EUVC

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Leng Lee, angel investor, co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Oui Therapeutics.

Leng was previously the first employee at Codecademy where he was the Head of Product, before joining MongoDB as the Director of Product (Cloud). He later spent a year as a Research Fellow at the Columbia University Centre for Anxiety and Related Disorders, developing a virtual reality product for social anxiety.

Leng is an Expert-in-Residence at Seedcamp, Europe’s leading seed investor. He is an active angel investor through Seedcamp, and the accelerator program Pioneer, and is an advisor to a number of SaaS companies. He is also on the product advisory board for Cambridge University Press.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:54 Leng's Journey into Angel Investing
01:01 From Academia to Tech: A Career Transition
04:16 Expanding Horizons: MongoDB and Beyond
05:25 Advising Startups and Navigating the Ecosystem
06:22 The Leap into Angel Investing
07:23 Learning from Early Investment Experiences
09:35 Developing an Investment Philosophy
16:11 Evaluating Founders and Startups
17:53 Evaluating Founders: The Art of Storytelling
18:40 The No-Go Zone: Clarity and Engagement in Pitching
19:21 Healthcare Investment Trends and Challenges
22:28 Local vs Global: Angel Investing Perspectives
23:11 The Dual Life: Balancing U.S. and UK Ventures
25:24 Core Learnings from Angel Investing
28:30 Supporting Founders: The Angel Investor's Dilemma

Today, we have Natasha Lytton with us.Natasha is the Director of Brand at Seedcamp, where she runs all things brand, network strategy, and post-investment activities. 

She creates the infrastructure and runs the team to support the portfolio of the fund that stands for over +460 companies. She loves discovering and helping to build startups that have the potential to radically change the future and who are shaping the world we want to be part of.

Seedcamp first launched in 2007 to support European entrepreneurs in truly competing on a global scale. With investments in over 460 companies including publicly listed Romanian-founded, UiPath, Wise, and unicorns Revolut, wefox, and Pleo. Carlos is a published author, fellow podcaster and has been on the Forbes Midas List as one of the most influential VCs in Europe for more or less as long as yours truly has been alive.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:06 Journey from Startup Founder to Seedcamp Marketing
05:57 Balancing Professional Growth and Parenthood
16:04 Marketing in Venture Capital: Strategy and Impact
22:09 Communicating with Clarity: Seedcamp's Approach to Messaging
27:59 Strong Brand Identity in Venture Capital
28:12 Navigating Brand Evolution and Market Positioning
29:12 Reflecting on Seedcamp's Legacy and Future Direction
30:37 Brand Alignment and Operational Practices
31:37 The Continuous Evolution of Brand Strategy
32:54 Challenging Operational Norms for Brand Integrity
34:27 Embedding Marketing and Branding Across the Firm
37:14 Content Creation: Strategy and Execution
40:04 Supporting Founders with Seedcamp's Marketing
43:48 Seedcamp’s Approach on Performance Marketing and KPIs
57:11 Adapting to Change: The Evolution of Seedcamp's Community Engagement

Celebrating one of the finalists in the Newcomer of the Year category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episode dives deep with Clare Murray, co-founder and Managing Partner of Blume Equity.

Blume Equity is a climate-tech growth equity firm investing in companies driving sustainable outcomes for planet and people. With offices in Amsterdam and London, and based in Luxembourg, the fund invests in European growth-stage companies, with core regions being the UK, Benelux, the Nordics, Germany, and Ireland.

Some of the most notable investments include:

• Sensorfact, a provider of an IoT data solutions that enable European industrial SMEs to reduce energy usage.
• Aerones - a leading robotics company providing inspection and maintenance services to the wind turbine industry.
• Normative - a carbon accounting platform focusing on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for large enterprise clients.
• Matsmart Motatos - a Swedish company tackling FMCG food waste.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

03:29 Celebrating Bloom Equity's Nomination
04:13 Claire's Journey to Co-Founding Bloom Equity
06:36 Introducing the Co-Founders of Bloom Equity
08:27 Bridging the Funding Gap in European Climate Tech
09:35 Analyzing the European Funding Ecosystem
25:19 Bloom Equity's Investment Thesis and Market Approach
33:47 Exploring LP Bases and Global Investment Dynamics
34:02 Growth Stage Investment Frustrations with Early Stage VCs
34:38 Timing and Preparation for Market Entry
36:32 The Importance of Strategic Venture Fund Relationships
40:48 Navigating the Challenges of Establishing a New Fund
44:37 Brand Building and Strategic Networking for Success
48:02 Key Learnings on Personal and Professional Growth
53:24 The Art of Influence and Valuation in Venture Investing

Today, we have with us David Bateman, Managing Partner at Claret Capital Partners a growth capital fund based in the United Kingdom.

