Bas Godska

Who they are

Bas Godska is Managing Partner at Acrobator Ventures — co-founded Netherlands for Ukraine Foundation (NL4UA) in 2022 to support Ukrainian wounded military, oncology patients, and refugees.

Person

Bas Godska is the Managing Partner of Acrobator Ventures, based in Amsterdam. He runs an early-stage VC firm that explicitly bridges founders from Eastern Europe, the CIS, and the Baltics into Western markets — a focus that combines geographic arbitrage with hands-on operational support rather than passive capital deployment. He co-founded Netherlands for Ukraine Foundation (NL4UA) in 2022, an active foundation providing medical, humanitarian, and accommodation support to Ukrainian wounded military, oncology patients, and refugees. The through-line across his work is operating at the intersection of Eastern European talent and Western market access — both in venture and in humanitarian response.

Company

Acrobator Ventures is an Amsterdam-headquartered early-stage VC with operational nodes in Kyiv and Tbilisi, writing initial checks of $200K–$1.25M at pre-seed and seed, with follow-on capacity through Series A, B, and C. The firm's model goes beyond capital — it provides growth-hacking support and founder education specifically designed to help CIS, Baltic, and CEE founders reach Western markets. Acrobator has built a web-based platform, Acrobator.vc, for startups to create pitch decks with collaboration tools and design resources. The firm is an investor in MiLaboratories, a biotech and genomics platform, reflecting a portfolio that extends beyond pure software. Bas Godska leads the firm as Managing Partner.

Market

Acrobator operates in the early-stage VC segment with a differentiated geographic thesis — sourcing from Eastern Europe and CIS while targeting Western market outcomes, a corridor that faces increasing headwinds from geopolitical tensions and cross-border regulatory scrutiny, particularly since 2022. Possibly — the firm's dual positioning (founder education plus capital) puts it in competition with regional accelerators and generalist seed funds active in CEE, such as those mapped by Gilion's VC network.

How they likely show up

  • Running a VC firm with offices across Amsterdam, Kyiv, and Tbilisi → likely comfortable operating across multiple time zones and cultures simultaneously, not a single-market thinker.
  • Firm model explicitly includes founder education and growth-hacking support beyond capital → probably shows up as an operator-partner, not a passive board observer.
  • Co-founded NL4UA in 2022 alongside running an active VC firm → high agency; takes on large parallel commitments when he sees a gap.
  • Geographic thesis bridges Eastern European founders to Western markets → likely frames advice through the lens of market translation — what works in Kyiv won't automatically work in Amsterdam.
  • Acrobator.vc pitch deck platform suggests product-building instinct alongside investing → Possibly — he thinks in tools and systems, not just deal flow.

Conversation tips

  • → Ask about the Eastern-to-Western market translation thesis specifically — it's the core of what Acrobator does and he'll have strong opinions on where founders misread Western buyers.
  • → Reference NL4UA directly if you have a Ukraine or humanitarian angle — it's a serious commitment he started in 2022 and is still active.
  • → Come with a specific view on CEE or CIS founder dynamics, not a generic 'emerging markets' frame — he's operating in that geography daily and will notice the difference.
  • → If you're a founder, know your pitch deck cold — he built a platform specifically for pitch deck creation, so sloppy decks will register immediately.

Toolbox

Openers

  • Open on the Acrobator.vc pitch deck platform — he built a web-based tool for startup pitch creation with collaboration features, which is an unusual move for a VC and signals he thinks in products as well as deals.
  • Lead with NL4UA — he co-founded the Netherlands for Ukraine Foundation in 2022 and it's still active, supporting wounded military and oncology patients. It's a high-stakes commitment that reveals how he operates under pressure.
  • Reference the MiLaboratories investment — Acrobator is a backer of a biotech and genomics platform, which is a pointed portfolio bet worth unpacking given the firm's Eastern European sourcing thesis.

Discovery questions

  1. What's the single biggest mistake CIS or CEE founders make when they try to enter Western markets — and how does Acrobator's support model try to correct it?
  2. The Acrobator.vc pitch deck platform is an unusual build for a VC firm — what gap were you solving for, and how does it feed back into deal flow?
  3. With Kyiv and Tbilisi as operational nodes alongside Amsterdam, how has the firm's sourcing and portfolio support model shifted since 2022?

Avoid

Don't treat Eastern Europe as a monolithic 'emerging market' — Acrobator's thesis is explicitly about the CIS, Baltics, and CEE as distinct corridors, and generic emerging-market framing will read as unprepared.

Make it yours

Tailor these openers to what you sell

These openers are generic. Sign in and tell Brief what you sell — it rewrites the hooks and questions around your pitch.

Sources

Brief on your next meeting?

Type any name. Get a structured pre-meeting brief in seconds.

Try Brief →

Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on June 5, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →