build partnerships & activate your startup community
I lead ecosystem engagement through strategic partnerships and community-building.
Get clear on your growth strategy, PMF, and investor story
I mentor early-stage founders on growth marketing, go-to-market, and fundraising.
I spoke at
Katya was instrumental in shaping our accelerator program. Her contribution brought structure, clarity, and energy to our founders journey.
Iuliia Chernenko, Program Lead at 2080 Ventures
Katya designed and delivered high-impact programs, always adapting to the startups' real needs. She brought strategic thinking and warmth—founders left every session more confident and focused.
Cristina Fonseca, Innovation Lead at Rockstart
Katya helped us run a powerful fintech program for women entrepreneurs across Africa, MENA, and Asia. She combined insight with empathy and delivered practical tools founders used right away.
Elsa AR. Yanni, MENA Programs Lead at Seedstars
Katya supported two cohorts of the EU-funded Arise Plus Accelerator in the Philippines, mentoring 25+ startups toward global investment readiness. She gave founders the confidence and tools to scale internationally.
Claire Sterngold, Director at GSMA
What people say
Case studies
2080 Ventures: Building a Scalable Global Accelerator from the Ground Up
As Entrepreneur in Residence, I contributed to building the backbone of 2080’s flagship accelerator for early-stage tech founders. I supported the startup selection process (screening over 1,500+ applications), co-created growth and investor-readiness programming, and led workshops on scaling strategy and go-to-market. I worked cross-functionally with the 2080 team to align founder journeys with measurable program outcomes—ensuring stronger Demo Day pitches and clearer post-program fundraising plans.
Designing Growth Tracks for Fintechs Driving Financial Inclusion
I helped design and deliver the FIWAM Growth Program for Seedstars—an initiative supporting fintech startups advancing financial inclusion for migrant women. I co-developed learning tracks around go-to-market strategy and scalable growth systems, led interactive workshops across Asia, MENA, and Africa, and supported 30+ founders with regionalized toolkits.
Strengthening Social Impact Startups Through Global Acceleration
I contributed to refining founder-facing support across the program Google for Startups x WFP Innovation Accelerator (UN) and worked directly with mission-driven teams to improve user acquisition, brand strategy, and scale-up readiness. My focus was to bring a marketing and growth lens into the acceleration structure, helping founders transition from MVP to institutional partnerships and investor traction.
Turning Climate Tech into Scalable Ventures
I supported UN Climate Technology Centre & Network and Seedstars in building the MENA-region hackathon, focused on PhDs, engineers, and entrepreneurs in building real-world climate tech ventures. I helped teams apply lean methodologies, sharpen their value propositions, and turn complex technical solutions into scalable business models. My involvement helped bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, while enhancing the structure of founder support during the hackathon sprint.
Supporting Olympians to Launch Ventures – Athlete365 with the IOC
I worked with the Athlete365 Business Accelerator, a program by the International Olympic Committee supporting Olympians as they transition into entrepreneurship. I mentored an Olympic athlete from the Beijing Games, helping him shape his health-focused startup. Together, we developed his MVP, explored customer needs using the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework, built financial forecasts, and refined his investor pitch. The project was part of a six-month journey leading up to Demo Day, with a focus on practical tools, clear messaging, and early traction.