The venture capital fund has a total size of €297M with +€700M in AUM and focuses primarily on growth-stage and VC-backed deals with European companies that are typically post-Series B. As an investment thesis, they focus on technology and life science companies, and some of their most notable investments are in Abivax, Butternut Box, Holidu, and Veed.

David has more than 20 years of experience in technology lending and financing. Prior to the buyout of Claret Capital from Harbert Management Corporation, he and Johan Kampe had co-founded Harbert European Growth Capital.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

03:17 David's Journey into Venture Capital
05:37 The Role of Debt in Venture-Backed Businesses
07:19 Venture Debt's Unique Position in Europe
11:03 Optimal Timing for Venture Debt
12:05 Sector-Specific Strategies for Venture Debt
16:48 Key Players in the European Venture Debt Ecosystem
21:36 Understanding the Terms of Venture Debt Deals
27:26 Capital Return Timelines and LP Expectations
28:21 Venture Debt in Different Market Conditions
31:25 The European Venture Landscape
36:30 Building Relationships with VCs and Entrepreneurs
43:25 Learnings from the Latest Fundraising Round
48:30 Advice for Emerging VCs and Final Thoughts

Today, we have a different episode for you, introducing you to the first episode of the newly launched Startups in Focus series by Seedcamp.This first episode features Carlos Espinal, Managing Partner of Seedcamp, in a conversation with Johannes Keienburg, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Cakewalk, on building access management processes.Their conversation revolves around:

• The importance of access control, visibility, and security in organizations.
• Insights on the need for access management processes.
• The challenges of data security.
• The evolution and future of access controls.
• … and more that you can discover on EUVC.

Chapters:

00:03 Launching Seedcamp Podcast Series: Startups in Focus
00:45 Meet the Guests: Carlos Espinal and Johannes Kainberg
01:14 Diving Deep into Access Management with Cakewalk
03:02 Johannes's Journey to Founding Cakewalk
05:05 Addressing the Challenges of Data Security
05:45 Understanding Customer Outreach and Engagement
10:33 Integrating SaaS Products for Enhanced Security
10:46 The Future of Identity and Access Management
15:57 Implementing Access Controls in Companies
18:23 Envisioning the Future Organization with Cakewalk
19:37 Role-Based Access and Its Evolution
22:09 Advice for Founders on Early Security Steps
25:49 Closing Thoughts and How to Connect

Today, we are joined by Michael Smith, the co-founder and General Partner of Regeneration.VC Fund II of $150M. Regeneration.VC is an early-stage venture fund supercharging consumer-powered climate innovation.

Michael ran marketing & digital for Smith Broadcasting, a group of 20 network TV stations, before selling to Boston Ventures. Shortly thereafter, he followed his lifelong passion for music to become a touring DJ and performed alongside artists including Guns N Roses, Rihanna, and Diplo. 

In 2006, he launched The Playlist Generation, one of the world's largest background music providers. In 2010, he co-founded Creative Space, a real estate firm with a portfolio of 80 adaptive reuse projects between Los Angeles and San Francisco. After successfully exiting both companies in 2015, Michael formed Ponvalley, an environmentally focused family office initiative comprising philanthropy, research, and impact investments. He convened Shared Mission, an emergency climate summit with Former VP Al Gore, General Wesley Clark, the Department of Energy, and Harvard leadership.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

01:28 From DJ to Venture Capitalist: Michael's Unique Journey
03:34 The Power of Branding in Venture and Music
04:09 Specialization in Climate Tech Investing
14:04 Understanding Circularity in Sustainable Investing
25:02 The Role of LPs and Celebrity Influence in Climate Tech
32:31 Navigating Corporate Partnerships and Impact Goals
45:55 Finding Your Tribe and Embracing Change
48:39 Venture Capital Insights: Specialization and Navigating the Market
50:11 The Art of Perseverance in Venture Capital
52:04 Building Long-Term Relationships in Venture Investing
54:53 The Intersection of Venture Capital and Talent Management
01:01:14 Exploring the Potential of Generative AI in Music and Beyond
01:04:36 The Future of Music: AI's Role and Industry Insights
01:09:30 Venture Capital Meets Music: A Unique Blend of Talents

Celebrating one of the finalists in the Firm of The Year-category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episodes dives deep with Stephen Chandler, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Notion Capital. With 1.1 bn€ under management and 5 flagship funds under their belt, Notion is one of Europe’s absolute top firms and in this episode, Stephen dives into a level of detail rarely seen discussing everything from the guiding principles building Notion to the process and learnings from raising their latest fund. I highly encourage you to read Stephen’s notes below and tune in for this episode. I truly think this is one of our best to date. Notion at glimpse:

• Fund Name: Notion Capital
• Fund size: €300m (Fund V)
• AUM: €1.1bn
• HQ Country: UK
• Target Stage: Series A focus, but invest across pre-seed to growth
• Target Geography: Pan European
• Target Sector/Vertical: Business Software & Fintech
• Notable Investments: CurrencyCloud, Easol, GoCardless, Mews Systems, Paddle, Upvest, Yulife

From the principles building Notion to the learnings from raising fund V oversubscribed and the decision to clone his dog, this episode is one of our best to date. Don't miss Stephen's notes on eu.vc - they're legendary.

