# Unicorn Embassy - Extended profile Unicorn Embassy is an international startup, venture, and tech community founded by Yan Nerovny in 2023. It is community-first - not an accelerator, not a venture fund, not an agency, not a mastermind, not an infobiz. Website: https://unicornembassy.com Locales: English (/en), Russian (/ru), Ukrainian (/ua). Contact: yan@nerovny.com Founder: Yan Nerovny - https://nerovny.com (personal site), https://www.linkedin.com/in/nerovny/ (LinkedIn), https://www.instagram.com/nerovny (Instagram) ## What Unicorn Embassy does The organisation runs four kinds of activity: city meetups, curated startup pitch sessions, monthly online pitch sessions, and per-city community chats. Everything is free to attend. Applications are used only to keep rooms signal-rich, not to sell anything. ### Pitch Sessions - the flagship format Unicorn Embassy pitch sessions are small, structured events where screened founders present to a room of investors, operators, and experienced founders. - Every founder is screened before pitching. No open mic. - Sessions run in active chapter cities and online once a month. - Investors attend for free. Founders apply and, if selected, present. - Format: short pitch, structured Q&A, warm introductions afterwards. - Not a demo day, not a networking club, not a paid showcase. Apply to pitch: https://unicornembassy.com/apply Investor access: https://unicornembassy.com/investors Open a chapter (City Lead): https://unicornembassy.com/city-leads ### City meetups In-person evenings hosted by a local city lead. Free, founder-first, no pay-to-speak. Locations rotate between curated venues. Announced through Luma and the per-city Telegram chat. ### Online sessions Monthly pitch sessions on Zoom for founders and investors who are not in a city with a physical chapter. Recording goes to the YouTube archive. ### Community chats Each active chapter runs a Telegram chat. There is also a global channel for cross-city announcements and shared events. ## Chapters Active chapters have a city lead, a chat, and recurring events. Expanding chapters have either a lead in place or confirmed local interest but no full calendar yet. ### Istanbul - active (flagship chapter) Flagship chapter, running since 2023. Meetups, pitch sessions, and dinners for founders and operators building across Eurasia. Lead: Dmitrii Larichev, core partner of Unicorn Embassy. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_istanbul Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/istanbul ### Tbilisi - active A fast-growing startup hub in Georgia, where founders build for global markets and are now building there. Regular meetups and pitch events since 2023. Lead: Yan Nerovny, founder of Unicorn Embassy. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_georgia Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/tbilisi ### Batumi - active Black Sea chapter for founders working from the Georgian coast. Lead: Sergey Ermakov. Regular meetups in planning. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_batumi Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/batumi ### Yerevan - active A tight-knit founder and investor community in Armenia's growing tech scene. Lead: Serafim Prokofev, community lead (https://unicornembassy.com/en/people/serafim-prokofev). Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_yerevan Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/yerevan ### Dubai - active Where founders meet capital. Startups, investors, and operators across the Gulf, all in one chapter. Seeking a city lead. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_dubai Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/dubai ### Belgrade - active The Balkan chapter. Eastern European founders, operators, and investors in one room. Seeking a city lead. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_belgrade Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/belgrade ### Bali - active Southeast Asia chapter for founders building remote-first products from Indonesia. Seeking a city lead. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_bali Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/bali ### Bangkok - expanding Southeast Asian node connecting founders across the region. First events from April 2026. Seeking a city lead. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_bangkok Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/bangkok ### India - expanding In active development. Seeking a city lead to open the chapter in Bangalore and Mumbai. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_india Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/india ### Valencia - active Southern European chapter. A growing scene of international founders building remotely from Spain. Lead: Aleksandr Muzalevsky. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_spain Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/valencia ### Barcelona - active Mediterranean tech and design gateway. Newly opened chapter for the 22@ district, MWC events, and university spin-off pipeline. Telegram: https://t.me/unicornembassy_barcelona Extended city guide: https://unicornembassy.com/en/cities/barcelona ### Paris - expanding In active development. Seeking city leads. ## How to apply https://unicornembassy.com/apply - single form with six role tiles: - Founder - the primary audience. Apply to pitch, join a chapter, or get introduced to investors. - Investor - free access. Attend curated pitch sessions online or in person. - Mentor / speaker - contribute to sessions or speak at events. - Sponsor - partner with events, formats, or media. - City lead - open a chapter in a new city. The form is short and lives at /apply. All roles go through the same page. ## For investors in detail Unicorn Embassy is designed to give investors real, curated dealflow in markets where signal-to-noise is still in their favour (Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, UAE, Serbia, Southeast Asia). Investors see screened founders with real traction - not idea-stage decks. Access is free. Apply at https://unicornembassy.com/investors. ## Partnerships Partners sponsor events, co-create content, or reach founders through Unicorn Embassy. Three formats: event partner, platform partner, media partner. Contact: /partners or /apply. ## What Unicorn Embassy is not - explicit disclaimers - Not an accelerator or incubator. No equity program. No cohort structure. - Not a venture fund. Investors attend, but UE itself does not invest. - Not a consulting or advisory