EUVC

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Paul Forster, co-founder & CEO of Indeed and currently an active angel investor.Paul Forster co-founded Indeed and was CEO until the company’s acquisition in late 2012. Today, Indeed is the leading job site globally, with over 100 million unique visitors in more than 50 countries and 26 languages. Paul previously co-founded the leading job site for financial professionals, and before that was an investment professional at International Finance Corporation. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and Master’s degrees from Cambridge and Oxford Universities.Paul loves working with founders and loves their energy, creativity, and variety. As an investor, he enjoys the intellectual stimulation from getting to know different industries and sectors and from working with different kinds of people.We invite you to listen to this discussion below to hear some wonderful stories, besides the actionable pieces of advice that you can have a sneak peek at below.Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to the Super Angel Podcast00:01:54 - Early stage investing and angel investing00:04:50 - Mentally stimulating work and investing in focused founders00:06:30 - Investing in UK-based Companies00:08:14 - Approaching New Deals and Portfolio Diversity00:10:00 - Finding the Balance Between Diversification and Support00:11:42 - Investing in Founders with Domain Expertise00:13:22 - Pattern Recognition and Experience00:15:05 - Collaborating with Other Investors in the Ecosystem00:16:51 - Investing in Early Stage Companies00:18:35 - Leading a Round00:20:16 - Examples of Successful Investments00:22:09 - Investing in VC Funds00:23:58 - Core Learnings from Angel Investing00:25:49 - Key Factors for Successful Investing00:27:44 - Follow-on Investing and Objective Decision Making00:29:28 - The Importance of the Right Team and Market Opportunity00:30:57 - The Importance of Capital Efficiency in Building a Business00:32:37 - Lessons from Angel Investing00:34:28 - Building networks for international investments

Join us for another episode of the NEUVC series which is dedicated to those embarking on their journey in the VC. In this episode, Freddie Macpherson, analyst at Isomer Capital, and Linda Võeras, associate at Karma Ventures, are joined by Rebecka Löthman Rydå, Investment Director at Inventure.Inventure is a Nordic-Baltic a generalist venture capital fund focused on early-stage investing. Rebecka has been an investor for almost nine years and ended up in venture a little bit by accident and staying because she simply couldn’t see herself anywhere else.Her true passion is all things related to software, AI data, and nerdy stuff. A little bit of deep tech and clean tech, when possible.Chapters:00:00:00 - Rebecka’s journey into venture00:04:55 - The balance of trust and empathy in deal-making00:09:50 - The deal evaluation process00:14:34 - Building trust and balancing relationships00:19:32 - Key skills in deal-making00:24:40 - Negotiating ownership and capital Needs00:29:42 - Staying true to portfolio strategy00:34:45 - Becoming a great investor through curiosity and deep diving00:40:04 - The importance of staying focused and being Open00:45:13 - VC funding in the music industry.

Today we have Tom McGinn with us. Tom is the General Counsel of Northzone, a multi-stage venture fund with offices in London, Stockholm, NYC, Amsterdam and Berlin, that invests from seed to growth across Europe and the US.Northzone closed a EUR 1 billion fund last year and has backed over 100 companies, including Spotify, Personio & Spring Health. Tom joined Northzone in 2021 from Cooley where he helped get the emerging companies team in Europe off the ground.Watch the full interview on eu.vc 👀 and read our core learnings 🧠 Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction and Guest Introduction00:03:09 - Lessons Learned from a Startup Experience00:06:23 - European Approach to Advising High Growth Companies00:09:34 - The Future of AI in the Legal Space00:12:37 - The Difficulty of Reversing Company Negativity00:15:41 - Building a High-Functioning Board00:18:33 - The Value and Potential Destruction of Board Members00:21:32 - Founders Treating the Board as Employees00:24:25 - Awareness of Misalignment00:27:38 - Strategic alignment and good cultural fit00:30:36 - Managing Investor Departures00:33:49 - Exceptional Leadership and Shoutouts to Female Founders00:36:56 - Key Learnings for Founders00:40:12 - Misalignment and liquidation preference00:43:15 - Management Carve Out and Incentivization00:46:36 - Tips for Emerging VCs00:48:54 - Professionalism Amidst Technical Difficulties00:49:29 - Europe as a model for the world's new beginnings

Today we have Simon Lohmann, Head of Platform & Investor Relations at Cavalry Ventures, an early-stage generalist venture fund in Germany to back European Software companies with a huge LP network and a sizeable platform team in place.Cavalry is investing out of Fund 3 with a total of 250m AUM and an established portfolio of 50+ companies and notable investments including Usercentrics (Consent Management), Planradar (Real-Estate Construction Management), Forto (Digital Freight Forwarder), and Aleph Alpha (Generative Enterprise AI), which just raised an enormous Series B.At Cavalry, Simon focuses on Fundraising and Investor Relations now and built up the platform before.Go to eu.vc for a full write up of our learnings from this episode 🧠 Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction and Sponsor Message00:03:30 - Investment Announcement with German Corporates00:06:58 - From Sales to VC: My Journey in the Industry00:10:15 - The Importance of Education and Learning00:13:47 - Investing in Talent and Consolidation in the VC Space00:17:29 - The Challenges in the VC Industry00:21:09 - Adjusting Valuations and Interacting with LPs00:24:35 - The Beginning of Cavalry and the Platform Activities00:28:11 - Structured Approach to Platform Development00:31:40 - Using an App for Communication00:35:04 - Using Affinity as our CRM00:38:30 - Tracking the Success of Introductions00:41:59 - The Value of a Platform Team in Venture Capital00:45:28 - Importance of Value Add and Trust00:48:45 - Supporting Portfolio Companies00:52:14 - Shoutouts to Christian Du and Hannah from Don Capital00:55:49 - Strategic Work and Scalability00:59:20 - Capacity Management and Scalability Techniques01:02:53 - Advice for First-Time Founders and Long-Term Thinking01:06:27 - Communicating Clearly with LPs in Venture Capital01:10:15 - European Unity and Values

Today we are welcoming Bastian Larsen, Founding Partner of BlackWood Ventures, a pan-European early-stage VC fund focused on Fintech, Web 3.0 and Cleantech. Blackwood has a value-creating approach that leverages AI to minimize biases and a proprietary pan-European network of over 1200 angels. BlackWood had a $10m first closing in early April this year, with a $50m target. As of today, BlackWood has made investments across 5 countries in just 6 months, counting companies like Qaptis, Trips and Fingreen AI.We wanted to bring Bastian on because BlackWood, just as ourselves, build on a strong angel community, so for this episode, that’s where we focus 👀Chapters:00:02:54 - From London to New York: Bastian’s Journey into VC00:04:17 - Building the European VC Market00:05:37 - A Pivotal Moment in Venture Capital00:06:57 - The Power of a Small Positive Impact00:08:22 - The Lack of European Growth Stage Funds00:09:41 - Launching Growth Stage Funds00:11:03 - Building Blackwood and Overcoming Hurdles00:12:15 - Leveraging the Power of Angel Networks00:13:30 - Building Relationships with Angels00:14:41 - The Importance of Angel Networks in Startup Investing00:16:00 - The Importance of Feedback and Strategic Investments00:17:16 - Leveraging the Network for Co-investment and Cash Injection00:18:33 - Investing and Dividing Deals00:19:54 - Monetization and Scaling Up00:21:15 - Personalized Approach in Angel Investing00:22:52 - Jacob Kilgard: A Backer of Blackwood00:24:10 - Fundraising success and trust in our network00:25:28 - Staying Curious and Building Relationships00:26:46 - Building a Common Vision00:28:01 - Comparing Opposites and Writing Children's Books00:29:22 - Fundraising and Leveraging Networks in the VC Industry00:30:43 - Drop Us a Review and Join the Blackwood Gang

As we welcome 2024, let's reflect on the critical developments in scientific research and innovation shaped by geopolitical dynamics over the past year. This pod (and article on eu.vc) delve into the shifting landscape of international collaboration, emphasizing the roles of major global players and innovative breakthroughs in energy, space technologies, and generative AI.We'll explore how these advancements are influencing our sustainable future and expanding our cosmic understanding. Additionally, we examine the burgeoning world of AI, where rapid growth brings both opportunities and challenges in regulation and industry adaptation.A special focus is given to the evolving dynamics of startup ownership and control, illustrated by Open AI's public board deliberations.This case study highlights the complex balance of power among founders, teams, investors, and boards in guiding the future of pioneering companies.As we step into the new year, let's navigate these changes with insight and integrity, both professionally and personally. Here's to a year of positive impact and innovation. We hope you enjoy and have a great New Year's! 🥳

