Bas Godska

Who they are

Bas Godska is General Partner at Acrobator Ventures — he co-created the C.A.S.H.C.O.W. B.O.M.B.E.R. marketing formula and bills Acrobator as the world's first growth hack VC fund.

Person

Bas launched Acrobator Ventures in 2019 as a newly founded pre-seed and seed fund targeting CEE, Baltic, and Dutch markets — he co-founded it with Joachim Laqueur. Before going full-time into VC, he spent years as a CMO and President across Russian and Eastern European e-commerce: Ozon.ru, Lamoda.ru, Kupivip.ru, Enter.ru, and Gloria Jeans, plus travel-side stints at Ebookers.com/Orbitz and lastminute.com/Travelocity Benelux. He also co-founded Travelata, a travel platform where he served as both founder and investor. In 2012 he set up Acrobator Consultancy, where he developed the C.A.S.H.C.O.W. B.O.M.B.E.R. marketing formula — a proprietary acquisition, conversion, and retention system now deployed across portfolio companies via a team of 15 growth specialists. The through-line is operator-turned-investor: every VC bet comes loaded with the growth toolkit he built running category-defining e-commerce brands across Russia and the CIS. In 2022 he co-founded the Netherlands for Ukraine Foundation (NL4UA), which supports Ukrainian wounded military, oncology patients, and refugees with medical, humanitarian, and accommodation support. He posts actively on LinkedIn on VC investing, portfolio milestones, and AI, and has appeared on the Honestquo Venture Podcast, Seedstars Summit, and Startup Grind Tbilisi.

Company

The most recent portfolio signal: in April 2026, Maroo — a business management and payments platform for creative and event businesses that Acrobator backed — was acquired by Helium Ventures after raising $3.8 million. In March 2026, Acrobator participated in a $13 million Series A for Algorized, a Swiss-American AI startup building industrial robot safety systems, led by Run Ventures. Acrobator typically writes initial cheques of $200,000 to $1.25 million, leading pre-seed and seed rounds, then supports companies through Series A, B, and C. The fund operates out of Amsterdam and Kyiv/Tbilisi, with Joachim Laqueur running the Eastern European presence. The model is unusual: portfolio companies get access to 15 in-house growth specialists, making it closer to an operating platform than a traditional cheque-writing fund.

Market

Acrobator sits in the early-stage European VC space, concentrating on B2B(2C) AI/ML software — cybersecurity, fintech, infrastructure, synthetic media, and data-intensive tech — with a particular sourcing edge in CIS, Baltic, and CEE founder networks. Named competitors are not specified in available information, but the fund competes with other early-stage European VCs active in the AI/ML software sectors. In 2026, the broader VC environment is shaped by geopolitical fragmentation, AI attracting the largest share of venture capital, and fluid regulatory frameworks around AI deployment — dynamics that amplify Acrobator's Eastern European sourcing thesis.

Network

Bas co-invests alongside Mike Reiner, Adam K. Carson, Florian Reichert, Picus Capital, Julian Roeoes, Marcel van der Heijden, and Speedinvest. His closest institutional partner is Joachim Laqueur, who co-founded Acrobator Ventures and anchors the Kyiv-side operations. He also sits on the board of Omdena, an AI-for-good platform, and has invested in Respeecher, a Ukrainian voice technology startup.

Joachim Laqueur· Partner, Acrobator Ventures
Mike Reiner· Co-investor
Adam K. Carson· Co-investor
Florian Reichert· Co-investor
Julian Roeoes· Co-investor
Marcel van der Heijden· Co-investor

How they likely show up

Career as CMO and President at multiple Russian e-commerce scale-ups before founding a VC → he almost certainly stress-tests growth mechanics in pitch meetings, not just vision.
Built a proprietary marketing formula (C.A.S.H.C.O.W. B.O.M.B.E.R.) and embeds 15 growth specialists in portfolio companies → prefers to operationalize frameworks rather than leave founders to figure it out.
Founded Acrobator Consultancy in 2012 before launching the VC fund in 2019 → patient builder who tests concepts before committing capital structure to them.
Active LinkedIn poster on VC investing, portfolio milestones, and AI → comfortable being publicly visible and likely appreciates interlocutors who've read his posts.
Possibly — mixed tenure shape across prior roles → may be most energized at early, high-ambiguity stages and less interested in steady-state management.

Conversation tips

→ Come with a specific growth problem or metric — he's an operator at heart and will engage far more on acquisition/retention mechanics than on abstract strategy.
→ Reference the C.A.S.H.C.O.W. B.O.M.B.E.R. framework by name; it's his proprietary IP and asking how it applies to a specific sector signals you've done the work.
→ He co-founded NL4UA after Russia's invasion of Ukraine — the Eastern European founder ecosystem is personal for him, not just a sourcing strategy; treat it that way.
→ Mention a recent portfolio event (Algorized's Series A, the Maroo acquisition) — he'll know you looked beyond the fund homepage.

Toolbox

Openers

Open on the Algorized Series A in March 2026 — Acrobator joined a $13 million round for an AI industrial-robot-safety startup, which is a pointed bet on industrial AI at a moment when most early-stage funds are chasing SaaS.
Ask about the C.A.S.H.C.O.W. B.O.M.B.E.R. formula — he built it at Acrobator Consultancy and now deploys it across portfolio companies via 15 in-house growth specialists, which is an unusual structural choice for a VC fund.
Bring up the Maroo exit to Helium Ventures in April 2026 — it's the most recent portfolio outcome and a concrete data point on how Acrobator's thesis plays out through acquisition, not just IPO.

Discovery questions

How does the C.A.S.H.C.O.W. B.O.M.B.E.R. framework change when you're applying it to an AI/ML B2B startup versus the consumer e-commerce brands you ran in Russia?
You bill Acrobator as the world's first growth hack VC fund — at seed stage, where does hands-on growth support actually move the needle versus just getting in the founder's way?
You're sourcing heavily from CEE and CIS in a geopolitical environment that's fragmenting those networks — how has that changed the deal flow or founder profile you're seeing since 2022?

Avoid

Don't pitch generic AI market-size narratives — he evaluates growth mechanics and distribution specifically, and macro hype without unit-economics grounding will lose him fast.

Make it yours