Opportunities that match your mandate. Nothing that doesn’t.
No mass distribution. Introductions under NDA.
Based in Vienna. Mandated internationally.
Capital and opportunity rarely sit in the same market. From Vienna, we work across Europe and the U.S. — preparing opportunities for institutional scrutiny and aligning them with capital whose mandate, structure and investment criteria genuinely fit.
Sourced internationally
- Growth companies with limited capital-market access
- Energy, industrial and real-asset projects
- Technology, IP and university spin-outs
- Markets where good assets sit outside investor line of sight
An international investor base
- Family offices, funds, banks and strategic investors
- EU legal, tax and structuring capability on the ground
- Licensed distribution and execution partners
- An operating and investor network built over 20 years
You do not lack deal flow. You lack qualified deal flow.
Most capital providers see more opportunities than they can read. The cost is not volume — it is discovering, three meetings in, that a company was never within mandate, or that the material was never investment-grade to begin with.
Both failures are routine, and they are worse across borders. Good businesses arrive as a founder deck, a spreadsheet and a property dossier — often in another language, under another legal system. They are not weak assets; they are unprepared ones. Our work is to fix that before you ever see a name, and to check what remains against the criteria you recorded with us. The judgement stays with you.
Where it does not fit, you never hear from us. That is the whole proposition, and it is why the introduction rate is deliberately low.
Two mandates, one discipline
Capital providers and companies are served by the same underlying work: understanding precisely what each side requires, and refusing the introductions that do not meet it.
Capital alignment
Your criteria recorded in writing, and only the opportunities that fall inside them. We introduce; we do not advise.
- IntakeYour criteria and exclusions recorded in your words, not our interpretation
- ComparisonOpportunities are compared against that record; those outside it never reach you
- IntroductionAn anonymised profile first; if you ask for it, direct contact under NDA
- Your decisionDiligence, valuation and the decision itself stay with you and your advisers
We give no investment advice and make no recommendation. Registering a mandate is free of charge, and we are not paid by investors.
Capital readiness
Most companies are not rejected because the business is weak. They are rejected because the material was never investment-grade.
- ReadinessAn honest assessment of what an investor will find, and what will stop them
- PreparationFinancials, ownership, rights and governance in one structured profile
- PresentationHow the opportunity is documented, explained and positioned for the audience it needs
- AccessAn introduction where a recorded mandate matches — an introduction, never a recommendation
This is business advisory work, engaged and paid for by the company. Where a financing route calls for regulated advice, we say so and bring in a licensed adviser.
Stated plainly, so you can rule us out
If your mandate sits outside this, we will say so in the first exchange and, where we can, point you elsewhere. That is cheaper for both sides than a polite second meeting.
Four steps, and one of them is refusal
The same sequence for every capital provider we work with. Nothing is sent before step three, and step three does not happen without a confidentiality undertaking on both sides.
Mandate intake
A structured conversation to record your criteria in writing — ticket, instrument, sector, geography, risk appetite and, above all, the exclusions. Around 45 minutes. No opportunity is discussed.
Preparation
On the supply side we normalise financials, ownership, rights, permits and governance into a single structured profile — and name the gaps rather than hiding them.
Comparison
The prepared profile is compared against the criteria you recorded. Most fall outside them and you never see them. Those that fit reach you anonymised first, in a form you can decline in five minutes.
Introduction
If you wish to proceed, a direct introduction to the decision-maker under NDA, and a point of contact between the parties. The diligence, the negotiation and the decision remain yours.
What we do not do
Stating the limits is more useful than claiming range. It tells you exactly where we sit in your process, and it is the part most intermediaries leave deliberately vague.
No client money
We never hold or transfer investor funds. Settlement runs between the parties and their own institutions.
No investment advice
We make no recommendation, assess no suitability and give no advice on the merits of an investment. Introductions are introductions.
No mass distribution
Nothing is syndicated, listed or forwarded. Every introduction requires consent from both sides.
No substitute for counsel
Legal, tax, regulated advice and execution sit with your own advisers and with appropriately licensed partners.
Who sits on the other side
A selection of the capital we work with, listed by type, region and speciality — never by name. An investor learns who they would be introduced to when there is a reason to — under NDA, with consent from both sides, and not before.
The nine above are an illustrative selection, chosen to show the range rather than the size of the network. Further counterparties across Europe and North America are recorded with their own criteria, and each is matched individually.
Around 50 opportunities are under review at any one time. Entries above describe active counterparties in the network; names are withheld under confidentiality undertakings and are never published, listed or forwarded.
Zorina Dimitrova
Twenty years across telecommunications, technology ventures and cross-border investment work — combining project valuation and corporate-strategy experience from a listed European group with the practical judgement of building ventures and advising sponsors.
AI and data-center infrastructure, technology and IP-led businesses, private equity and strategic acquisitions across Europe and the US.
- 2019 – presentGrownlearn 888 e.U. · Founder & Managing DirectorIndependent advisory to founders, project sponsors, investors, lenders and strategic partners across Europe and the United States. Opportunities are pre-vetted — sponsor credibility, documentation, business model, valuation, capital requirement, use of funds, return logic and execution risk — before any investor sees them.
- 2016 – 2022Healnlearn · FounderBuilt and operated a curated marketplace connecting users with vetted experts; designed the proposition, revenue model and expert network, then concluded operations and redirected time and capital to the advisory practice.
- 2010 – 2016Telekom Austria Group / A1Senior Group Strategy Controller, then Group Strategy Manager. Group-level project valuation, M&A analysis and capital-allocation decisions; decision materials for the Management and Supervisory Boards; contribution to the workstream around the Group’s shareholder structure. Developed TAG Digital, the precursor to A1 Digital.
- 2009 – 2011ESADE Business School · MBAEntrepreneurship and finance; Vice President Finance, Entrepreneurship Club. Barcelona.
- 2005 – 2009MobilTel / A1 BulgariaStrategy controlling and financial planning; profitability models and business cases for strategic initiatives, including the launch of two mobile virtual network operators.
BBA International Business & Management Studies, The Hague · Languages: Bulgarian (native), English, German, Spanish, Dutch · LinkedIn
Six years of asking other people how it actually works
The GrownLearn podcast is not marketing. It is the network, on the record — 292 conversations with founders, investors and operators since 2019. It is the reason a call with us usually starts somewhere better than an introduction.
The Future of AI Marketing Digital Clones, Automated Funnels and Human Expertise with Jon Benson
How to Keep Your Job in the Age of AI Vladimir Botsvadze: Personal Brand, AGI & the Future of Work
Why 70% of AI Transformation Fails Neuroscience of Change: Travis D. Hahler, Salesforce
Written when there is something to say
A short signed note on the markets we work in, sent to registered mandates before it appears here. Four substantial pieces a year beat two thin ones a week.
Start with the written version
A structured form instead of a calendar link. We record your criteria, confirm whether we can be useful, and only then propose a call.
- Read personally, answered within two business days
- Never shared, listed or added to a mailing list
- If there is no fit, we say so directly
- Free of charge, and we are not paid by investors