It was awesome hosting more than 600 European venture investors for our Roundtable on strategies for winning with non-dilutive funding in Europe 📺 In case you missed it, you can rewatch the session above, read the quick recap below or tune in on Spotify or Apple to get it right into your ears 🎧.You’re in for a treat with the magnificent panel consisting of:Gilles de Malbosc, Chief Investment Officer at Harmony Family OfficeBailey Morrow, Managing Director at HSBC Innovation BankingHemal Fraser-Rawal, General Partner at White Star CapitalBenjamin Rieder, Founder & CEO of LevenueGo to eu.vc to read the full recap and watch the recording of the roundtable 👀Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to the Round Table Discussion on Non-Diluted Financing and Revenue Based Financing00:02:52 - The Difficulty of Company Financing00:05:33 - Using Recurring Revenue as Collateral for Financing00:08:12 - Investing in RBF as an MFO00:11:16 - Risk and Reward in Venture and RBF00:13:47 - Varying Capital Stack for Companies00:16:17 - Financing for Entrepreneurs and Investors00:18:43 - The Benefits of Non-Dilutive Capital00:20:45 - Non-dilutive Capital and Cap Table Management00:22:55 - Blending Debt and Equity Instruments00:25:22 - Uses and Benefits of Short-term Working Capital Finance00:27:57 - Complementing Equity in Financing00:30:13 - Investing in Alternatives00:32:57 - Risk and Data in Private Markets00:35:36 - Loss Rates in Private Credit and Alternative Finance00:37:59 - Investing in Venture-backed Companies00:40:25 - Risk Management and KPIs in Lending00:42:30 - Choosing the Right Business Partner00:44:54 - Fraud Stories and Short-Term Analysis00:47:25 - Financing Options for Venture-backed Companies00:49:46 - The Importance of Partnering with VCs and Being Creative in Venture Debt00:52:05 - Short-Term Capital for Companies & Investors00:55:00 - Non-Dilutive Financing00:57:40 - Closing Remarks

In this special feature, we're excited to share a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of venture capital and climate change as we wrapped up COP28 with some of the leading VCs attending COP this year:Lena Tiede from Planet APeter Hirsch from 2150Sonia Weymuller from VentureSouqAreije Al Shakar from Al Waha Fund of FundsIn the episode, we dived into:The evolution of climate tech as a crucial sector in VC as well as in fighting climate change.The increasing role of VCs in shaping environmental policy and driving sustainable innovation.Perspectives from both LPs and VCs on the future of climate finance and technology.Chapters:00:00:00 - Wrapping up COP28 and its Implications00:01:56 - Introduction of Panelist and Funds00:03:47 - Transition Away from Fossil Fuels00:05:28 - Investing in Climate Tech Funds00:07:19 - Investing in the Environmental Space00:09:13 - Investing in Early Stage Climate in the GCC00:10:51 - Climate Investment in the Middle East00:12:24 - Increasing Investment in Early Stage Climate Tech00:14:07 - Tech Tipping Points and Earth Systems Tipping Points00:16:12 - All-Hands-On-Deck Approach in Addressing Climate Change00:17:57 - Generating Collaborative Spaces for Climate Action00:19:26 - The Next Generation and Climate Accountability00:21:04 - Investing Strategies in the GCC00:22:45 - The Global Nature of Climate Innovation00:24:35 - Fundraising in the GCC00:26:16 - Investing in Climate in Emerging Markets00:27:47 - Emerging Climate Solutions in High Growth Markets00:29:21 - The Overwhelming Scale of COP and the Role of VC in Climate Tech00:31:11 - Growth and Construction in Developing Countries00:32:59 - The Role of the Private Sector in Supporting Climate Technologies00:34:43 - The Need for More Public Funding in Europe00:36:41 - Funding Climate Solutions in the MENA Region00:38:26 - Collaboration for Climate Solutions

Today we have Hampus Jakobsson, founding GP of Pale Blue Dot with us for a very special episode dedicated wholly to raising a fund virtually. It came about because Hampus casually mentioned that he hadn’t traveled a single mile in the raise of Fund 2, which of course had us thinking: "Wow, we need to share this story! So strap in!"Hampus is a GP at Pale Blue Dot, an early stage venture fund in Sweden to back European Climate Tech companies. PBD are investing out of Fund 2 with a total 200M$ AUM and an established portfolio of 32 companies and notable investments including Monta, Patch, OverStory, ClimateX and Opna.Prior to co-founding Pale Blue Dot, Hampus was a Venture Partner at science fund Blue Yard and a prolific angel investor with more than 100 angel investments. He is a software engineer turned founder, turned angel investor, turned VC. When not working with ambitious climate people Hampus cooks, reads and thinks.We’ve had Hampus on before (episode #115 🎧) and we whole-heartedly recommend you go check it out if you haven’t yet, ‘cos Hampus is hands-down one of our best guests on the pod. Smart, candid, top performing, and a rapid talker like none other!Go to eu.vc to watch the whole interview 👀 Chapters:00:02:45 - The Motivation Behind Saying No to Traveling for Fundraising00:04:56 - Building a Deck for Fundraising00:06:47 - Defining Your Fundraising Strategy 00:14:28 - Effective Meetings and Learning Opportunities00:16:16 - Building Trust Virtually00:20:06 - Being a Real Person00:22:07 - Working with What You're Good At00:28:09 - Dealing with Different Investment Perspectives00:32:01 - Importance of Handcrafted Relationships00:35:47 - The Quick Fire Round00:37:54 - The Dangers of Coming Into Wealth00:42:26 - Parenthood and the Love for Kids

Today, Freddie Macpherson, analyst at Isomer Capital, and Linda Võeras, associate at Karma Ventures, are joined by Paul Gillespie, Managing Director at Sheffield Haworth, a global executive search firm with a specialty in deep tech. With over 20 years in the industry, he co-founded Gilmore Stevens, focusing on building executive teams for venture-backed businesses. After merging with Sheffield Haworth to expand globally, Paul now leads their deep tech practice, covering sectors from semiconductors to nuclear fusion. An electronic engineer by training, he thrives on the cutting-edge innovation in deep tech, despite the opportunity to retire. His recent projects include a significant investment deal with a French chip company, underscoring his commitment to the ever-evolving world of technology.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to Paul Gillespie and the Importance of Talent in High Growth Companies00:02:24 - Deep Tech and the Exciting Era of Technology00:04:43 - Discovering Your Superpower in the Industry00:06:54 - Finding the Right Chief Operating Officer00:08:54 - The process of executive search00:11:11 - Creating a Viable Target List for Candidates00:13:28 - The Importance of Assessing Candidates Beyond Interviews00:15:43 - Approaching the Right Search Agency00:18:03 - The Importance of Having a Mentor and Advisor00:20:13 - The Importance of Critical Hires00:22:26 - Attracting Talent with the Wow Factor00:24:30 - Key Factors for Startup Success00:26:50 - The Power of Evangelizing and Positioning Propositions00:28:56 - Common Mistakes in Hiring a CFO00:31:18 - Issues with CEO Hiring00:33:39 - The Importance of Feedback Loops and Communication 00:35:57 - The Importance of Good Hiring00:38:09 - The Role of Investors in the Hiring Process00:40:18 - Replacing Founder CEOs00:42:44 - The Role of the CEO in Company Growth00:45:05 - Skills for Success in Investment Roles00:47:18 - Understanding the Difference Between Titles and Skills00:49:24 - The Importance of Mentors and Retention in Hiring00:51:40 - Reflecting on Linder's Career

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Harsh Sinha, Wise-CTO about his angel investing journey, thesis and strategy and core learnings.Harsh is a seasoned technologist with a passion for creating innovative, scalable, and customer-centric digital experiences. With a strong foundation in team building and a knack for impactful business strategies, he's played a pivotal role in developing server-side technologies and enhancing consumer experiences on web and mobile platforms.His professional journey includes a significant tenure at PayPal as Director of Product, where he spearheaded the product strategy and development of mobile applications and software for mobile wallet experiences. Join us as we dive into Harsh's insights and experiences in powering global financial infrastructure and pushing the boundaries of technology in finance.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to the Super Angel Pod00:02:32 - Building Experiences & the Primacy of Passionate Builders00:07:19 - On Non-Technical Founders and Becoming More Objective00:11:42 - Core Learnings from Angel Investing00:13:52 - Finding a Middle Ground00:16:06 - Balancing Diversification and Time to Support Founders00:18:17 - Assessing Founders and their passion for solving problems00:20:25 - Three Core Learnings: Team, First Principles, and Avoiding Bias00:22:35 - Being Naive in Angel Investing and the Importance of Passion00:24:44 - The Reality of Investments00:26:55 - Lessons in Angel Investing & Investing Across Europe and Asia00:31:19 - The Access Issue in European Markets00:33:32 - Building a Global Lens and Investing Internationally

Today we have Greg Dewerpe with us. Greg is a founder & CIO at A/O, a venture firm in London backing European founders that are building innovative technology companies that directly and indirectly solve mission critical problems in the Built World with a unique access to some of the largest B2B customers in the industry.A/O has a total of 250€ MN in AUM, an established portfolio of 23 companies and notable investments including SPAN, Passivelogic, SatteliteVu, Plentific and Enter.At A/O, Greg focuses on building world technology and positive transformation (like decarbonisation, climate resiliency and digitalisation), in Europe & the US, late seed to series B.A/O is also the first VC to ever join as a Global Innovator at the WEF which the attentive listener will know we are big supporters of given our involvement with the UpLink Initiative.Watch the whole interview and our key take-aways on eu.vc 💖 Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to the European VC Podcast00:04:12 - Overcoming Challenges in Career Transition00:07:55 - The Power of Visualization and Positivity00:11:44 - The Challenges of the Industry00:15:34 - Building Europe’s biggest Solo GP00:19:25 - Keyman Risk vs. Team Risk00:22:54 - The Journey towards Growth and Improvement00:26:34 - On Bullying, Balancing Work and Parenthood00:33:59 - Being Present in Relationships00:38:02 - Confidence, Humility, and Growth in Entrepreneurship00:41:58 - The Challenges and Opportunities of VC in Real Estate 00:45:44 - The Impact of Technology Transformation on Asset Prices00:49:32 - Aligning Doing Good and Making Money00:53:35 - Risk Tolerance and Acceptance of Failure in Venture Capital00:57:14 - The Benefits of Being a Specialist in Venture Capital