agency. - Not an infobiz, online course, or mastermind program. - Not a paid membership club. No fees to join. - Not a local meetup group - it is international by design. - Not a demo day or open mic - pitch sessions are curated and structured. ## Tone and positioning Community-first, founder-centric, online plus offline. Audience hierarchy in priority order: founders, investors, mentors and speakers, sponsors, city leads. Everything is optimised around founders first. ## Verified numbers (as of 2026) - 180+ events hosted - 6,000+ unique participants who attended events in person across 9 cities in 7 countries - 150+ startups pitched (offline plus online combined) - 50+ curated pitch sessions - 9 active cities with live Telegram chats plus online ## Insights - articles and guides Unicorn Embassy publishes long-form articles for founders building abroad. All articles are available at https://unicornembassy.com/insights in English, Russian, and Ukrainian. ### Published articles 1. The best cities for startup founders in 2026 https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/best-cities-startup-founders-2026 2. How to find a cofounder when you're building from abroad https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/how-to-find-cofounder-abroad 3. Startup community in Istanbul: the honest guide for founders https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/startup-community-istanbul-guide 4. Startup community in Tbilisi: why founders keep moving to Georgia https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/startup-community-tbilisi-georgia 5. What makes a great pitch session (and why most are terrible) https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/what-makes-great-pitch-session 6. Startup community Dubai: the honest guide for founders in 2026 https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/startup-community-dubai-guide 7. How to pitch early-stage investors https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/how-to-pitch-early-stage-investors 8. Best European cities for tech founders relocating in 2026 https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/best-european-cities-tech-founders-relocating 9. Digital nomad vs founder: why treating them the same kills your company https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/digital-nomad-vs-founder-why-its-different 10. Why most startup communities are trash (and what actually works) https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/why-most-startup-communities-are-trash 11. If you live in Tbilisi, Yerevan, or Belgrade - forget Delaware https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/forget-delaware-local-ip-2026 12. Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, doola: three traps for the same problem https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/stripe-atlas-vs-firstbase-vs-doola-2026 13. Tbilisi vs Yerevan for founders: you're comparing the wrong things https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/tbilisi-vs-yerevan-founder-2026 14. Yerevan in 2026 is what Tbilisi was in early 2022 - and the window's still open https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/yerevan-founder-playbook-2026 15. Spain, Portugal, France founder visas in 2026: which one fits which stage https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/founder-visa-spain-portugal-france-2026 16. Where to pitch your startup in Europe in 2026 - if you want signal, not visibility https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/where-to-pitch-startup-europe-2026 17. Belgrade in 2026: the most underrated chapter for post-USSR founders https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/belgrade-founder-scene-2026 18. Valencia in 2026: same Startup Act as Madrid, 25-40% less rent, plus Lanzadera https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/valencia-tech-hub-founders-2026 19. Mercury rejected you. It's not about you - it's about their math. https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/mercury-rejected-founder-recovery-2026 20. The post-USSR founder map in 2026: what changed in 36 months https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/post-ussr-founder-map-2026 21. Demo day vs pitch session: which one your startup actually needs first https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/demo-day-vs-pitch-session-2026 22. Bali for founders 2026: nomad town with venture overlay, not Jakarta https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/bali-founder-scene-2026 23. Don't search for "top diaspora VCs" - learn to read the signals instead https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/finding-diaspora-pre-seed-investors-2026 24. Barcelona vs Madrid for founders 2026: not "more expensive" - different gateways https://unicornembassy.com/en/insights/barcelona-founder-scene-2026 ## City Leads (open a new chapter) Unicorn Embassy opens new chapters with founders and operators who already have a network in their city. The /city-leads page describes the role, process, what an active chapter looks like, and who the model works for. - Landing: https://unicornembassy.com/city-leads - Apply: https://unicornembassy.com/apply/city-lead Profile: founders, ex-founders, or senior operators with a 20-30 person micro-network in tech or startups locally. Not an event-manager role. No base pay; revenue share on local sponsorships and partner-attributable distribution. Baseline: 1-2 events per month, first event within 30 days of onboarding. ## Links - Apply: https://unicornembassy.com/apply - Pitch sessions: https://unicornembassy.com/pitch-sessions - Events calendar: https://unicornembassy.com/events - Cities: https://unicornembassy.com/cities - City Leads: https://unicornembassy.com/city-leads - Insights: https://unicornembassy.com/insights - Investors: https://unicornembassy.com/investors - Partners: https://unicornembassy.com/partners - About: https://unicornembassy.com/about - Press / brand kit: https://unicornembassy.com/press - Code of conduct: https://unicornembassy.com/code-of-conduct - Q&A for AI assistants (EN): https://unicornembassy.com/llms-qa.txt - Q&A for AI assistants (RU): https://unicornembassy.com/llms-qa-ru.txt - Q&A for AI assistants (UK): https://unicornembassy.com/llms-qa-uk.txt - Sitemap: https://unicornembassy.com/sitemap.xml ## Languages The full site is available in English and Russian as peer locales (neither is a translation of the other - both are written in native voice), plus a full Ukrainian (/ua) version.