Georgi Koreli is nothing if not multi-faceted. After successful turns as a world-champion martial artist based in Eastern Europe and an investment banker in both Ukraine and the U.S., Georgi landed at Stanford for a third phase of his career focused on entrepreneurship. After graduating with a master’s degree from Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability in 2023, he founded Hinkal, an invisible wallet infrastructure that enables confidential transactions on public blockchains. Incubated at the Stanford Blockchain Accelerator and Binance Labs (now YZi Labs), Hinkal raised a $6 million seed round from leading venture capital firms. The company harkens back to Georgi’s roots, named after khinkali, a Georgian dumpling stuffed with various types of meats and spices. “The contents are never known, but the taste is always magical,” Georgi writes.
But along with the hours Georgi puts in at his day job in cryptocurrency as CEO and co-founder of Hinkal, he also moonlights as a community builder. Georgi found himself to be one of few Georgian nationals working in Silicon Valley when he first arrived at the GSB. That’s when he founded Icons — a Stanford student and alumni group — as a way to acclimate to his surroundings and build his network. “Initially, SV Icons was part of my personal initiative to become ‘local,’ learn insights, and create a community,” Georgi revealed in an interview with Maverick Nation. It’s become a means for Georgi to build bridges and cultivate connections that reach beyond the Stanford community.
Launched as SV Icons in 2021, Icons hosts weekly intimate gatherings that bring Stanford students and alumni together with global business leaders. Today, the organization has spread beyond Silicon Valley to other cities, and includes more than 2,000 members who gather to hear unfiltered advice, behind-the-scenes stories, and hard-earned wisdom from a wide variety of speakers. “Georgi has created a scalable way to hold small group dinners for students and alumni with visionary leaders, including investors, founders, and executives,” says Valerie Shen, MS/MBA ’19. “It’s his big service to the GSB.”