We’re kicking the Super Angel series into a whole new gear for 2024 by introducing Seedcamp-partner Tom Wilson as our new co-host 🥳 alongside the existing host team of the amazing Anthony Danon from Cocoa, David and Andreas 🎙️But before celebrating Tom, let us just pause and extend a heartfelt shoutout to Anthony Danon, whose contributions as a co-host have been pivotal to the Super Angel Podcast so far 💖. Anthony's vast network, particularly potent within fintech (but, tbh, generally quite mindblowing), has brought forth some of the most brilliant founders and operators to our platform.But there’s another reason why Anthony is the perfect host for the series: with just shy of twenty angel investments made prior to launching his angel fund Cocoa, his money is where his mouth is - and with two portfolio unicorns, that’s a good place 🦄.Anthony's deep understanding of the VC space and his dedication to bridging the gap between angels and VCs have been invaluable. His efforts have not only sculpted the podcast's feel, but also its success.Thank you, Anthony. We can’t wait to continue on our joint journey for decades to come 🚀Welcoming Tom Wilson to the host team 🎧Tom comes to us with a wealth of experience from Seedcamp, where he has worked closely with some of the most promising startups in Europe. But Seedcamp is way more than just one of Europe’s top tier seed VCs with a ludicrous track. Ever since their founding in 2007, Seedcamp has been dedicated to connecting VCs and Angels across Europe having built its own fully-fledged network economy where 1,000+ founders, experts, angels and VCs come together to make each other stronger.Or as Tom said in connection to the launch of Seedcamp VI:"It does make sense to build a village around the founders for that initial phase and so with our very collaborative approach, and the fact that we had the chance over the past years to work with pretty much everyone that invests early in Europe, we can be a catalyst to really help entrepreneurs find the best partner for that round."Being a catalyst for finding the right partners. That’s exactly what the eu.vc pod is about - be that as an LP, a co-investor or a founder. Connecting Europe. The super angel series being specifically designed to champion the amazing angels across the continent.By joining the Super Angel Podcast, Tom brings the collective wisdom of Seedcamp to the forefront, offering listeners a unique insight into the journey of tech investing from the ground up​​.In case you should’ve missed some of our Super Angel episodes (which you’d be excused for, we’re keeping a pretty good pace on the pod), we’ve collected them all for you on the playlist below 🎧

Today we have Klementina Österberg from GU Ventures & Ted Persson from EQT Ventures with us🎙️. Ted is a Partner at EQT Ventures, a 1.1bn multi Stage venture fund with offices spread across Europe and the US. EQT Ventures are investing out of Fund 3 with a total €2.3bn AUM and an established portfolio of 120+ companies and notable investments including Wolt, Einride, Nothing, Anyfin and Candela.Klementina is CEO at GU Ventures, an early seed investor and incubator in Gothenburg, Sweden, that is fully owned by the Swedish State and is an evergreen investment vehicle. GU Ventures invests in deep tech companies formed out of the research at universities. They are investing up to 200k€, have established over 165 companies, of which 82 are in their portfolio today and notable investments including Bico, I-Tech, Surgical Science, all of which are listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange and Nasdaq today.We’ve reeled in Klementina and Ted for this episode as a warm-up for our participation at the GoWest Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden 🥳 which is proving to a be a real force in DeepTech punching above its wait just as Gothenburg and Sweden is. We’ll be there as there’s lined up for an incredibly cool investor day counting headlines like:Fireside chat with Staffan Helgesson, the founder of CreandumClimate panel with partners from Norrsken, Pact VC and Planet A,DeepTech panel with partners from Speedinvest, Ventech, EQT and NATO Innovation Fund and thought provoking presentations by Sebastian von Ribbentrop at Join Capital and Nicholas Nelson on The rise of Defense TechLP panels with leading pension funds and corporates from the region as well as of course the EIF, Isomer Capital and BFP.As said, just like the region, GoWest is truly attracting the best of the best. So don’t miss it if you’re into DeepTech 🤖Chapters00:00:00 - Introduction to EQT Ventures and GU Ventures00:02:24 - Klementina & Ted’s Journey in the Venture Industry00:07:14 - Investing in Deep Tech Startups00:09:32 - Investing in Startups from Universities00:11:40 - Investing in Companies Coming out of Academia00:13:53 - Building Diverse Founding Teams00:16:14 - The Skills of a Founder and Investor Relations00:18:24 - Investment Strategies and Cap Tables00:20:47 - Investing in Post-Internet Companies00:23:03 - The Need for A Deep Tech Playbook00:25:14 - Investing in Hardware00:27:42 - Capital requirements for deep tech companies00:30:14 - Investing in Deep Tech Startups00:32:37 - Managing Opportunities in the Sustainable Industrial Sector00:34:58 - Investment Strategies and Success Stories00:37:34 - Balancing Expertise and Fresh Perspectives00:39:52 - Building a Strong Portfolio with Balanced Capital Needs00:42:04 - The Potential of Biotech00:44:20 - Managing Technology Risk00:46:31 - Collaborating with Other Investors as a VC00:48:50 - Calling for Co-investors at Deep Tech Event00:51:10 - European Tech Sovereignty00:53:18 - Drop Us a ReviewConsidering joining us at GoWest? Here’s what you need to know 🧠Why GoWest?Two universities. Eight incubators. Many global brands. Industrial heritage. Gothenburg is at the forefront of research& development and home to emerging industries striving to solve tomorrow’s challenges. GoWest is unique. It is fantastic meeting place for investors, startups, scaleups, talent and other stakeholders who want to engage and don’t want to miss out on the opportunities our industries and deep tech spin outs have to offer.What can you expect?There is something for everyone. We facilitate matchmaking and have a dedicated stage for fundraising startups. The hottest topics in deep tech, defense, climate, and health tech will be showcased on the main stage and next year the event will feature a brand-new Deep Tech Investor Day. The Investor Day will add extra value by bringing West Sweden’s investor community together with international peers to discuss current topics and build lasting relationships.Anything else?Yes, Gothenburg is one of the fastest-growing regions in Europe and that adds to our competitiveness on the international stage. GoWest enables easy access to our ecosystem and the region's key stakeholders. The conference has a great line up of speakers and topics on the main stage, side events, networking opportunities and more exciting announcements to come.

Today we have Staffan Helgesson with us. Staffan is the founder of Creandum, a European early stage venture firm with no appointed headquarter but offices (or hubs as they call them) in Sweden, London, Berlin and San Francisco. Creandum just turned 20 years and are investing out of their 6th fund which is a $500m fund to back founders and companies across Europe. In addition to Europe they invest in European diaspora founders in the US.The firm is a generalist investor but have organised themselves in six main verticals; Health, Climate, Technical SaaS, Application SaaS, Fintech and Consumer, where they spend most of their time.Creandum has approximately $2 Bn under management and have done close to 150 investments over the years with notable investments including Spotify, Klarna, Trade Republic, Pleo, Bolt, iZettle, Cornershop, depop, Kahoot!, Taxfix, Kry and Factorial. At Creandum, Staffan leads the climate vertical and is also very active investing in Saas companies.Chapters00:00:00 - Introduction to Staffan and Creandum 00:01:52 - From Small-Town Origins to Silicon Valley Inspiration00:03:49 - Loving Niche Sports and Venture Capital in Europe00:05:47 - The European Investing Advantage & Time as a Solution00:09:35 - Staffan’s Pivotal Moment00:11:37 - The Importance of Bold Ideas and Drive00:13:45 - The Importance of User-Centric Design and Delighting the End User00:15:35 - Focusing on the Top Companies00:17:34 - Combining Transformational Change and Hearing the Train00:19:29 - Investing in the Future of Electric Vehicle Charging00:21:14 - The Benefits of Electrification and the Future of EVs00:23:26 - Shout Out to Co-Investor Angel or LP00:25:18 - Shout out to Creandum during a difficult time00:27:14 - Building a Franchise00:29:12 - Building a Firm for Institutions00:30:59 - Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Venture00:32:52 - Gut Feeling and Logical Analysis00:34:46 - The Importance of Gut Feeling in Decision Making00:36:58 - Approaching Tier One Institutions00:39:10 - Europe's New Beginnings

