Reflections on a 3+ year personal journey and fundraising with brafe.space by Kirill Sivy

Looking back on my life, there haven’t been many places where I felt I truly belonged and could be my authentic self, while also being challenged to evolve my understanding of myself, the people around me, and systems we are part of. brafe.space stands out as a catalyst in my development.

What sets brafe.space apart is our understanding that while our surroundings are significant, it is our inner journey that truly defines us. As we grow within, we can create ripples of change that extend to society and the systems we are part of. In these urgent times, where crises follow one another, it’s crucial to create spaces where we can step out of the “frantic inertia,” as Joana often mentions. These spaces allow us to feel, sense, be, and think—not just about ourselves but our relationships and the broader social, economic, and political structures.

Sometimes, this means resisting immediate action and being present in the moment, letting new insights and possibilities unfold. This approach contrasts with the typical entrepreneurial mindset of constant action and execution.

When we were due to raise our seed round, it was clear that there would be no better place to raise it than within our community, for all the reasons mentioned above. Not only did the process of fundraising feel more authentic, as I never had to try and fit a predominant narrative or business model to peak interest, but it was also a wonderful dialogue with many people, new ideas, critical reflections, and big ideas emerging. While it was still nerve-wracking and uncertain at times, it was overall a very positive and enriching experience. Not to mention that the overhead was minimal for us, and it was the leanest process I have ever participated in.

The moment when it became clear that we had made the right decision as to who we want in our support network came literally one day after we closed our round. My father was diagnosed with cancer, and my whole world came crashing down from one day to another. If we had raised with more traditional VCs and become part of that “game,” this personal setback could have led to a difficult decision: being there for my family and supporting my father in his battle OR excluding that part and "putting my head down and getting to work on my company." Someone from that industry even advised me to exclude those emotions completely and channel my energy into creating the next unicorn so that I could become successful and raise even more money later on, which would supposedly in turn help my parents by making them proud.

With brafe.space, I had a support network that helped me through some of the roughest six months of my life so far. There was no pressure from the investors, only compassion and loving-kindness. I want to highlight that it was because of the circle meetings, where I could openly speak about my struggles and feel supported, the host group, where I was able to do a deep dive on death and my fear of loss for the first time, receiving incredible resonance that opened up new avenues of exploration for me, and the brafe.space wisdom retreat, which helped me integrate all the undigested emotions and find my lightheartedness again. This support allowed me to come out of this period with renewed gratitude and energy. Luckily, my father is doing better and receiving treatment, which should hopefully help him continue living a life with dignity and joy. My experience is just one of many examples on why spaces for meaningful inner development are crucial.

As some of you may know, I am very passionate about inner work and personal development which led me to co-found shiftspace. Another organisation with a “space” in it. Not only are the names similar but we have many overlapping ideas, shared passions and like-minded approaches. brafe.space focuses on two core competencies: 1. relating to oneself more deeply, and 2. relating to others and being able to hold multiple perspectives. At shiftspace, we value these same competencies - we call them Self-Relating and Perspective Shifting. On top of that, we include two more core competencies into our four-competency framework, Opposable Thinking—the capacity to navigate tensions that arise from conflicting ideas and find innovative solutions—and Complexity Handling, the ability to understand and manage complex situations effectively. All of these are important metaskills if we want to create new, more inclusive solutions in a complex, multifaceted world.

One of the biggest differences between shiftspace and brafe.space is our approach. While brafe.space excels in very curated, smaller scale, in-person heavy events and formats, shiftspace aims to make these experiences scalable, accessible, and tech-assisted. Maybe you've had moments where you wished you could share brafe.space’s insights and formats with your colleagues, business partners, or portfolio companies but couldn't because, let's face it, we're still a pretty exclusive club with around 115 members. If we really want to tackle the big challenges and metacrisis out there, one developmental space is not enough.

That’s where shiftspace comes in. We’re on a mission to democratize access to these valuable development opportunities, making them practical and easy to use in daily life. Our vision is to create a continuous learning space for inner growth, using technology to scale individual development and coaching. Whether it's through peer group formats (similar to our circles), micro-learning apps and coaching interventions, we’re committed to iterating and improving our approach to deliver something truly valuable and accessible to everyone.

I am grateful to be part of brafe.space and look forward to contributing to our shared mission of breaking old narratives and redefining what it means to be an active participant for Team Human in 2024 and beyond.