Big shout out to our Firm of The Year Sponsor Haynes Boone.
And you don't have to take it from themselves, take it from one of their long term clients, Joe Schorge: "Having worked together for many years now, they fully understand the Isomer ethos and process, and we really appreciate the value that this long-term relationship brought to this mandate from start to finish. We look forward to continuing to work with Karma, Ronan, Will and the rest of team.”  Naturally, we’re incredibly excited about having the Haynes Boone team with us as sponsors of the Firm of The Year Awards - yet another testament to their support for the EUVC ecosystem. We strongly encourage you get in touch with Karma and the team for a great experience 🔥

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Christoph Deckert, Strategy Expert at Personio. Christoph has a unique mix of operating experience with +7 years of working with Personio, the European HRTech unicorn. Personio now has +2000 employees across 7-8 different European and US offices and a portfolio of more than 12K customers.

Christoph joined the company very early on and took on different responsibilities to take Personio’s customer growth to the next level, shape the organizational culture and structures, and hire the right people to support this mission.

His passion and journey towards angel investing became very organic after having different conversations with other founders. After one particular talk that he enjoyed, he decided to support that startup without being fully aware of what angel investment is.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:36 From Personio to Angel Investing
03:43 Memorable Deals and Investment Philosophy
06:22 The Personal and Professional Growth from Angel Investing
09:18 Chris's Angel Investing Strategy
17:43 Networking and Collaboration With VCs and Other Angels
21:02 Core Learnings from Angel Investing
26:05 Building and Leveraging Networks
31:19 Closing Thoughts and Future Aspirations

Today, we have with us Stephan Heller, Founding Partner at AlphaQ Venture Capital. AQVC is an innovative, evergreen VC fund of funds focused on small VCs globally and democratizing diversified access to venture capital.

Stephan is a seasoned tech entrepreneur and investor passionate about nurturing the next generation of innovative companies, developing robust platforms, and cultivating thriving ecosystems. Over the past 15 years, he has been deeply involved in the entrepreneurial landscape. 

Stephan also co-founded five companies, including a leading deep-tech startup accelerator for one of the largest high-tech corporates in the world and establishing a successful and innovative VC fund of funds.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:13 Diving Deep into AQVC's Approach
00:35 Stefan's Unique Framework for Evaluating Funds
03:24 The Criteria for Evaluating Emerging Managers
03:38 Alignment and Uniqueness in Funds
04:14 Evaluating First-Time Funds: Challenges and Strategies
05:09 The Hustler Mentality in Venture Capital
05:59 Building a Firm with a Vision
06:37 Technical Aspects of Fund Evaluation
08:26 The Journey from First to Second Time Funds
09:03 The Role of Reference Calls in Due Diligence
10:46 Deep Dive into Track Record Validation
11:27 The Challenge of Investing in First-Time Investors
18:39 Evaluating Fund Performance and Strategy Execution
21:18 Understanding DPI Creation in Third Time Funds
24:04 Closing Thoughts and Future Plans

Today, we have Carina Namih and Sten Tamkivi with us. Carina and Sten are Partners at Plural, a 400M EUR early-stage venture fund to back ambitious European founders on massive missions with hands-on help from experienced operators.

Plural launched in June 2022 with the aim to give serious founders in Europe investors with company-building experience to match their ambition. Plural’s mission is to have a GDP-level impact on Europe, address systemic risks, and reduce the opportunity gap worldwide through the companies it backs.

Plural has just announced its second fund with a total of 650M AUM and an established portfolio of 25 companies and notable investments, including Ready Player Me, Robin AI, and Unitary. Plural’s team is split between Tallinn, Estonia (where Sten is from) and London (where Carina is from).

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

01:37 Karina's Journey from Biotech Founder to Venture Capitalist
03:14 Stan's Path: From Entrepreneur to Plural Partner
04:57 Raising a Fund in a Challenging Market
07:02 Plural's Investment Strategy and Focus
15:52 Plural's Unique Approach to Adding Value for Founders
23:03 Scaling the Impact: Plural's Vision for Europe's Tech Ecosystem
25:21 Addressing the Critiques: A Candid Look at the VC Landscape
29:25 Challenging the Status Quo in VC Practices
30:20 The Philosophy Behind Investment Decisions
30:47 Strategic Follow-On Investment Approach
31:55 Innovative Decision-Making in Investment Committees
34:02 The Unique Approach to Follow-On Investments
42:14 Building the Plural Platform: Insights and Strategies
58:13 Uncommon Beliefs and the Future of European Tech