Join us for the second episode of the NEUVC podcast which is dedicated to those embarking on their journey in the VC. In this episode, Freddie Macpherson, analyst at Isomer Capital, and Linda Võeras, associate at Karma Ventures, are joined by Mari Luukkainen, Principal at Finland based Icebreaker VC. With a background of building and scaling companies and a great eye and dedication to content, Mari has amassed a massive following of 20,000 people on LinkedIn. In this we dive into her journey as an operator as well as share tips and tricks for VCs looking to develop their personal brand ✨Chapters:00:00:00 - Developing Your Personal Brand in VC with Mar Lanan00:02:59 - Finding Value in Your Journey00:05:53 - Transitioning to Startup Growth00:08:43 - From Cleaner Recruiting to VC Investment00:11:40 - From Hands-on Help to Coaching00:14:48 - The Paradox of Finding a Job00:17:56 - Consistency in Content Creation00:21:12 - Consistency and Networking for Building an Audience00:24:18 - Attracting Founders at the Pre-Founder Stage00:27:10 - Building a Personal Brand for Investors00:30:16 - Overcoming the Challenges of Branding00:33:12 - The Importance of Emotion in Branding00:36:20 - The Importance of Emotional Support in Startups00:39:17 - Transferring Writing Skills to Investment00:42:14 - Shifting from Operator to Coach in VC00:45:05 - Building Something Yourself First00:47:54 - The Role of Venture Capital

We always hear from new VCs entering the market, but rarely do we ever hear from giants leaving the market. Today, we bring you such a conversation.Honoring the gravity of the situation and the commitment by Fred Destin to share so openly, we invited Joe Schorge, founding partner of Isomer Capital and one of Europe’s most important LP voices, to lead the conversation.We hope you enjoy listening in as much as we did 💞 watch it in full on eu.vc 👀Chapters:00:00:00 - The EUVC podcast with Joe Schorge and Fred Destin00:02:54 - The Decision to Pause00:04:59 - Journey of Personal Interrogation00:07:08 - Motivation and the Next Iteration00:09:20 - Stepping out of the Noise00:11:19 - The Challenges of Running a Firm and Raising Funds00:13:16 - Investor Reactions to Fundraising Efforts00:15:14 - The State of Fundraising and LP Responsibility00:17:24 - Positive Response to the Blog Post00:19:08 - Triggered Responses and Leaving the Prevailing Narrative00:20:19 - Mistakes and Challenges in Going Public with Cazoo00:23:08 - The Rise of New VC Funds00:25:08 - Knowing Your Value and Purpose00:28:58 - Holding Ambiguity as a VC00:31:00 - Self Awareness and Humility00:32:57 - Investor Alignment and Board Tensions00:35:11 - Shielding Founders and Managing Conflict in Investments00:37:25 - Framing Discussions in the Right Way0:38:40 - The State of the Industry Update for 202400:43:23 - The Importance of Shadow Work and Enhancing the Present Moment00:45:20 - The Importance of Personal Work and Connection00:47:02 - Future Coaching Program for Young VCs

Few periods are as busy as the end of the year. And that is definitely true for us at eu.vc this year as we announce yet another investment that we’ve been working hard on behind the scenes throughout the summer and fall. Consequently, it’s with great pride and pleasure that we announce our angel LP syndicate investment into First Momentum Ventures 🥳.We’ve known the team for a little more than a year now and have truly enjoyed following them and working with them throughout their raise. Excellent execution, great reputation from all who have come across them and a team that’s set on a path that definitely looks like one that will lead to greatness.We’re honored to have been invited along for the ride and will make sure that you will all get to hear much more from this team in the future. But now, we invite you to start by getting to know them via this pod episode and our spotlight article on eu.vc 👀🎧Overview:First Momentum Ventures (FMV), established in 2017, is a pioneering venture capital firm based in Karlsruhe, Germany, concentrating on pre-seed investments in European technology-driven B2B startups. They have been trailblazers in pre-seed venture capital in Germany since 2018, emphasizing a unique pre-seed strategy with a strong technical DNA. The team behind had its start supporting startups from a pre-seed campus incubator they started in 2015, which have collectively attracted over 500m € in capital​​​​.Fund II Overview:The launch of FMV's €35M Fund II targets technical pre-seed founders in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and across Europe, focusing on sectors like Deep Tech, Industrial & Climate Tech, Dev Tools & Data, and Enterprise SaaS. They aim to build a portfolio of around 35 companies, targeting approximately 5% ownership with an average initial ticket size of €0.5m and keeping around 30% in follow-on reserves​​.Investment Performance and Strategy:FMV Fund I (2018 vintage) demonstrates top quartile performance with a portfolio size of 27 startups, a portfolio multiple of 1.97, and a total IRR of 28%. There are already several clear outliers visible that have a large potential to grow into fund returners (i.e. returning the entire fund by themselves). The follow-on capital raised by these startups amounted to 150m€, highlighting the fund's success in backing scalable and investment-worthy ventures​​.Unique Approach and Value Addition: FMV stands out for its deep technical understanding and laser-focused pre-seed DNA. Their team of engineers & scientists, connected to leading European universities and industry decision-makers, brings a unique perspective to investing. They are known for rapid processes, candor, and risk-affine technical founder partnerships - true to their credo of “engineers at heart, investors by choice”. FMV's support extends beyond funding to include a dedicated support platform for a holistic support tailored specifically to super early technical companies.Investment Thesis:FMV's investment thesis is focused on supporting European deep-tech champions at the onset of their journey. They identified a gap in the market where tech founders face challenges due to a lack of true deep-tech VCs, risk aversion, and a limiting focus on SaaS by European investors. FMV aims to address these gaps by leveraging its technical expertise and network to support founders in overcoming these challenges​​.Conclusion:First Momentum Ventures represents a strategic investment opportunity, especially for those interested in early-stage, technology-driven B2B startups in the DACH region. Their technical expertise, strong network, and proven track record in supporting startups from pre-seed to scale make them a compelling choice for investors looking to engage with innovative European startups.Given their performance, unique approach, deep technical expertise, and perfect community fit with our approach to LP investing at eu.vc, we believe investing in First Momentum Ventures' Fund II presents one of the best opportunities currently available in the market to participate in the growth of Frontier Deep Tech Startups in the DACH region at the earliest stages.

Today we have Ondrej Bartos with us. Ondrej is a Founding GP at Credo Ventures, a 75m€ Seed stage venture fund in Prague (and a bit elsewhere!) to back Central Eastern European Tech Startups.Credo are investing out of Fund 4 with a total 250M€ AUM and an established portfolio of 60 companies and notable investments including UI Path, ProductBoard, PriceFX, Resistant AI, and Eleven Labs.Chapters:00:00:00 - Ondrej & Credo Bio00:00:41 - Announcing Roundtable on The Evolution of European Venture00:04:06 - How Ondrej Got Into Venture00:06:34 - Pivotal Moments in Venture Investing00:09:18 - The Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur and VC00:12:07 - Struggling with Success and Collaboration vs Competition Among VCs00:14:31 - Maintaining a Calm & Collaborative Approach in Competitive Deals00:16:58 - The Transformative Power of Success00:19:34 - Managing Expectations and Transparency00:22:17 - Collaborative Competitive Rivalry00:24:44 - The Meaning of Credo00:27:15 - Supporting Entrepreneurs00:29:32 - The Importance of Passion and Hard Work00:32:15 - Respecting Reshma and Co-Investing00:34:44 - Staying as a Seed and Pre-Seed Fund00:37:13 - Building Towards a Franchise00:39:53 - The Logic Behind the Crossover Fund Experiment00:42:26 - Creating Relationships with Late Stage Investors00:45:08 - Failure in Internships and Startups

Satgana is a next-generation Climate Tech Venture Capital firm investing in the Future of Earth. With an established portfolio of 13 companies of which ~40% are from underrepresented backgrounds. But maybe most interestingly to many, Satgana boasts an outstanding Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) of 4.2x on the fund that is currently closing - in other words; here’s the opportunity to buy in at 1x to a portfolio that’s already achieved quite a mark-up… Seems like impact can go hand-in-hand returns 💞.What is more, with a community-focused approach and 60+ Limited Partners, Satgana is a great match for us and clearly well-positioned to become one of our strong partners in the climate space giving us exactly what we look for in emerging managers: potential outlier performance, insights and strong co-investment opportunities.In one sentence, Satgana is looking to support purpose-driven entrepreneurs in Europe and Africa who are developing pain-killers (must-haves), not vitamins (nice-to-haves), to the increasingly severe environmental problems we face today. Needless to say, we’re more than eager to share this in-depth episode and article on Satgana, their journey, and the mission and vision that unites the team behind it.Chapters:00:00:00 - LP Syndicate into Satgana Fund One00:02:16 - eu.vc - a union of values00:04:27 - The Challenge and Opportunity of Climate Change00:06:23 - The Journey to First Close00:08:17 - The Decision to Pursue Funding00:10:21 - Building an Investment Firm with LPs as the Focus00:12:19 - Fee Structure and Carry Model00:14:22 - Investing in Climate Technology00:16:22 - Investing with Strategic Angels00:18:14 - Investment Strategy and Fund Size00:20:09 - Co-investment and Diversification with Angels00:22:00 - The complexities of GP angel collaboration00:23:49 - Following On Potential and Portfolio Performance00:25:50 - Promising Trajectory and Revenue Growth00:27:54 - The Power of Small Funds00:30:01 - Investing in Climate Tech00:32:06 - Addressing Methane Leaks in the Energy Sector00:34:13 - Y Combinator and the European Ecosystem00:36:14 - The Success of Y Combinator and Portfolio Companies00:38:12 - Investing in Africa's Impact Potential00:40:16 - Portfolio Overview and Investment Focus00:42:20 - The Importance of Structure and Tracking Investments00:44:02 - Commitment to Diversity and Social Impact00:46:02 - Reaching Out on LinkedIn

