Oleh Podobied Biography | Founder of ITCAPITAL & EDCAPIT
2026-09-23 01:56
Oleh Podobied: From ITCAPITAL to EDCAPIT — An Entrepreneurial Journey Across Technology, Education and Silicon Valley
Oleh Podobied is a Ukrainian-born entrepreneur, technology founder, education product creator and the founder of ITCAPITAL. His professional journey developed from hands-on work and early business experiments in Ukraine into technology services, professional education, U.S. entrepreneurship, EdTech, robotics and venture activity in Silicon Valley.
But the path to those companies runs directly through ITCAPITAL.
ITCAPITAL became the point where several earlier parts of his entrepreneurial experience — sales, recruiting, business operations, technology and professional training — were brought together inside one organization.
It also became the environment in which Podobied began turning practical business experience into structured educational products, expanding to the United States and developing ideas that later evolved into EDCAPIT and ITCAPITAL Ventures.
Podobied’s professional story began long before ITCAPITAL.
Born in Dnipro, Ukraine, and raised partly in Nikopol, he began earning money at an early age. His work experience during his teenage years and early adulthood included construction, logistics, hospitality, retail sales, customer service and other practical roles.
At 18, he moved to Kyiv.
Over the following years, he worked in restaurants, retail, logistics and sales before beginning to experiment with businesses of his own.
Between approximately 2015 and 2017, his projects included seasonal children’s entertainment locations, mobile coffee outlets, commercial equipment for small beverage businesses, automotive sales and media-related activity.
The projects differed in scale and duration, but they established a pattern that would later become visible in ITCAPITAL: Podobied was interested not only in selling a product, but in understanding the operating system behind a business.
How is a product sold?
How are employees recruited?
How is a process standardized?
How can someone else be trained to perform it?
These questions became increasingly important as his businesses grew.
IZIHouse: The Link Between Business and Professional Education
In 2017, Podobied entered the real-estate industry in Kyiv and began developing what became IZIHouse.
IZIHouse LLC was formally registered in Ukraine in 2018. Its public corporate record remains available through OpenDataBot.
Real estate introduced an important new dimension into Podobied’s work: professional education.
Instead of limiting training to employees inside the company, IZIHouse began developing structured educational programs for people who wanted to learn the real-estate profession.
The Real Estate Agent course covered market fundamentals, communication with property owners, advertising, client acquisition, property selection, viewings, documentation and practical assignments.
A second program focused specifically on real-estate marketing.
The transition was significant.
Operational knowledge from an active company was being transformed into an educational product that other people could use.
That model would later become considerably more important within ITCAPITAL.
ITCAPITAL: The Move Into Technology
Podobied began developing ITCAPITAL in 2020.
The company moved his entrepreneurial activity deeper into technology, focusing on areas including software development, websites, mobile products, automation and digital business solutions.
For Podobied, ITCAPITAL represented more than a move into another industry.
Technology companies require several business systems to operate simultaneously:
technical delivery;
sales;
recruitment;
project management;
customer communication;
marketing;
and team development.
Many of the educational products Podobied created during this period came directly from those operating needs.
The business and the education activity began reinforcing one another.
ITCAPITAL School: Turning Company Experience Into Education
In 2021, the educational direction expanded through ITCAPITAL School.
The school developed professional and business education around skills connected with technology companies, entrepreneurship and commercial operations.
Podobied’s role included course authorship and curriculum development, while specialists from the wider company participated in particular programs.
Several surviving public pages continue to document that authorship.
IT Sales Manager
The IT Sales Manager course covers IT-market fundamentals, sales processes, communication with clients, commercial proposals, CRM activity, reporting and practical work.
The program was designed around an important reality of the technology industry: building software is only one side of a technology business. Companies also need people capable of finding customers and explaining the commercial value of technical services.
Its curriculum includes company formation, recruiting, international sales, IT-project delivery, internal operations and marketing.
The subject was closely connected with Podobied’s experience building ITCAPITAL itself.
Telegram Chatbot Development
The Telegram Chatbot Development course introduced a more technical educational product, guiding learners through the creation and practical application of chatbot technology.
Recruiting and Educational Sales
The educational portfolio also expanded into recruitment and sales.
The initiative was designed around supporting startups and technology businesses.
Its materials asked founders to explain their business model, market, financial assumptions, team and intended use of investment.
Although this activity developed under very different circumstances from the later Silicon Valley venture platform, it represented an early step toward another area that would eventually become important in Podobied’s career:
working with other founders and evaluating businesses rather than only building his own.
Several years later, that direction would reappear in the United States through ITCAPITAL Ventures.
Social and Charitable Initiatives
The ITCAPITAL ecosystem also developed projects outside its core commercial operations.
In 2021, the organization introduced ITCAPITAL CHARITY KIDS, an initiative focused on supporting children facing difficult circumstances.
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ITCAPITAL also launched a wartime volunteer initiative focused on assistance for people affected by the war.
These activities became part of the wider history of the company during a period when both the Ukrainian technology sector and individual businesses were operating under fundamentally changed conditions.
Expansion to the United States
A major new chapter began in 2023.
ITCAPITAL USA INC. was incorporated in New York on February 8, 2023.
A public corporate-data record, based on New York Department of State information, identifies Oleh Podobied as Chief Executive Officer.
The American company provided an organizational base for the continuation of technology and education projects in the United States.
New York became an early base for this activity.
Later, an increasing share of Podobied’s professional work shifted toward the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
Roboasis: Extending the Technology Focus Into Robotics
The concept was developed as a marketplace for robotics products and solutions.
Instead of approaching robotics primarily from the perspective of manufacturing hardware, Roboasis focused on the marketplace problem: connecting technology providers, robotics products, integrators and potential customers.
