“People often ask how I got into VC straight out of college. Truth is, it’s rare — funds often prioritize immediate execution over mentoring their talent,” tweeted Tunya Irkad last summer. Now Principal of e2vc, managing a fund about €70 million that invests in startups across Central & Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Turkey.
How someone becomes an investor? It is not something you learn at a college. So, when I saw Tunya’s post I knew I would want to talk to her about the experience. This engineer turned investor joined e2vc in 2021 (before 500 Emerging Europe, that operates independently from 500 Global). She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is currently working to connect startups with technology teams in Turkey and CEE region, with larger investors in the US.
Besides invaluable insights into her journey, how the e2vc’s unique investment and operations approach influenced it, we also talked extensively about investor-founder relationships and what truly sets successful founders apart.
From engineer to investor
Tunya already started crafting her career while studying engineering. It is a rare find in the investor world, but now she reflects it has helped hone her analytical thinking and process optimisation skills. Although, the most important aspect was familiarity with technology. Tech has been the driving force behind most of the startups, and as she points, “for me it is very important to be able to discuss technology behind solutions, and whether making an investment makes sense or not.”
That is especially true with all the AI hype, she adds, “you have to have more awareness, more knowledge of the BS that could be slipped under the AI hype.”
However, rather than following a conventional engineering career path, she explored a wide variety of roles through numerous internships — ranging from pharmaceutical at Novartis to consulting at Ernst & Young. These experiences helped her quickly identify the work environments she enjoyed and discard those that didn’t fit her interests. Her first exposure to the venture side though, came through an Angel Investment Network.
“The fact that you have to learn (…) pulled me fast into the world of VC. I get FOMO‑d and I’m obsessed with knowing everything that’s happening, especially on the tech side.”
So, when the Istanbul‑based team from 500 Emerging Europe launched their second fund, she seized the opportunity to join as their first junior hire. The fund’s flat organizational structure proved instrumental in her rapid growth. “Everyone is given a space, an opportunity, and resources to be able to construct their own pipeline, lead and champion the founders that they like, and convince the general partners to invest in them,” she highlighted. This approach allowed her to lead her first investment already as an analyst.
“I’ve always believed that it is not about betting on trends — it’s about recognizing obsession early. The founder’s, and sometimes, your own.”
Over the next few years she expanded her remit, covering ecosystems such as Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia — and building a strong network of founders and investors across CEE and Turkey.
“Insane Founder” mentality
Our conversation rolled out after Tunya’s appearance at the startup stage of Infobip Shift 2025 conference, and our next topic was actually influenced by something she mentioned on a panel: ‘I am only interested in funding “insane founders”.’ How you construct thesis around that, I wondered humoured, asking if she cares to elaborate.
In her mind, the word “insane” captures a level of commitment that goes far beyond a typical startup hustle. It’s the willingness to keep building when the odds are stacked against you.
In emerging markets funding is thin, talent pools are small, and the market can be skeptical. Tunya believes only founders who are “insane enough to do this to themselves” can survive.
“When I say ‘insane founders,’ I mean people like Ivan Burazin of Daytona: relentless, creative, and never satisfied with easy wins,” she concludes.
When she talks about the bond between a venture fund and the founders it backs, she never describes it as a simple “money‑for‑equity” deal. ”I try to be their toughest critic and biggest ally: the person who shares pages of insights on their industry but also checks in when the morale dips. I’m not a passive investor,” she says.
In the same manner, Tunya gravitates toward the kind of ventures that demand long-term conviction and genuine technical empathy: robotics, AI infrastructure, vertical AI, and voice-driven, workflow-intensive platforms.
“I love founders who build things people can’t yet imagine scaling,” she says. ”These are the kinds of companies that test patience and conviction.”
More than the money
Tunya notes that she tries to be the person founders can reach out to anytime. “Sometimes it’s to think through a product or growth question, a positioning challenge, or simply to talk through a tough moment. My style with founders is high-trust and high-context. I’d rather be the person they call first when something breaks — because that’s when real partnership shows. It’s never just about numbers for me; it’s about clarity, strategy, and grit.”
Overall, the relationship between founder and an investor is meant to be a long‑term partnership, not a one‑off thing. However, Tunya noticed “when there is a lot of money floating around, founders sometimes take it without checking what the investor brings to the table..”
“It’s the most important thing, to find the best partner possible. (…) If you only take the money and don’t look into what this investor means to you in five years, you’ll regret it later.”
The right partner should stay useful for the next round, open doors, and have a solid reputation in the ecosystem, she points.
Founders and investors, stop doing this!
On another note, because regional ecosystems are not that big, investors talk. Tunya warns founders to avoid “nice‑but‑not‑investing” introductions, an intro from an investor who isn’t actually putting money in can damage both the founder’s prospects and the investor’s credibility.
How it backfires? When a non‑committing investor introduces you around, the first question that boomerangs back from other is: Why they are good for me and not for you?
So, Tunya advises: “Don’t get intros from an investor who is not investing in you… cold outreach is much better than getting an introduction from an investor who decided not to fund you.”
Bridging Emerging Europe to San Francisco
Nowdays Tunya is busy with supporting portfolio companies and talent‑mapping, building a diaspora‑focused program in San Francisco and maintaining the bridge to Silicon Valley. Beyond investments, she notes that her mission in SF is deeply personal, “to build a home for CEE and Turkish founders in the world’s most competitive ecosystem.”
Through e2vc’s Nest initiative, the fund aims to be a crucial support system for founders navigating the competitive San Francisco landscape. This includes, among other things: warm introductions between different founders, and to investors; assisting with visa processes; guiding them to essential service providers.
Furthermore, Tunya and the team address the significant challenge of talent acquisition in the Bay Area by helping diaspora founders hire high-quality teams from their local ecosystems. This is facilitated by a dedicated talent team that not only assists with recruitment but also with culture building. The fund actively maintains a “talent mapping” initiative, engaging with engineers and professionals across big tech companies to identify future founders.
For all the talk of networks, Tunya insists regional founders need to come to Bay Area in person, at least for a short while once a year. “The place itself rewires you. It’s just being there. Just being there makes you want to create something meaningful.” It’s not romanticism so much as being dipped into that type of thinking and surroundings. Even a quiet dinner doesn’t stay quiet: “table away, you start hearing people talking about go-to-market strategy.”
That constant push is part of what the fund “offers,” as she puts it. Not hype, but immersion. The team now cycles through San Francisco more often so they can bring back current context, not secondhand notes. “Constantly talking to ambitious people who are building incredible things has a daily deep-dive effect on me,” she adds. “It keeps me sharp, curious, and humbled at the same time. I have a feeling that I can also provide this as a resource to the founders in my network from outside the Bay Area.”
The III Fund closing in
The e2vc fund is currently finalizing the process for the first close of their III Fund, targeting $100 million with ambitions to reach $150 million. The focus remains on Central Eastern European and Turkish founders, with an increased emphasis on diaspora founders and a new structured program to bridge them to the Bay Area.
She also highlights they will be more focused on reserving capital for follow‑on rounds, a lesson learned from the four unicorns which emerged across two funds. “We would like to have enough allocation for the follow-on rounds and we will separate that amount just for the follow-ons,” she emphasized, ensuring continued support for their successful portfolio companies.