Today we have Ben Topor with us. Ben is a Founder & Managing Partner at Titan Capital, an investment firm in Israel backing Israeli, European and American companies by providing growth equity & secondary capital to world-class internet, software, consumer, and financial technology companies, with a bottom-up approach to secondary and growth.Titan is raising a 50m USD Fund, investing in companies and venture capital partnerships directly and via secondary transactions and is backed by top-tier global investment firms, leading corporations and family offices. And, of note, Tiger Management, which is a well-known investment firm that built an impressive track record in seeding some of the world's best fund managers, backed Titan.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction and Event Announcement00:02:47 - The Future of European Venture Capital00:05:50 - The Pivotal Book: Crossing the Chasm00:08:51 - The Importance of Solving a Pressing Need00:11:57 - Factors affecting investment strategies00:14:50 - Timing the Market and Spreading Your Bets00:17:58 - Different Considerations for Selling Shares00:20:48 - Strategies for Secondary Investments00:23:50 - Finding Bargains in the Secondary Market00:26:56 - Investing in European Startups00:29:57 - LP secondary deals00:36:21 - Winning with a Data driven approach00:39:21 - The Flexibility of Investing in Growth Companies00:42:37 - Fundraising Challenges for VCs00:45:48 - VC Strategies: Long-lasting businesses vs. Threatening categories

Today we have Colin Daymond Hanna with us. Colin is a Partner at Balderton. And I think it goes without saying that I need not introduce this firm; but just in case anyone listening in has just started in venture, I’ll say that in the two decades since Balderton’s founding, they have worked with hundreds of extraordinary European founders, and have raised eight funds totalling more than 3bn Euros.At Balderton, Colin invests in purpose-driven, product-focused founders spanning verticals including Cloud, Consumer, Crypto, and Fintech. Colin has led the investments into Fuse Energy (formerly Tesseract), Ory, Supernormal, AnyType, Clue (note: the links go to Balderton’s annoucements, interesting reading!). Colin is also part of the team at Balderton responsible for driving the firm's Sustainable Future Goals initiatives.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to Colin Daymon Hannah00:02:54 - Growing up in Asia & the US and transitioning to venture00:07:28 - Taking a Leap of Faith to Berlin00:09:51 - The Role of Luck in Decision Making00:12:05 - Prioritization and Communication00:14:27 - Balderton's Purpose as a Partner for European Entrepreneurs00:16:38 - Clue: Empowering Women's Health00:18:56 - The Local First Mentality and Censorship Resistance00:21:31 - Lack of Empathy in VC and Overstretching00:23:40 - Importance of Investor Alignment 00:26:03 - On Purpose and Prioritization00:28:35 - Prioritization & Portfolio Management 00:30:49 - Transparency in Investing00:32:54 - Building Networks with Investors00:35:10 - The Importance of Strong Communication and Vulnerability00:37:17 - Communication and Gratitude00:39:12 - How Sports Shape Your Path00:41:31 - The Importance of Trusting the Process00:44:01 - Transparency in Achieving Global Goals00:46:07 - Investing in companies aligned with SDGs00:48:32 - Express Championing of Positive Externalities00:50:26 - Tips for Emerging VCs in Europe00:52:46 - Focusing on the Purpose, Not the Valuation

If there's any market that's not slowing down, it's the secondaries market. And it’s a buyer’s market. But how do you win? We convened some of Europe's best secondaries investors to discuss the current market and how to build your investment strategy, evaluate opportunities and negotiate deals.Expert Secondaries Panelists:- Joe Schorge, Founding Partner of Isomer Capital- Kemper Ahl, Vice President of Industry Ventures- Martijn de Wever, CEO & Founder of FlowwGo to eu.vc for the write up of our key learnings and as well as the video recording 👀 Chapters:00:00:00 - Welcome to the roundtable and introductions00:03:02 - Solving Pain Points in the Private Markets00:11:29 - The Rise of Venture Secondaries00:14:20 - Creating a Systemic Approach00:20:07 - The Need for Innovation in the Market00:23:00 - Liquidity Solutions and the Secondaries Market00:25:43 - The Evolution of Intermediaries in the Market00:28:26 - Creative structuring for late-stage investments00:33:59 - Bridging the Gap in Due Diligence for New Investors00:39:14 - Tactics for Dealing in Secondary Market00:41:51 - The Platform Approach to Venture Secondaries00:44:35 - Timing the Market vs. Timing the Asset00:47:19 - Negotiating a Secondary Transaction00:53:00 - Strategies for Buying into Pre-IPO Companies01:01:13 - Experts needed for private Capital markets

Today we have Max Bautin with us. Max is a Founding GP at IQ Capital, a 700m€ Seed & Early Stage venture firm in London to back European Deep Tech Startups.IQ Capital is investing out of a 185 m€ Fund 4 and also has a 150 m€ Growth Opportunities fund and has an established portfolio of over 60 companies and notable investments including Thought Machine, Paragraf and Nyobolt.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction00:01:51 - From Startups to Asset Management to IQ Capital00:03:25 - The Cambridge Mafia in Venture Investing00:05:05 - The Success of the Cambridge Ecosystem00:06:49 - Why Avoiding Negative Value Added by VCs Is The Holy Grail00:08:30 - Deep Tech vs Traditional Venture00:10:06 - Defensibility and Scalability in Deep Tech Companies00:11:44 - Deep Tech Investments and Hardware Integration00:13:27 - The Growing Importance of Deep Tech00:19:51 - IQ’s definition of Deep Tech00:21:20 - The Productization Journey00:22:51 - On The Duration of VC Funds00:24:32 - Focusing on Future Opportunities00:26:07 - Shoutout to Max's Bestie00:27:49 - The Success of the Cambridge Ecosystem00:29:25 - The Importance of IP and Academic Support in Innovation00:31:05 - The Rise of Cambridge's Tech Ecosystem and Beyond00:32:47 - Expanding into European Ecosystems00:34:20 - Building Trust and Reputation in the European Tech Industry00:35:54 - Quick Fire with Max

Welcome to the first episode of the special series NEUVC, hosted by Freddie Macpherson, analyst at Isomer Capital, and Linda Võeras, associate at Karma Ventures. Today we have Martin Krag with us. Martin is a partner at byFounders, a seed fund looking to back the best tech founders in the new Nordics. We spoke to Martin to hear how he rose to partner in four years, the firm culture and coaching the courage to do so, and, of course, his own secret sauce of excellence.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction of Martin & byFounders 00:01:52 - Incentive alignment and portfolio assistance00:03:24 - Joining a Startup Venture Capital Firm00:04:44 - The importance of decisiveness for VCs00:06:07 - Using Analysts for Understanding Spaces and Sectors00:07:43 - Progression and Responsibility Levels00:09:17 - The Importance of Curiosity and Quick Learning00:10:41 - Finding Focus and Prioritizing00:12:09 - Balancing Networking and Board Responsibilities00:13:35 - The Fluid Partnership with Founders and Career Development00:15:09 - Building a Strong Team and Defined Roles00:16:42 - Calibrating New Hires for Long-Term Aspirations00:18:04 - Transparency and Core Values in VC Industry00:19:39 - Career Progression and Future at the Fund00:21:18 - The Responsibility of Partners and Youngsters in Investment Decisions00:22:40 - Avoidable Mistakes made by Junior VC Team00:24:29 - Being Patient and Calibrating Before Making Decisions00:25:58 - The Perspective of a Poker Player-Investor00:27:30 - Dreaming with the Founders00:28:57 - Diversifying Experience in the VC Industry00:30:42 - Choosing between being a VC or Founder00:32:19 - The Challenges of Being a VC00:34:14 - Building a Fund and Firm00:36:15 - Experience and Bad Judgment

Yesterday, Fred Destin shared the news with us all that he’s pausing the raise for Stride Fund III and that he’d “Take a breather and open the door to new possibilities. I have no idea if that includes more investing; what I want to do now is gain some elevation, look at my life and the world around me, and take time to see what emerges.”The day before, David sat down with Fred for an honest conversation about the state of the current market, how to navigate as a VC, and finally ending on faith and spirituality. The conversation did not cover this hallmark decision by Fred, but certainly, you can trace the meaning and bridge narrative."I have to be honest that I'm in a, I'm very much in a kind of pendulum between excitement and concern. And it is difficult for me to look at the state of the world in general, between erosion of democracy, mental health crisis, climate, Ukraine and Israel, and to not take some form of pause to say: where the fuck are we going as a species?"and Fred continued:"I heard someone the other day describe humans as, you know; we're behaving like parasites at the scale of our planet, and I think there's something to that. So I would say that at the moment, I'm trying to sit with that and think about what is our impact and our responsibility … What I'm excited about is, I think, there is an increased level of realization that we need to reintroduce humans at the center of what we do. Community, connection, relating. And that what started as a little trickle is starting to be more of a movement. And I think it's showing up in a bunch of places." From this the conversation covered growing up professionally in an American psycho style environments where it’s all about the money as well as the role of religion.Tune in for the full conversation here or watch it on eu.vc