The project became particularly relevant several years later as Podobied’s investment activity moved toward robotics and Physical AI.
From ITCAPITAL Education to EDCAPIT
The development of EDCAPIT was not an isolated move into a completely new industry.
It was the continuation of educational work that had already been developing through IZIHouse and ITCAPITAL School.
By that stage, Podobied had experience:
creating courses;
working with professional instructors;
organizing training;
selling educational products;
building technology infrastructure;
and operating businesses across multiple industries.
The next question was whether those capabilities could become a platform for other specialists, rather than remaining inside one school.
That idea developed into EDCAPIT.
2024: The EDCAPIT Platform
EDCAPIT began operating under its own brand in 2024.
The name derives from the concept of Education Capital — the idea that knowledge and professional skills accumulate as a form of personal capital throughout a person’s life.
The platform was designed around two groups.
Instructors can create and publish educational products.
Learners can discover programs and study through their own accounts.
The EDCAPIT course marketplace now covers subjects ranging from professional occupations and business to technology, programming, communication, languages and personal development.
During the early stage of its U.S. development, EDCAPIT operated through ITCAPITAL USA INC.
This creates an important historical relationship between the two companies:
ITCAPITAL was part of the foundation from which EDCAPIT emerged.
EDCAPIT Becomes an Independent Company
On January 23, 2026, EDCAPIT, Inc. was incorporated as a separate Delaware corporation.
The company then transitioned from operating under ITCAPITAL USA INC. to its own legal structure.
The public corporate-transition announcement explained that the change preserved ordinary platform operations while establishing an independent corporate structure for future ownership, investment and partnerships.
This was not the end of the relationship between the organizations.
It represented the maturation of an education project that had developed from experience accumulated across IZIHouse, ITCAPITAL School and ITCAPITAL USA.
Investment and Growth of EDCAPIT
In February 2026, EDCAPIT completed a strategic SAFE investment with Mukhitdin Khayrullaev.
The executed agreement records a $ purchase amount and $20 million post-money valuation cap.
The company has continued expanding its instructor community and educational catalog as it develops its longer-term strategy around learning, skills and professional development.
Entering the Silicon Valley Startup Ecosystem
As EDCAPIT expanded in the United States, Podobied became increasingly active in startup and investor communities.
In August 2025, he presented EDCAPIT during a Keiretsu Forum Texas session. Public coverage of the presentationdescribes the company's educational strategy and international plans.
Later that month, EDCAPIT announced its participation in Startup Grind Membership. Read the public announcement.
In September 2025, Podobied presented EDCAPIT at GGW Sharks at Silkroad Innovation Hub in Palo Alto.
These appearances reflected another shift in Podobied’s career: from building companies primarily in Ukraine and New York toward deeper participation in the Silicon Valley startup environment.
From Startup Founder to Startup Judge
By the end of 2025, Podobied’s participation in startup events also began to include evaluating other founders.
On December 26, 2025, he served as a judge at STARTUPS MIX & PITCH at Hacker Dojo, reviewing startup presentations and participating in the evaluation process.
On May 3, 2026, he served as a judge at the Youth AI Startup Mentor Program Pitch Day in Santa Clara.
The event brought together young founders presenting AI-related projects and early products. Podobied participated in reviewing projects, asking questions and evaluating their business and product potential.
This activity connected several parts of his background:
technology;
education;
entrepreneurship;
and founder evaluation.
Building Founder Networks in Silicon Valley
Podobied’s professional activity in the Bay Area also expanded into community building.
In May 2026, he co-hosted the Silicon Valley Executive Hike: Founders, Investors & Tech Leaders at Purisima Creek Redwoods.
The official event page identifies Oleh Podobied, EDCAPIT and ITCAPITAL Ventures among the hosts.
The event was designed as an informal environment for founders, investors and technology professionals to meet outside the traditional conference format.
This kind of activity reflected the increasing importance of the Silicon Valley ecosystem in Podobied’s professional work.
ITCAPITAL Ventures: Returning to the Investment Direction
In 2026, Podobied returned to an area first explored through ITCAPITAL INVEST.
The study examines lifelong learning, reskilling, micro-credentials, the changing role of educators and the importance of measurable educational outcomes.
In August 2026, Podobied also recorded a long-form Silicon Valley discussion with Jenny Li, Founder & CEO of GES Ventures and President of GES International Education Group.
The conversation addressed AI, EdTech, venture capital, startup financing, international education and the changing relationship between education and the labor market.
2024 — EDCAPIT begins operating under its own education brand.
2025 — EDCAPIT is presented at investor and startup events including Keiretsu Forum Texas, GGW Sharks and Hacker Dojo.
December 2025 — Podobied serves as a startup judge at Hacker Dojo.
January 2026 — EDCAPIT, Inc. becomes a standalone Delaware corporation.
May 2026 — Podobied serves as a judge at the Youth AI Startup Mentor Program Pitch Day.
May 2026 — Silicon Valley Executive Hike brings together founders, investors and technology professionals.
May 2026 — ITCAPITAL Ventures launches with a focus on Physical AI and robotics.
August 2026 — Podobied publishes a Silicon Valley discussion with Jenny Li on EdTech, AI and venture capital.
About Oleh Podobied
Oleh Podobied is a Ukrainian-born entrepreneur based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
He is the founder of ITCAPITAL, Founder & CEO of EDCAPIT and Founder and President of ITCAPITAL Ventures.
His professional work has included technology services, real estate, professional education, recruiting, SaaS, robotics, EdTech and venture development across Ukraine and the United States.
His current work focuses primarily on building EDCAPIT as an education platform and developing ITCAPITAL Ventures around Physical AI, robotics and emerging technology businesses.
For the complete documented life and career history, including early work, businesses, education products, media activity, public records and supporting sources, read: