Inspire. Learn. Prepare - then go global.
I8GL helps develop, source and build relationships with top local startups, investors and corporates looking to go global. We run courses, conferences and events to inspire and prepare for new-market access and success - whilst enriching the local ecosystem and its sovereignty, showcasing it to the world.
The Yellow Door, by the numbers.
For a decade - 2011 until the 2020 lockdown - at a legendary underground venture space on Strastnoi Boulevard. Today our work continues at Noodome in Moscow's Romanov Dvor, in offices and virtually around the world.
Intensive courses prepare founders, investors and corporates to go global.
Launch pad programs in home markets. Hybrid - offline and online. Work with mentors who have gone through this themselves, some multiple times.
Pitch directly to top accelerators - Y Combinator, Techstars, 500, Alchemist, SkyDeck, StartX and others. We scout for them and they support us.
A question, a test, what came back, and a decision.
Every team keeps one. Pick the riskiest thing you believe about the new market, test it on real buyers, write down what they actually said, then decide. Stopping is a decision too, and often the cheapest one.
Question
Will US mid-market freight brokers pay for route planning they already get free inside their dispatch software?
Experiment
Two weeks: twenty calls with brokers, then a priced one-page offer to everyone who asked a second question.
Evidence
Free is good enough for most of them. Three brought up customs paperwork without being asked. One asked for an invoice.
Decision
Change direction. Park routing; next week, test customs paperwork on cross-border brokers. Stop was on the table and would have been a fine page too.
The programs you apply to. The parties are at the door.
Labs runs what has a cohort, a jury or a deadline. Walk-in life - Startup Crash Test, Next Steves, TGIF, Late Night Arts, the lectures - lives at The Yellow Door.
Labs grew out of a co-working space on Strastnoi Boulevard.
In 2011 we opened The Yellow Door, one of the first co-working spaces for entrepreneurs in Moscow city-center. The founders who came through it needed a way out to global markets, so we built one: the Intensives, the Silicon Valley trips, the landing pads. That is Labs. The door stays fiercely independent and non-profit; Labs is the part you apply to.
The legend itself - the Fencing & Gymnastics Society, Chekhov, the basement - is told at yellowdoor.club.
The details.
Experienced teams of 2-4 with real local traction and a globally scalable model - and, in separate tracks, angel investors building funds and corporates building venture groups.
Wherever you are. Every batch is hybrid and teams join from any city. Each batch opens with an in-person launch week and a welcome dinner (alumni and mentors welcome), then runs online, with in-person Thursdays at Founders Coffee for those who want them. Batch 28 launches in Moscow on 8 December, Batch 29 in St. Petersburg on 15 December, Batch 30 in Novosibirsk on 22 December; all three finish on 12 March 2027. Armenia follows in February and Bali in March. Every batch ends the same way, with the business trip to Silicon Valley.
The business trip to Silicon Valley (the next one is 27-28 April 2027, around the Startup Grind conference), pitches to top accelerators and investors, and - for the strongest - the Studios and the fund. Graduates stay in the community for life.
Yes. We build and run programs with governments, universities and corporates, and open doors in new cities - each a local brand, with I8GL as owner-partner. Write to info@i8gl.com.
Build the people of the future - strong and agile.
We make friendships which last a lifetime, and create a more peaceful, prosperous and fun world.