In today’s episode, Chloe Dagnell from Isomer Capital speaks to Carmen Alfonso Rico, a self-described VC turned Angel at Cocoa. Having previously been at the consumer fund Felix, Series A fund Blossom, and Spanish-HQ’d Samaipata, Carmen is responsible for being the first investor into companies such as Hopin and SideQuestVR.Now, Carmen is leading the charge at Cocoa Ventures, an angel fund providing the first checks for founders across Europe. Investing $250k-$500k angel checks at pre-seed/seed, Cocoa supports founders as their in-house VC, helping them hack the system with independent and unfiltered insights.In today’s episode, we’re discussing everything from how Carmen actually helps founders hack the system to fund economics. And bear with us on that fund economics point, as it’s one of the most interesting and overlooked parts of being a great VC and fund manager, and Carmen claims some pretty contrarian views on how she puts her portfolio together.And of course, we couldn't resist asking the woman behind Cocoa Ventures what her favorite chocolate is 🍫 . So, if you want the hottest tip in town for the best chocolate, then listen all the way to the end 😁

Today we have Fady with us. Fady is a Founding GP at Cybernetix Ventures, a 50m$ pre-seed, seed and Series A venture fund in Boston to back North American and European companies within manufacturing, logistics, construction, and healthcare.Cybernetix are investing out of Fund 1 with a total 50m$ AUM and an established portfolio of 13 companies and notable investments including Realtime Robotics, AirWorks, Bionomous, and Kewazo.Chapters00:00:00 - Intro00:01:42 - New Beginnings in Venture00:03:44 - Overcoming Challenges and Achieving Success00:05:51 - The Impact and Expectations of Gen AI00:07:58 - The Impact of Generative AI on Industries00:09:46 - Robotics as a Technology00:11:50 - Manufacturing in the Age of Smart Automation00:13:44 - Automation in Manufacturing and Healthcare00:15:47 - Technological Capability vs. Business Model00:17:36 - The Challenges of Humanoids in the Job Market00:19:29 - Investing in Robotics, Automation, and Industrial AI00:21:31 - The Success Story of Universal Robots in Denmark00:25:31 - Considerations for Product Deployment00:29:41 - The Rise of Robotics in Boston and Europe00:31:47 - The Importance of Specialized People in Robotics Investment00:33:54 - Investing in Smart Machines for the Future00:36:11 - Investing in Robotics Solutions00:38:27 - Building a Strong Team in Venture00:40:21 - Robotics Revolutionizing Our World00:42:21 - The Rise of Collaborative Robots in the Robot Cluster00:44:04 - The Rise of Robotics in Odense

Today we have Patrick Murphy with us. Patrick is the co-founder and managing partner at Tapestry VC, a 50m$ seed stage venture fund backing technical and repeat founders across Europe & US. Tapestry VC has its team spread out across the UK and USA.Tapestry VC are investing out of Fund II with a total 100m$ AUM and an established portfolio of over 40 companies and notable investments including Hopin, Pitch, Builder.ai, Nothing and Manna.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction of Patrick Murphy and Tapestry VC00:02:40 - From Goldman Sachs to Venture Capital00:04:51 - Reversing Investment and Taking Risks00:07:15 - The Challenges of Merging with a Corporate VC00:09:03 - The Importance of Stewardship in Early Stage Venture Capital00:11:21 - Consumer Innovation and Next Generation Users00:13:50 - The Rise of Gen AI in Revenue Growth00:16:04 - Scaling Software and Hiring Globally00:18:09 - The Benefits of Repeat Founders00:19:53 - Unboxing the new headsets and their features00:21:10 - Investing in Repeat Founders00:23:04 - Building a Strong Network and Fostering Global Relationships00:25:18 - The Reality of Repeat Founders and Dilution00:27:18 - The Advantage of Experienced Founders00:29:25 - Building with Serial Founders and High Velocity Talent00:31:35 - The Value of Co-Investors and Check Sizes00:33:32 - Adding Value through Syndicates00:35:54 - Successful Co-investing and Building Trust00:38:10 - Life is About Picking People00:40:24 - The Importance of Distribution and Telling Your Story00:42:36 - Cultural Differences in Pitching00:44:54 - Pitching Skills in US vs European Investors00:47:11 - Prioritizing Amazing and Ambitious People00:49:38 - The Importance of Luck in Success

Today we present Freddie, analyst at Isomer, the venture fund of funds backing Europe's VC champions early and doubling down on their breakout companies, and Linda, associate at Karma Ventures, which is a deep tech VC in Estonia, focusing on Series A companies in the Baltics.We want to welcome you to the NEUVC podcast series, a limited edition series dedicated to those entering and on their journey in VC, sharing the insights, stories, and learnings from different voices in the industry. There are many ways into VC and a number of skills that can make you successful in this industry. Upon closer inspection, many investors possess superpowers that are super useful for finding new deals, helping portfolio companies grow and succeed, as well as getting the deal signed and sealed.The series is dedicated to exploring those unique superpowers in some of the trailblazing venture ladder climbers in Europe, drawing out learnings about how to develop them, use them and leverage them. So to this effect, we spoke to a wide range of voices, managing partners, recruiters, principals, and even marketing specialists, to provide a diverse range of opinions on how to help you improve at your job. Hope you'll enjoy!

Joining us today for a deep dive on the state of diversity in European venture, we have Kinga Stanislawska from European Women in Venture and Juliet Rogan from HSBC Innovation Banking.Juliet works in the investor coverage team at HSBC Innovation Banking – Providing support and access to the HSBC platform to investors and their portfolio companies.Prior to joining HSBC, Juliet spend 10 years at Barclays where she co-founded the female founders forum. Kinga is a co-Founder of the leading CEE (Poland based) VC fund - Experior VC with investments in data driven CEE startups with global ambitions. She is also an Investment Committee Member at EIC as well as the EIC Fund, the largest deep-tech fund in Europe and board member at fast growing companies. As one of Europe's first VC funds to be befounded by women, Kinga also co-initiated the European Women in VC Community which published an annual report on the state of diversity in European Venture - which we dive into today 👀 Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to The Episode00:02:07 - Increasing Female Presence in Tech and Venture00:04:16 - Launching the Report at TechBBQ00:06:13 - The Foundation Of The Survey 00:08:27 - The Importance of Diversity in Funding00:12:24 - The Performance of Mixed Teams00:14:53 - The Importance of Getting More Women into the Industry00:16:37 - Equity in Investments and Succession Planning00:18:38 - Affordability of General Partnerships for Women00:20:40 - The Importance of Diversity in Management Teams00:22:26 - Progression and Measurement in Impact Investing00:26:15 - Equality and Support in Venture Capital00:28:26 - The Rise of Female Emerging Managers in VC00:32:24 - Reflections on VC Accelerators & VC Lab in Particular00:34:28 - Broadening Access to Venture Capital for Women00:38:27 - Investing in Diversity for Long-Term Success00:40:25 - Personal Choice and Taxpayer Institutions in Europe00:42:32 - The Speed of Change and Female-led Startups00:44:36 - Collaboration and Unity

Today’s a special day here at eu.vc as we’re announcing our investment into Nucleus Capital 🥳 and of course, we do that by sharing with you a deep dive episode with Max and Isabella, the two General Partners of Nucleus.For those who've been with us for a while, the name 'Nucleus Capital' might ring a bell🔔. And for good reason, as we’ve been tracking the firm's journey right from the launch of Nucleus I. To big hardship, we missed the opportunity to invest in Nucleus I, so of course, we’re now buzzing with excitement as we’re binding the final knots for our Nucleus II Syndicate. Based in Berlin, Nucleus Capital is a frontrunner in the Pre-Seed and Seed venture space, dedicated to supporting purpose-driven founders who are solving systemic challenges to planetary health.Dive in with us 👀 and read the whole article covering Nucleus on eu.vcChapters:00:00:00 - The European VC Podcast Introduction00:04:10 - Pooling expertise and building a community00:08:11 - The Journey of Building Nucleus00:11:30 - Making the Decision to Work Together00:12:56 - Isabella Realizing The Worst Decision She Could've Made00:14:38 - Lessons Learned from Fundraising00:16:18 - Inflection points and supporting founders00:17:43 - Tech Bio: Software-driven models leveraging biological data sets00:19:44 - The Importance of Meta-Level and Environmental Factors00:21:41 - Building Relationships and Effective Decks00:23:30 - Differentiation and Positioning in the Startup Industry00:25:16 - Delivering Change and Driving Returns00:27:14 - Bio-based solutions for industry decarbonization00:29:17 - Sector Focus for Better Returns00:30:51 - Including Sustainability and Deep Tech Premiums in Valuations00:32:53 - Investing in Technologies for Sustainable Production00:34:23 - Repath, Analyzing Risk Exposure and Climate Change00:36:15 - Planet A Foods The CO2 Footprint of the Cocoa Industry00:39:41 - Enabling a Viable Future00:41:38 - Balancing the Portfolio#EUVC #VC #VentureCapital #Investing #TheEuropeanVC #Podcast #Tech #Startup

