⚡ BREAKING
NETWORKING QUEEN TAKES BRUSSELS BY STORM  •  UKRAINE'S TECH AMBASSADOR SPOTTED AT YET ANOTHER GLOBAL CONFERENCE  •  UTEW TECH TRIBE HITS 3,300+ MEMBERS — SOURCES CREDIT "UNSTOPPABLE INNA"  •  WOMAN COUCHSURFS THROUGH 40+ COUNTRIES, STILL REPLIES TO EMAILS SAME DAY  •  WEB3 ENTHUSIAST ASKS GOVERNMENT: "HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ATTRACTING TECH FOUNDERS?"  •  NETWORKING QUEEN TAKES BRUSSELS BY STORM  •  UKRAINE'S TECH AMBASSADOR SPOTTED AT YET ANOTHER GLOBAL CONFERENCE  •  UTEW TECH TRIBE HITS 3,300+ MEMBERS — SOURCES CREDIT "UNSTOPPABLE INNA"  •  WOMAN COUCHSURFS THROUGH 40+ COUNTRIES, STILL REPLIES TO EMAILS SAME DAY  •  WEB3 ENTHUSIAST ASKS GOVERNMENT: "HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ATTRACTING TECH FOUNDERS?"  • 
Inna S Stelmakh
🌍 BRUSSELS
YesPress Profile

Inna S.
Stelmakh

Networking Queen 👑 · Web3 Believer · Ukraine's Tech Ambassador
🚀 Startup PR 🌐 Web3 🇺🇦 Tech Ukraine 🎤 Speaker ✈️ 40+ Countries 🤝 Community Builder
Chapter 1

The Origin Story 🦸‍♀️

🇺🇦
FROM UKRAINE, WITH CODE
Born and raised with the Ukrainian spirit of grit and creativity, Inna cut her teeth in the post-Soviet tech ecosystem — where talent was abundant but the international spotlight was dim. She decided to change that.
🌍
THE WORLD IS A HOSTEL
Before LinkedIn endorsements, there was a backpack and a couch. Inna couchsurfed her way through 40+ countries, collecting contacts, cultures, and probably the world's most interesting passport stamp collection.
💡
THE WEB SUMMIT SPARK
It started in 2016 — 7 Ukrainians heading to Web Summit in Lisbon. Two weeks later, their Facebook group hit 250 people. Inna saw the signal: community beats competition, always. UTEW Tech Tribe was born.
🎓
MBA-LEVEL HUSTLE
She took her relentless networking instincts to Singapore Management University for an MBA — armed herself with business frameworks, then continued to break every framework in practice.
"Community over competition."
That's not a motto. That's a lifestyle.
— The UTEW Tech Tribe Manifesto (also, basically Inna's personality)
Chapter 2

Superpower Stats 📊

If Inna were a video game character, her skill tree would look absolutely broken (in the best way).

Networking
98%
Community Build
95%
Negotiation
92%
Startup PR
90%
Solo Travel
99%
Web3 Fluency
85%
Gov Relations
88%
By the Numbers

The Inna Index 🔢

40+ Countries Couchsurfed
3,300 UTEW Members Built
500+ LinkedIn Connections
1 Networking Queen Title (Unchallenged)
Chapter 3

The Journey So Far 🗺️

2009
The Twitter Origin: Joined Twitter as @instelmakh. The internet would never be the same (well, for her ecosystem at least).
2016
The Spark: Co-founds UTEW Tech Tribe with Alexandra Govorukha. What started as 7 people at Web Summit became Ukraine's biggest tech entrepreneur community. Motto: "Community over competition."
2017–2018
On Stage, Everywhere: Speakers at tech events across Kyiv, Lviv, Milan, Lisbon, Chisinau, Minsk. Also organizes community meetups at Lviv IT Arena, WebSummit, Israeli-Ukrainian Innovation Expo, and TNW Amsterdam.
2019
London & Beyond: Co-organizes Ukrainian Tech Days at London Tech Week and the Surf Pitch Night at Web Summit. The Ukrainian tech flag is planted on the global map.
2020
Going International: Co-organizes Ukrainian Tech Days at OurCrowd in Israel. Appointed Portal & International Network Lead of TechUkraine. Named a TechUkraine Changemaker.
2021
Brussels Chapter: Moves to Brussels. Joins The Birb Nest — a European startup PR powerhouse. Begins elevating startup reputations across the European ecosystem. Pivots from community builder to strategic brand architect.
2022+
Standing with Ukraine: Uses platform and network to rally international support for Ukraine. Shares resources for foreign volunteers. Advocacy meets network — the Networking Queen uses every connection with purpose.
2025–2026
Web3 & Gov Advisory: Now helping governments attract tech entrepreneurs. Advising on Web3 and blockchain strategy. Maps global conference ROI so founders stop wasting money on fancy badge lanyards they'll throw away.
World Tour

Stages She's Conquered 🌍

Spoke, networked, or parachuted into tech events in these cities:

🇺🇦 Kyiv
🇺🇦 Lviv
🇬🇧 London
🇵🇹 Lisbon
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv
🇧🇪 Brussels
🇮🇹 Milan
🇪🇪 Tallinn
🇲🇩 Chișinău
🇧🇾 Minsk
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
🇸🇬 Singapore
🌐 + 30 more...
Chapter 4

What the People Say 💬

"If Inna takes over, one can be sure that jobs become done and issues solved. Based on loads of experience, instinct and sensitivity for innovation she creates structure and drive in all kinds of organizations."
— LinkedIn Recommendation
"Together with Inna we created one of the biggest tech communities in Ukraine — UTEW Tech Tribe (3,000 people). She is energetic, creative and smart. Inna is a strong negotiator, community and partnership builder."
— Alexandra Govorukha, Co-Founder UTEW Tech Tribe

* One colleague also noted she's "in risk of depletion in her search of perfection." Translation: she's a perfectionist who still gets everything done. Must be exhausting. Must be amazing.

