🦦 Hello,

My name is Malgorzata Filipowska, people call me Mal.

I’ve spent nearly a decade investing in early-stage companies across emerging markets, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East to Latin America and Southeast Asia. Today, I manage a portfolio of 140+ startups across 40 countries.

What I do is personal. I was born in Poland just after communism fell, when it was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Within my lifetime, I’ve watched it become the world’s 20th-largest economy.

Today, 70% of the global population lives in emerging markets (excl. China), yet these countries attract less than 8% of VC funding. Twelve years ago, every unicorn in the world came from one country: the US. Today, 50% of unicorns are built in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Nearly a decade of my career has proven to me that these markets can generate outstanding returns.

As I took on a global role investing across 4 continents, I started travelling more. In the last 4 years, I’ve visited over 40 countries, and while travelling, I've always done two things: meeting with founders and friends in the VC world, and trying the best cheesecake in town.

For years, I kept a cheesecake note on my phone and constantly shared it with people. I also kept writing in notebooks: thoughts, learnings, things I wanted to share from conferences, things I observed.

I felt the need to share both my work-related notes and my cheesecake recommendations. That’s how cheesecake.vc was born. A place for honest cheesecake reviews and VC thoughts.

I only publish when I have something to say.

✨Please reach out via LinkedIn if you’d like to chat.

Disclaimer:
I actually love my dog more. I’ve tried to update the world about her... Didn’t work. Some friends even left the group chat over too many dog pictures (sorry, not sorry) 🥲