Sergei Kovalev
About Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Kovalev is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is the founder of Afford.Capital, which describes itself as a global venture capital DAO fund for early-stage high-tech startups. His LinkedIn profile also gives his title as Chief Executive Officer of Afford Capital and lists Saïd Business School, University of Oxford under education.
His Crunchbase bio calls him an entrepreneur, innovator and fundraiser. It says he has over 15 years of experience in the financial, marketing and IT industries, and that he advised and tested 139 niches and over 200 products. It also says he helped launch dozens of startups, "from cryptography to cloning". The Afford.Capital site says that since 2016 he has vetted and screened 6,000 startups and helped raise $965,000,000 for 35 projects. These figures are self-reported and we could not verify them independently.
Crunchbase lists three current roles: Founder of Afford.Capital, Founder of Compliance.Finance.Sales (since June 2017), and Chief Business Development Officer at Crypto Gaming United (since June 2021). It lists Vice President Marketing at RONI Bot as a past role. Crunchbase counts two companies founded. He also holds advisory positions: Advisor at UNO.farm, Business Development Advisor at XDAO, and investor at Dexsport.
Crunchbase shows 12 personal investments across 10 portfolio companies. Two of these are lead investments and none are recorded exits. His most recent listed deal is a seed round in Yalla!Market, with Crunchbase news dated August 22, 2022. Crunchbase hides most round dates and amounts, so we do not state years for the other deals.
The listed rounds are mostly seed, plus one angel round (Choise.com), one venture round (ThunderLands) and one Series A (De.Fi). Crunchbase marks him as lead investor on Yalla!Market and De.Fi.
He also invests through Afford.Capital. Tracxn, a third-party database, lists a portfolio of 11 companies for the fund, entering at seed stage, with blockchain and fintech the largest sectors. Tracxn dates the fund's founding to 2021. Those figures describe the fund and may overlap with his personal deals.
We found no named AI company in his Crunchbase investment list, and no public announcement of an AI-specific deal. His bio does say he invests in artificial intelligence and has competencies in AI investments and innovation. The Afford.Capital site also names AI among the sectors he covers.
His public LinkedIn posts show an interest in the field. In 2023 he shared a summary of Microsoft's GPT-4 research and wrote that the Afford.Capital team wants to study new technology in depth rather than wait for mass adoption. He also posted about an AI-generated promo video and a study of ChatGPT-based stock rating. These are commentary, not investments. Founders pitching AI products should expect the fund's main track record to be in blockchain and Web3.
Afford.Capital says it invests in early-stage high-tech startups, with a stated emphasis on blockchain, Web3 and hi-tech projects. It lists 13 key investment areas. Crunchbase gives his bio sectors as blockchain, fintech, Web3, biotechnology and AI, and tags his regions as EMEA and the GCC. Tracxn shows fund portfolio companies in the UAE, the UK, Estonia and other countries.
The fund says it scores applicants with a model that uses over 220 parameters. According to the site, this includes fundamental analysis and a security team check. In LinkedIn posts, Kovalev said the team had reviewed over 500 deals in a year and writes due diligence reports for startups. He has also said the fund helps portfolio companies with grant programs. He has not published a check size, and neither has the fund, so we do not state one.
- Yalla!Market: seed round, listed on Crunchbase as a lead investment, with news dated August 2022.
- De.Fi: Series A, listed on Crunchbase as a lead investment.
- Choise.com: angel round listed on Crunchbase.
- XDAO: seed investment; he is also Business Development Advisor.
- UNO.farm: seed investment; he is also an advisor.
- Qubix: seed round listed on Crunchbase.
- ThunderLands: venture round listed on Crunchbase.
- Dexsport: Crunchbase lists him as an investor.
- crunchbase.com/person/sergei-kovalev-3cb5
- crunchbase.com/organization/afford-capital
- afford.capital
- afford.capital/startup
- afford.capital/presentation-for-investors
- tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/affordcapital/__52Vca033WGsSHdPWHRVBj_Gr0
- linkedin.com/in/sunseeker-the-creator
- linkedin.com/posts/sunseeker-the-creator_investing-ai-startups-activit
Investing activity
Sergei Kovalev has made 12 investments according to Crunchbase across 10 portfolio companies, and has led 2 rounds and founded 2 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Sergei Kovalev
Who is Sergei Kovalev?
He is a Dubai-based entrepreneur and the founder of Afford.Capital, a venture DAO fund. His bio says he has over 15 years of experience in finance, marketing and IT.
Does Sergei Kovalev invest in AI startups?
His bio lists artificial intelligence among his investment areas. We found no named AI portfolio company, and his listed deals are mainly in blockchain, Web3 and fintech.
What stage does Sergei Kovalev invest in?
Most of his Crunchbase-listed rounds are seed, with one angel round, one venture round and one Series A. Afford.Capital describes itself as an early-stage investor.
What is Sergei Kovalev's check size?
It is not public. Neither Crunchbase nor the Afford.Capital site gives a typical check size for him.
How many investments has Sergei Kovalev made?
Crunchbase counts 12 investments across 10 portfolio companies, with 2 lead investments and no recorded exits.
How should founders approach Afford.Capital?
The fund runs an application process on its website that goes through a scoring model. Founders can apply through the startup page at afford.capital.
Is Sergei Kovalev an angel investor?
Yes. Sergei Kovalev invests personally as an angel and is Founder at Afford.Capital. Crunchbase counts 12 investments.
Where is Sergei Kovalev based?
Sergei Kovalev is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Asia.
How can founders reach Sergei Kovalev?
Founders on Lounge can see Sergei Kovalev's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Sergei Kovalev to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.