Konstantin Stetsenko

Konstantin Stetsenko co-founded Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) in 2006 alongside Makar Paseniuk, with whom he remains a majority shareholder. Both founders came out of ING, and Stetsenko is widely described in the Ukrainian financial press as "one of Ukraine's best traders," having been pivotal in building the firm's asset-management and fixed-income trading businesses. He has served as a Founding Partner since March 2008. Under his and Paseniuk's leadership, ICU grew into one of the largest and most diversified independent asset managers in Central and Eastern Europe, managing over $500M in assets and winning repeated Euromoney recognition as a market leader in Ukrainian capital markets and advisory.

Before ICU, Stetsenko was Head of Fixed Income Trading and Sales at ING Bank Ukraine (Aug 2005–Mar 2008). Earlier, he worked at UkrSibBank, where profiles list him as Head of Sales and Trading (2001–2005) and, via UkrSibBank Asset Management, as Vice-Chairman of the Board and Chief Investment Officer. He holds a Master's degree in Economic Cybernetics from Kharkiv National University (completed 2001) and later attended an executive program at Stanford Graduate School of Business (2018–2019).

Beyond his trading and asset-management roles, Stetsenko has been active in building the broader Ukrainian financial ecosystem. He founded the Ukrainian Financial Forum (co-organized 2017–2019), co-founded the Centre for Excellence in Economic Journalism, and — with Paseniuk — became a patron and strategic partner of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), where ICU has been a strategic partner since 2016. He has framed this civic work around ICU's interest in raising "the level of intellectual discussion in Ukraine."

ICU's venture activity runs through ICU Ventures, which Stetsenko oversees as a founding partner of the group. Since 2018 the venture arm has made 30+ technology investments, roughly half in companies with Ukrainian roots. Note: Stetsenko and ICU have also drawn media scrutiny — including a 2025 Ukrainian Supreme Court ruling and National Bank actions over their reputations — which founders should be aware of as context.

• Invests through ICU Ventures in "fast-growing technology companies worldwide," built on the belief in "the power of technology to unlock the hidden potential of emerging markets."
• Two stated strategic tracks: Global Software (deep tech, mobility, enterprise software — with a preference for founders with Eastern European roots) and Emerging Markets Fintech (credit and financial services for underserved populations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America).
• Stage & check: late seed through Series A; ticket sizes of ~$200K–$5M depending on stage; 30+ deals since 2018.
• Evaluation criteria across three dimensions: Team (founders with "big ambitions" building globally competitive companies), Product (solving "real problems" with simplicity and scalability), and Market (targeting a "global market" beyond the home region).
• Strong thesis conviction around Ukrainian / CEE founding teams: "about half of all the start-ups in the ICU Ventures portfolio are Ukrainian or have Ukrainian roots" and often have a deep-tech element.
• On the broader Ukrainian market, Stetsenko emphasizes ecosystem-building over rivalry: "everyone—Privat, Mono, Sense, and ICU—is pulling together to create a future investment market."