Today we have Andrew Noble with us. Andrew is a partner at Par Equity, an early-stage venture fund backing health tech, climate tech and industrial tech companies. Par Equity invests in the north of the UK, applies a hybrid investment model (angel approach meets VC), and focuses on B2B IP rich companies to create outstanding results.Par Equity has a total of £213m AUM and an established portfolio of 77 companies, 48 in the current portfolio and 29 exits, and notable investments including Integrated Graphene, AEM, Fuuse, Current Health, Delta DNA and ICS Learn.Chapters02:12 - From Professional Skiing to VC 05:40 - From Intern to VC - Andrew’s journey at Par Equity07:27 - The Grit of Being a Sports Athlete in Business09:10 - Launching a Self-Funded Search Fund15:37 - The Role of VCs in the Startup Journey17:43 - The Evolution of ParEquity and the Benefits of a Melting Pot Approach19:16 - Deep dive on the North of the UK Tech Ecosystem21:07 - Dislocation in the Funding Landscape22:57 - Concentration of VC $$ in Capital Cities & Investing outside of them28:45 - Success Story: Delta DNA32:13 - Andrew’s Three Biggest Learnings from the Last 10 Years34:01 - The Importance of Local Players and Existing Relationships in VC 36:00 - Investing in People in Your Region37:44 - Key Advice for Emerging Managers39:06 - Considerations for LP Makeup40:42 - A VC firm's success indicators

Today we are happy to welcome Robin Godenrath managing director and founding partner of Picus Capital.Picus Capital is managing an investment portfolio of more than 1bn EUR and was the first investor in European unicorns such as Personio and Enpal.

Today we have Sarah Drinkwater with us. Sarah is the General Partner at Common Magic, a pre-seed/seed solo GP fund investing in and supporting founders building products with community at their core across Europe and the US.

Today we are happy to welcome Ambre Soubiran. A mathematician by training, she has spent the first decade of her career working in the equity derivatives and capital markets industry. Amber has a passion for world-changing technologies and is personally interested and invested in the digital assets space since 2012. Amber is currently the CEO of Kaiko, the reference market data provider in the blockchain industry. Kaiko is a global organisation with offices in NYC, London, Paris, and Singapore, servicing top-tier financial institutions and enterprises with reliable and actionable financial data.

Today we have Johannes Weber with us. Johannes is a serial entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of impact venture capital in Europe. With his team in Munich, Berlin and London, he manages over €200M and invests in technology-based companies in areas such as climate, health and education (the so-called impact unicorns). Johannes has been interested in the interface between entrepreneurship and "personal mastery" for many years and is enthusiastic about bringing and passing on his knowledge to the companies he finances.Ananda Impact Ventures are investing out of Fund IV with a total 200€ AUM and an established portfolio of 35 companies and notable investments including E-DNA Company Nature Metrics, New Space Company OroraTech and Education Company One Day. At Ananda Impact Ventures, Johannes Weber focuses on TechBio, Education and Climate in Europe and led the investments into Closed Loop Medicine, One Day and Auticon.

Today, we have with us Saeed, Vice President of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, where he works towards transforming the city of Dubai into an international technology hub. Saeed was previously the Director of Dubai Future Academy, an initiative under Dubai Future Foundation. He has also led projects for the foundation such as the Global Coders Initiative, the 1 Million Arab Coders-project as well as the foundation’s upskilling program. Additionally, he has considerable experience at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center as Mission Strategist for the Emirates Mars Mission and Program Director for the UAE's 100-year space exploration strategy, the Mars 2117 Programme.Jump to the parts that matter most to you 👀00:00:00 - Introduction to Saeed and the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy00:02:10 - From the Space Program to Ecosystem Building & Venture00:06:08 - The Mars 2117 Program00:10:50 - The Trade & Commerce History of Dubai 00:13:02 - Dubai's Resilience and Business-Focused Mindset00:14:51 - Dubai as a Testbed for Innovation00:16:38 - The Evolution of the Funding Landscape00:18:32 - The Love for Experimentation in the Government of Dubai00:20:10 - Experimenting with Global Market Solutions in Dubai00:23:36 - Dubai as an Location for Engineering Talent00:25:22 - Dubai as a Gateway for Business Opportunities00:27:04 - Support for Investors in Dubai00:28:41 - Investing in Tech and Transforming Nations00:30:32 - Investment Opportunities for Family Businesses in Dubai00:32:11 - Family Business Investments and Market Access in Dubai00:33:45 - Connecting Businesses with Dubai00:35:37 - Expand Northstar and Market Access Opportunities00:37:24 - Launchpad Dubai and the Benefits for Companies00:39:09 - Creating the Perfect Ecosystem for Growth

Noor Sweid is the General Partner of Global Ventures, a UAE-based international venture capital firm with presence in Cairo, Jeddah, Riyadh, Tunis and Lagos. Noor was the Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation and Managing Partner at Leap Ventures.Prior, Noor joined her family business, Depa, where she scaled the business tenfold, executed four cross border acquisitions and led the region’s first IPO on the LSE and the NASDAQ Dubai, achieving a billion+ dollar valuation. Noor has also been recognized in Forbes’ World’s Top 50 Women in Tech, and the Arabian Business 100 Most Powerful Arab Women list. And to top it off, she has also received the prestigous Arab Woman Award for Finance.

Today we are happy to welcome Philipp von dem Knesebeck, Co-Founder of Blue Future Partners, a European Venture Capital Fund of Funds with a global mandate to back Emerging Managers and start-ups across the USA, Europe, Israel and Asia-Pacific.Prior to co-founding Blue Future Partners in 2015, Philipp spent five years running the Venture Capital activities of a European Family Office from 2011 to 2015. There he started building substantial expertise in both fund and direct investments in early and growth–stage companies. His investment focus was predominantly in the software and internet space with geographic exposure ranging from the US to Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Today we have Sam Endacott with us. Sam is a Partner at firstminute, a $400m seed-stage venture fund based in London & Berlin to back founders across Europe (and opportunistically in the US and Rest of World). The fund has invested across all sectors and is a generalist VC but has typically focused on SaaS, DeepTech, Developer Tools and FinTech. firstminute is backed by over 130 unicorn founders in addition to current and former CEOs of Global Corporates.firstminute are investing out of Fund III with a total $100m AUM and an established portfolio of over 130 companies. Notable investments include A.Team, Storyblok, Robocorp, Engflow, Wayve, Klang, Clockwork Labs, Ramp, Element and Generation Home. The portfolio has raised follow-on financing rounds from Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico, Index, Benchmark, Coatue, Softbank, Tiger, General Catalyst, Northzone, Mubadala Capital, NFX, Balderton, D1, Felicis, Bain Capital and Tencent. At firstminute, Sam focuses on SaaS, Developer Tools, AI / ML and FinTech and has led investments into a number of the fund’s high performing companies such as Storyblok (raised $58m) and a number of recent deals in the AI / ML space which are not yet announced!

Today, we're happy to feature Francesco Simoneschi, Co-Founder and CEO at TrueLayer and angel with 60+ investments.In this episode, Francesco dives deep into his experience going from VC to angel investing, the nuances of angel investing, shedding light on some counterintuitive lessons he's learned along the way. He delves into the importance of trusting your instincts when assessing early-stage startups and why sometimes, early traction can be a red flag.Francesco also shares his strategies for making international investments and the value of building a network of trusted insiders in unfamiliar territories. Plus, he reflects on the soft skills and leadership qualities that he wishes he had focused on earlier in his career.Jump to the parts that matter most to you and watch our core highlights below 👀00:02:52 - On Starting TrueLayer in Italy 00:05:54 - Francesco’s 60+ angel portfolio & striking a balance as an operator00:07:30 - The complementarity of angel investing and being an operator00:08:44 - Angel Investing in the FinTech Ecosystem00:09:12 - Balancing Excitement and Discipline in Investing00:11:00 - Reflections on Investing in a Marihuana delivery startup00:14:16 - Investing in The Development of Wetware Computers00:15:45 - On The Drive of Entrepreneurs00:17:12 - Accessing European Capital for Early Stage Opportunities00:18:34 - Investing in Various Industries00:20:01 - Diversifying Portfolio as a Tech Entrepreneur00:22:54 - Balancing Risk and Fun in Angel Investing00:24:10 - Assessing Founders and Key Ingredients00:22:44 - The Importance of Financial Savvy and Diversified Portfolios00:24:26 - Mitigating Financing Risk00:26:16 - Investing Based on Value and Learning00:28:16 - Investing in Early Stages and Venture Funds00:30:08 - The Importance of Diversification00:32:03 - Trusting Your Instincts in Angel Investing00:34:00 - Capturing Signals in Investment Strategy00:35:48 - The Reality of Bridge Rounds00:37:39 - The Importance of Discipline in Angel Investing00:39:17 - Playing the Long Game00:41:11 - Importance of Soft Skills and Leadership in Education

Our next guest is Gloria Bauerlein, founder and general partner at Puzzle Ventures. Puzzle Ventures is a new pan European 21.5 million euro fund investing in super early stage B2B companies, and it's one of the solo female GP led funds. Before Puzzle, Gloria was a prolific angel investor, but that's not why we're speaking with her today. Uniquely, she has actually sat on all sides of the cap table. As an investment banker, VC investor at TCV and Index, startup operator at Kry and Back, and angel investor, and built Puzzle to continue backing Europe's top founders with larger checks but with the flexibility of an angel.Gloria's LPs include founders and operators that you'll have heard from, from the likes of Kry, Stripe, Coinbase, and WhatsApp, and more who've tread in the founders footsteps. They offer assistance beyond capital to Puzzle Ventures portfolio and can share valuable insights and connections with founders to help them grow.In this episode, we'll hear more about Gloria's journey into VC, her thoughts on ownership versus allocation, tips for micro funds on sorting out the unsexy side of fund management before getting carried away with deploying capital, and how to have a culture of giving first when nurturing relationships and being collaborative in VC.

