Hidden Excellence, Revealed
We uncover exceptional Global South brands and translate their stories for the partners and capital they need to grow.
Finding Excellence Where Others Don't Look
Our mission: illuminate exceptional founder-led brands across the Global South. Our current focus: Russia's extraordinary brands—from wine estates to beauty innovators, hotels to craft producers. These brands have proven track records and export readiness, but language, cultural, and political barriers keep them invisible to the partners who need to discover them.
We don't aggregate listings. We conduct intelligence: deep founder research, market validation, growth signal analysis, cultural context translation. Everything needed to confidently evaluate a brand you've never encountered in a market you've never entered.
Why Russia First
Russia's founder-led brands face a perfect storm of invisibility. Language, cultural, and political barriers have kept exceptional brands—many with decades of proven track records and export readiness—hidden from international partners who would value them.
We have deep Russian language fluency, cultural understanding, and local relationships that let us discover, verify, and showcase what others miss. From family wine estates to export-ready food producers, boutique hotels to natural beauty brands—we're bringing these exceptional founder stories to light.
Russia is where we start. China and other BRICS+ markets are where we're headed—same barriers, same opportunity, systematic expansion.
Two Audiences, One Problem
For Brands
Your product works. Your challenge is visibility. We connect you with partners who recognize your differentiation—not despite your market, but because of it.
Partners & Investors
Exceptional brands are emerging in markets you can't easily reach. We're already there. Currently: 75+ Russian founder-led brands across wine, spirits, beauty, food, hospitality. Next: systematic expansion to China and beyond. Early access to quality brands before everyone else discovers them.
Intelligence, Not Hype
Founder Deep-Dives:
Background, vision, execution track record
Market Context:
Why this brand wins in their home market
Growth Signals:
Traction metrics, expansion readiness indicators
Cultural Translation:
What international partners actually need to know
Narrative Due Diligence
Data platforms tell you what happened. Revenue figures. Funding rounds. Employee counts.
They can’t tell you why it matters.
We document the transformation arc behind every brand and founder we feature—what we call Resilience Profiles. Not company histories. Survival stories. The year the money ran out. The pivot that shouldn’t have worked. The moment when quitting seemed rational.
This is systematic research that reveals not just metrics, but the conviction and pattern recognition that created them.
Read our methodology →Built by Brand Builders
Co-Founder & CEO
25+ years building cross-border ventures in Asia. Former startup operator, growth strategist, relentless believer that the world's best brands aren't always in obvious places. Comfortable in Russian and Chinese, obsessed with finding excellence where others aren't looking.
Co-Founder & COO
25+ years connecting talent and opportunity across three continents. Expert at reading people across cultures—how Russians think, how Chinese negotiate, how Westerners evaluate. Built and trained boutique executive search teams. Opens doors, evaluates fit, closes deals. Fluent in Russian and English, comfortable in Chinese and Japanese. Thrives in startup environments where execution matters.
Building the Team
We're assembling client relationship managers who are natively fluent in BRICS+ cultures—not just language, but business mentality, social media landscapes, founder dynamics. People comfortable building relationships with brand leaders and leveraging AI tools to tell their stories at scale. Transforming regional brand intelligence through technology and cultural insight.
Join Our TeamLet's Connect
Whether you're a brand ready to break beyond borders or a partner seeking what others are missing—start here.