Practice Areas
Ekaterina has been a partner at ASB Consulting Group since 2015, currently heading up the Venture Practice. Ekaterina has over 13 years’ practical experience of creating and structuring PE/VC funds and tech startups, as well as assisting with cross-border investment transactions and advising on corporate governance aspects. She has extensive practice in corporate and other civil law litigation. Ekaterina is a recognised expert in structuring and supporting Russian venture capital funds established as an investment partnership and has unique experience in merging venture funds. She has contributed to completion of over 100 investment transactions worth USD 300 k up to 30 m both in Russia and abroad.
Ekaterina is a regular speaker and judge at venture fairs held by the Russian Venture Investment Association, as well as a venture capital investment expert at the Moscow Investors Club. She contributes to the development of the venture capital market, its legal and regulatory environment as a team member supported by the Russian Venture Company. As a speaker, she provides training sessions for business people as part of acceleration programmes at venture capital development institutes such as IIDF, Innopolis and the Higher School of Economics. Ekaterina also assists in arranging ecosystems for providing support to Russian venture capital projects abroad.
Before joining ASB Consulting Group, Ekaterina worked for the developer of the Nagatino i-Land technopark, headed the legal department of a multidisciplinary team of the Synergy University company, led the corporate department of a Russian bank and headed the legal division of a big startup. She is fluent in both Russian and English.
Recent Projects
- advised two venture funds incorporated under investment partnership agreements involving the Institute for Development of the Russian Venture Capital Market and private investors, merging them into a unified fund of RUB 3 bn
- advised a venture capital fund representing over 20 private investors on structuring and drafting documents for a number of transactions for ZeroAvia (transaction documents drafting, establishment of Series LLC (USA, Delaware) to hold the asset). The investments were made in several rounds: SAFE and A round for USD 21.4 m. The A round was star-packed: Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Horizons Ventures, Shell Ventures and Summa Equity
- advised an investor, defending its rights in a litigation with the founder. The dispute involved purchase of a participatory interest under an option structured as part of the corporate agreement. The litigation was won at two instances, resulting in the investor obtaining the disputed participatory interest. This was a landmark case proving that share options may be structured other than as a notarised irrevocable offer
- advised an investment platform on complete development of an operating structure using an investment partnership agreement and on preparing all the legal documents and texts required for the investment platform’s operation. A process flow diagram was proposed to cover the input of all participants in the process, including the notary, to automate it and reduce costs of handling routine tasks. The platform intends to attract retail investors for large-scale industrial and high-tech projects. The legal structure of the platform is unique and unparalleled
- advising a technology company on the entire structuring of and legal support for a USD 7.3 m investment transaction. Runtech Ventures acted as the lead investor of the round. The transaction also triggered the closing of the previous round and conversion of bridge round investors’ convertible notes.
- advising a technology marketplace designed for pharmacists on the structuring and closing of a Round A transaction involving IIDF, as well as creation of a global holding company with a footprint in the UAE and Singapore
- advising a venture biomedical fund on its closure due to the expiry of its term, including structuring transactions for withdrawing from nine portfolio companies and allocating returns to fund investors.
- advising a leading company providing geonavigation services and software on restructuring a group of digital oil well developers to attract USD 9 m in investment from Zyfra, a leading developer of industry digitalisation software products with an option envisaging a subsequent 100% takeover, including development of the deal’s structure in three jurisdictions (Russia, Cyprus and the BVI)