EUVC E354 | Will Prendergast, Frontline Ventures: Founders chasing unicorn status and patterns in entrepreneurs from U.S. vs EU
Sep 17, 2024
01:15:37
In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Will Prendergast, Partner at Frontline Ventures.
With ~€435M in assets under management, Frontline Ventures is a venture investment firm that operates two distinct funds:
As a Partner at Frontline Ventures, Will Prendergast offers us a distinctive perspective on European and U.S. venture landscapes. His insights on early-stage investing in Europe and growth-stage opportunities for U.S. companies expanding to Europe are sure to be valuable for anyone interested in transatlantic venture capital's current state and future.
Notable investments: Workvivo (acquired by Zoom), SignalAI, Finbourne, Lattice, MosaicML (acquired by Databricks), Navan.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀
Chapters:
With ~€435M in assets under management, Frontline Ventures is a venture investment firm that operates two distinct funds:
- Frontline Seed: A €100M fund targeting pre-seed and seed-stage European companies with clear U.S. expansion intentions.
- Frontline Growth: A €100M fund focusing on Series B up to D in U.S. companies planning to expand to Europe within 12-18 months.
As a Partner at Frontline Ventures, Will Prendergast offers us a distinctive perspective on European and U.S. venture landscapes. His insights on early-stage investing in Europe and growth-stage opportunities for U.S. companies expanding to Europe are sure to be valuable for anyone interested in transatlantic venture capital's current state and future.
Notable investments: Workvivo (acquired by Zoom), SignalAI, Finbourne, Lattice, MosaicML (acquired by Databricks), Navan.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀
Chapters:
- 00:03 Meet Will Prendergast of Frontline Ventures
- 00:06 Frontline Ventures' Dual Strategy
- 00:51 Notable Investments and Achievements
- 02:47 Welcoming Will Prendergast
- 03:57 Frontline's Unique Approach to Seed and Growth
- 04:41 The Importance of U.S. Market for European VCs
- 05:44 Challenges and Strategies in U.S. Market Entry
- 11:01 LP Perspectives and Fund Strategies
- 37:25 Navigating Series A and B Funding
- 38:09 Engaging US Investors
- 39:16 Importance of US Customer Base
- 39:29 Choosing the Right US City for Expansion
- 41:37 Building a US Team 43:40 Common Mistakes in US Market Entry
- 48:04 Impact of the Pandemic on US Expansion
- 53:08 Differences in US and European Business Practices
- 55:12 Remote Work Trends and Performance
- 57:46 Personal Journey into Venture Capital