NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 5, 2020 / Startups face a number of difficulties when trying to raise capital and expand globally. GSD Venture Studios travels the world inviting resilient teams to establish partnerships to ensure organizations grow the right way. Unlike traditional investors, they take senior operational (often co-founder) roles in these companies, capitalizing on their trusted reputation, experiences and network to drive explosive growth.
International companies typically feel locked into just one country when attempting to expand. GSD has helped many international startups with innovative products and services establish a footprint in Silicon Valley and beyond. And now they are thrilled to be announcing the launch of their premier accelerator called GSD Labs, which will focus exclusively on helping technology startups enter the US. They have designed GSD Labs to fully prepare companies before they either enter a US accelerator or become a GSD partner.
GSD co-founders Gary Fowler and Derek Distenfield will serve as the lead mentors for GSD Labs. Gary is the CEO, President and Co-Founder of GSD serving as the driving sales generation force as well as one of the lead mentors for all GSD portfolio companies. He takes a senior operational role in each GSD-backed startup, putting several decades of expertise behind them. Previously, he co-founded top CIS accelerators GVA and SKOLKOVO Startup Academy, where over 30% of the companies went on to achieve success.
He has founded 11 companies, including Yva.ai and DY Investments, and has a successful IPO and CKSW under his belt. His extensive experience with both the AI industry andthe Russian startup community enables him to quickly spot promising young companies and identify those primed for explosive global growth. As a result, he builds strong relationships with founders and teams who are bold enough to#GoGlobal.
"We are thrilled to be launching our 10-week accelerator program; GSD Labs to help international startups make powerful strides in Silicon Valley" - Gary Fowler
Derek Distenfield is the COO and Co-Founder of GSD. He is passionate about breaking barriers, leading innovation, and inspiring people to believe they can achieve. Known for bringing revolutionary new ideas to organizations that deliver explosive growth and for being efficient with limited resources, Derek's high tolerance for ambiguity and complexity makes him an invaluable source of inspiration and advice for growth-oriented startups and founders. He is also a mentor and startup business advisor for GrowthX, Google Pioneer Accelerator, and LifeFlip Media as well as a columnist for Forbes and a college lecturer at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Derek is the operational mastermind who brings a variety of resources together to best serve each portfolio company.