Mirna Marovic is the Founder and CEO of VX Associates where she conducts financial and private sector development assignments for international financing institutions (IFIs) in South-East Europe (SEE), as well as works on private equity & venture capital and financial advisory projects. She served as a project manager in producing the Western Balkans Venture Capital Assessment, a study used in the preparation of the Western Balkans Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility (WB EDIF), a joint initiative of the EU, IFIs, bilateral donors and governments of the Western Balkans with EUR 145 million of initial capital which is expected to effectively translate into over EUR 300 million in direct financing for SMEs in the region.
For many years she has successfully combined the high-profile consultancy assignments and academia, working as a Lecturer at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management. She also served as Assistant Minister at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. Prior to her return to Croatia in 2004, she was based in London and held corporate and structured finance positions at major investment banks including Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole Indosuez.
She has orchestrated the establishment of Turnaround Management Association Croatia (TMA Croatia) and the Croatian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (CVCA). She is currently the President of CVCA, TMA Croatia and INSEAD Alumni Association Croatia & Slovenia.
She holds an MBA from INSEAD, an undergraduate degree in Economics (BSc Econ) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and has completed postgraduate certification courses at the LSE (Climate Change: Economics and Governance), the London Business School (Investment Management, Corporate Finance, Sustainability Leadership and Corporate Governance) and Harvard Business School (Sustainable Business Strategy). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Financial Management at the Faculty of Economics, the University of Ljubljana with a thesis on private equity and venture capital (degree expected in 2021). She holds the EFFAS Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA®) diploma, the Certified Appraiser Diploma from the Croatian Society of Appraisers, as well as other professional qualifications. She speaks six languages: English (fluent), French (fluent), Italian (fluent), Spanish (fluent), Russian (good), and Croatian (mother tongue).