Chapter 5

The Quirks & the Gold ✨

🏠
THE COUCHSURF PHILOSOPHER She's not just a traveller — she's a couchsurfer who passed through 40+ countries. That means 40+ host families, 40+ breakfast conversations in 40+ languages, and a contact book that reads like a UN delegate list.
👑
SELF-DECLARED NETWORKING QUEEN (AND SHE'S RIGHT) She put "Networking Queen" in her own bio on CreativeMornings. Bold. Also completely accurate. The woman turned 7 people at a conference into a 3,300-person global community. The crown fits.
🎌
이나 (INNA) — HER KOREAN SIDE QUEST Her Twitter handle describes her as "Inna (이나)" — that's her name written in Korean Hangul. Did she study Korean? Live in Korea? Or just appreciate the aesthetic? The mystery is part of the brand.
🐦
THE BIRB PERSON She works at "The Birb Nest." We're not making that up. There is something delightfully chaotic about a Networking Queen who chose to nest with the birbs. It's a vibe. It tracks.
⚖️
THE ROI REALITY-CHECKER She writes brutally honest LinkedIn posts telling founders that 70% of startup fairs have ZERO ROI. In a world of conference hype, she's the person who tells you to put the badge down and check your metrics first.
🙏
INSPIRED BY JACK MA'S REJECTION STACK Her hero? Jack Ma — not because of his billions, but because of his failures. She admires being unlucky, overcoming challenges, and building the biggest company in the world anyway. Classic underdog energy.
Personality Map

The Inna Radar 🕸️

Opportunities

What Can Inna Do For You? 🤝

She's built ecosystems from scratch, advised governments, ghosted no one at a conference, and can explain your startup to a journalist in 30 seconds flat. Here's how she creates value — and what she's looking for next.

📣
Startup Founders
Your Startup Needs a Story
Inna specialises in elevating the public reputation of startups within the European ecosystem. She turns "what does your company do?" into a crisp, compelling narrative that journalists, investors and partners actually remember.
Talk to Inna →
🌍
Conference Organisers
Book a Speaker Who Actually Gets It
She's spoken on Ukrainian tech, ecosystem building, Web3 adoption, and conference ROI across Europe, Israel, Asia, and beyond. No empty fluff — Inna brings real data and lived experience to every stage.
Invite Her to Speak →
🏛️
Governments & Innovation Agencies
How to Attract Tech Founders to Your Country
Inna has been on both sides — founding communities, landing in new ecosystems, and advising on how countries can become genuinely attractive to tech entrepreneurs. She knows what founders actually care about (hint: it's not the brochure).
Start the Conversation →
🔗
Web3 Projects & DAOs
PR for the Decentralised World
Most Web3 projects are undercommunicated to the real world and overcommunicated inside their own bubble. Inna bridges that gap — she understands the technology and knows which journalists actually cover this space.
Work Together →
🗺️
Ecosystems & Accelerators
Connect Your Community to the World
She built UTEW Tech Tribe to 3,300 members connecting Ukrainian founders globally. If you want your community visible internationally — she's done it and can do it with you.
Connect →
✨
What She's Looking For
Inna's Ideal Next Chapter
Ambitious founders who want to make a real dent in Europe and beyond. Projects where her international network, storytelling instincts, and ecosystem experience all compound. Bonus points: Web3 angle, a government challenge, or a Ukraine dimension.
Reach Out on LinkedIn →
🔍
The free advice she gives every founder: "Before you sign up for that €3,000 startup fair booth, ask: who is your target customer there, and when did you last close a deal at a conference like this?" She's written about this. She means it. She saves founders real money.
Chapter 6

Her Constellation 🌟

Every Networking Queen has a court. Here are the orbits closest to Inna's universe:

🤝
Alexandra Govorukha
UTEW Co-founder, Sigma Software
🇺🇦
TechUkraine Portal
Portal & Network Lead
🐦
The Birb Nest
Brussels Startup PR HQ
🏗️
LIFT99 Ukraine
Ex-Team Lead
🧠
Kyiv Smart Hub
Citizen & Advisor
🌐
UTEW Tech Tribe
3,300+ member community
Fun Insight

Things Inna Might Find Fun To Know About Herself 🤭

YOU ARE A WALKING VC PITCH DECK
Your life has: a problem statement (Ukraine's invisible tech scene), a solution (UTEW), traction (3,300 members), and you went international. Andreessen Horowitz is probably watching.
YOU ARE IN THE WRONG ERA
In the 1800s, you'd have been an ambassador-at-large. In the 1950s, a UN delegate. Instead you exist in the age of LinkedIn, where you still somehow out-network everyone. Timeless talent.
THE COUCH → BOARDROOM ARC
You went from couchsurfing strangers' apartments to advising governments on tech ecosystems. That is genuinely one of the most extraordinary career arcs in modern Europe. Somebody write the Netflix doc.
Connect

Find Inna Online 🔗

💼 LinkedIn 🐦 Twitter / X ✍️ Medium Blog 📸 Instagram 🌍 TechUkraine Feature 🤝 UTEW Tech Tribe ☀️ CreativeMornings 📰 Ukraine in Tech Article