Toloka

Vadim Shulman, as the founder and principal capital source, maintains ultimate decision authority. Day-to-day deal evaluation and portfolio management run through Managing Partner Andrea Manara in the London office and the broader investment team across Kyiv and New York. The structure is a single-family office, not a venture fund with an investment committee of external LPs.

Toloka operates a multi-hub model with offices in Kyiv, London, and New York. London and New York teams plug directly into local venture ecosystems, generating deal flow through GP relationships, co-investor networks, and founder referrals. The Kyiv anchor gives the firm differentiated access to CEE-origin talent before those founders migrate to western venture markets.

Toloka is a single-family office managing exclusively the capital of founder Vadim Shulman. The firm does not market third-party funds, accept outside limited partners, or operate as a traditional venture capital firm. All investments are made from the family's balance sheet.

Toloka uses a hybrid approach — the firm makes direct equity investments in early-stage companies and also commits to select venture funds as a limited partner. This dual-track model generates proprietary co-investment opportunities when Toloka's GP relationships allow follow-on direct participation in portfolio companies.

The firm focuses on early-stage venture, primarily seed and Series A rounds. Toloka looks for technology-driven companies with a product-market fit signal and the potential to scale across the US and European markets. The firm does not typically engage in late-stage growth equity or buyout transactions.

Toloka was capitalized with proceeds from Vadim Shulman's sale of Vega Telecom to SCM Holdings around 2013. The firm operates entirely independently from Shulman's former operating companies. The wealth origin is telecom and media infrastructure, but the investment mandate today has no sector overlap with those legacy businesses.

Toloka tends toward collaborative deal structures — co-investing alongside established venture funds or angel syndicates rather than leading and pricing rounds unilaterally. This reflects the office's strategy of leveraging GP relationships for deal flow and diligence, consistent with the hybrid direct-and-fund-commitment model.