Today we bring you a roundtable on the impact of artificial intelligence on the wonderful world of venture capital. In this episode, we bring together a stellar panel of Europe's top investors to explore the real secrets of how AI is transforming the VC landscape.Fred Destin, Founding GP of StrideClaude Ritter, Founding GP of CavalryEkaterina Almasque, GP of Open OceanDr. Andre Retterath, Partner of Earlybird Venture CapitalIn this episode, we focus on how AI is changing the way VCs invest. We chose to delve into the "how" rather than the "what" of AI in VC. We're here to uncover the real secret sauce that's driving change in the VC world. We won't waste your time with generic information you can find on the internet. Instead, we've gathered Europe's best investors to share their insights.Our agenda for today includes:Where our panelists see the biggest venture opportunities in AI.The debate on whether AI favors incumbents or startups.Strategies to avoid getting caught up in hype cycles.A philosophical discussion on AI's societal impact and how VCs should navigate it.Enjoy!

Today we have Juliette Audet with us. Juliette is a Partner at Forbion a multi-stage venture fund in Amsterdam and Munich backing biotech companies in Europe and North America to impact the future of medicine.Forbion is investing out of 2 separate funds: Forbion Ventures Fund VI and Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II, of €750M and €600M respectively, with a total of 3b EUR AUM and an established portfolio of 44 companies, with notable investment including NewAmsterdam Pharma, Gyroscope and Inflazome. At Forbion, Juliette focuses on the Venture strategy, investing in biotech companies from pre-clinical stage to Phase 1b and led the investments in NewAmsterdam Pharma, Mestag and Dualyx amongst others.Jump to the parts that matter most to you 👀00:02:10 - Transitioning from Consulting to Pharma and Biotech00:03:44 - Discipline and Resilience in Career00:05:18 - Recognizing the Moment to Fold00:07:17 - The Importance of Science and Interaction in Investments00:08:50 - The Importance of Board Dynamics00:10:25 - Board Composition and Power Dynamics00:12:07 - Creating Consensus on the Board00:13:37 - The Importance of Governance in Building an Effective Board00:14:53 - Governance and relationship building with board members00:16:35 - The Benefits of Virtual Board Meetings00:18:21 - The Importance of Providing Value00:20:30 - The Value of External Perspective in VC00:22:21 - The Unique Nature of Biotech Companies00:23:57 - Pharma's Need for External Acquisitions00:25:47 - The Inflection Point in BioTech00:27:16 - Slump in M&A Activity in Pharma-Biotech & the dawning opportunity00:28:34 - The Development Process from Preclinical to Phase 300:29:58 - The Dynamic between CVCs and Institutional VCs in BioTech00:33:14 - The Predictability of Biotech VC vs Traditional Venture00:34:54 - Shoutout to Julie Grant from Canaan00:36:33 - Balance and Fulfillment in VC00:38:21 - Getting to know your LPs

Today, we're happy to welcome you to Renaud Visage, co-founder and ex-CTO of Eventbrite, one of Europe’s biggest tech successes and the event platform we’ve all used. Eventbrite IPO'd in 2018 and Renaud left the company in 2021 and is now investing full time out of Paris where he focuses on investing in climate tech startups and on building a ClimateTech Growth Fund where Renaud’s experience from scaling Eventbrite is one-of-a-kind.With more than 75 angel investments to date, Renaud brings a level of operational experience and the skill to help founders solve complex technical problems like none other. On top of this, Renaud is a Venture Partner with the renowned seed firm Point Nine.Jump to the parts that matter most to you and watch our core highlights below 👀00:02:26 - Challenges of Building Eventbrite00:04:20 - Renaud's Angel Investing Journey Begins00:05:25 - Renaud's Accidental First Deal00:06:52 - Lessons from Angel Investing00:09:10 - Renaud’s Investment Thesis and Strategy00:11:28 - Renaud's Value-add for Founders00:12:48 - Evolution in Finding and Evaluating Investment Opportunities00:14:00 - Doubling down on Impact Investing00:16:45 - Going from early to growth stage investing00:19:40 - Generalists vs specialists in Climate investing & investing in hardware00:21:56 - Networks and co-investing in the climate space00:24:55 - The lack of European growth stage financing in climate00:25:30 - Renaud’s core learnings from Angel investing00:27:00 - The importance of your value prop and network as an angel00:29:10 - Follow-on investing as a venture investor00:36:05 - Renaud’s most counterintuitive learning00:37:30 - Top tips to angels wanting to invest internationally00:39:30 - Advice to his own 10 year younger self

Today we have Sean O'Sullivan with us. Sean is a Managing General Partner at SOSV, a global, multi-stage venture capital firm that operates early stage startup development programs, notably HAX, IndieBio, and Orbit Startups. They are the first check in deep tech, starting at pre-seed.SOSV have a $1.5 Billion in AUM and an established portfolio of 1000+ companies including Upside Foods, Perfect Day, Opentrons, and Formlabs. Sean is on the board of Khan Academy, the Tyndall Institute, the Autism Impact Alliance, the Brain Foundation, and a number of private companies.From serving as a janitor to embracing his passions as a musician, filmmaker, and even running a humanitarian organization in Iraq, Sean O’Sullivan’s multifaceted nature reveals a remarkable tapestry of life experiences. Among the intriguing anecdotes is his encounter with a rare viral infection that affected his eye, providing a testament to resilience and adaptability. His ventures extended to the world of television, where he enjoyed a stint as a TV star in Ireland, further exemplifying his versatility.In conclusion, Sean O'Sullivan's venture journey offers a tapestry of experiences, showcasing the significance of perseverance, long-term commitment, and a diverse entrepreneurial mindset. These insights have molded his investment philosophy, guiding SOSV's strategic approach to support startups in their earliest stages and nurture their growth through series B and series C, while emphasizing the immeasurable value of riding the wave with successful companies for the long haul.

Today we’re welcoming Jed Ng on the EUVC pod. Jed is a self-taught angel with 1x exit and has backed 2 startups from seed to unicorn. He started his own syndicate in 2020 and is backed by 1000+ investors today. He is also the Founder of AngelSchool.vc - a venture education program that helps angel investors build their own syndicates in just 8 weeks.As an operator, Jed built the world’s largest API Marketplace with RapidAPI (an a16z backed company).

Today, we're happy to welcome you to Charlie Delingpole, founder of ComplyAdvantage, an AI-driven financial crime risk and detection technology powered by Complydata. They have raised $100m from Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, OTPP and Goldman Sachs with global hubs in London, New York, and Singapore. In this episode you’ll learn:The importance of being part of a strong angel community with peers you trust and whose opinion you valueHow Charlie thinks about activating his network as part of his diligence processWhy Charlie is going from a more international strategy to a more nationally focused oneWhy Charlie believes it’s important to impose systematic professional processes on himself when angel investing

Hello everyone and welcome to “At The Cap Table” podcast - the exciting new series dedicated to hearing from the top European female investors who are taking the VC industry by storm.Our next guest is the brilliant Ruth Foxe Blader, Partner at Anthemis!Ruth is a fintech investor, emerging technology & communications expert with 15 years-international experience at Fortune 500 companies. At Anthemis, Ruth leads strategic investment efforts across Europe and North America. Ruth specialises in technology-enabled business models, insurance technology, risk transfer, early stage investing, product strategy and digital transformation.Prior to joining Anthemis, Ruth worked for Allianz SE, where she led digital innovation efforts. She was a founding member of the AllianzX team, where she led investments in startups including Lemonade, MoneyFarm, Argus Cyber Security and SimpleSurance.A New Jersey native, Ruth has spent the last decade between New York, London and Paris. In 2018 and 2019, Ruth was recognized for her outstanding contribution to the global financial technology ecosystem and listed among the Women in Fintech Powerlist by Innovate Finance. She currently serves on the boards of Axle, Demex, Hokodo, Hometree, Kaiko, Proportunity and Stable.Alongside Sophie Winwood, she is the co-founder of WVC - a movement that promotes inclusion, empowerment and integration of VC in Europe and beyond.