EUVC

Welcome to yet another Memo-episode where we dive deep on one of the funds that we’re raising an EUVC community syndicate for - in other words; one of the funds that you can join us in backing, with minimum tickets at just 1k€.For this, we’re talking to Cristobal Alonso from Startup Wise Guys. You’ve met him before in past episodes, so you know he’s quite a personality and that it’s an incredible mission they’re in. Join us as we look behind the scenes of the Startup Wise Guys investment into Fractory and the journey from pre-seed to series A leading to a 120x multiple.

This episode is completely different. Actually, it’s not even an EUVC episode! We’ve just launched a new partnerpodcast “The UrbanTech VC” which is hosted by KJ and Mark. This is the go-to podcast for European Founders in the UrbanTech space. So give it a listen and if you don’t think it’s for you - share it with someone else!For this debut, we're happy to welcome you to Thibault Chavanat, Senior Project Manager at the SIGNA Group. He is in charge of the development project ‘Karstadt am Hermannplatz’ in Berlin and shared some super interesting insights about the project, Circular Construction and sustainable buildings.In this episode you’ll learn:– Why “waste” in old buildings is of surprising high value– How challenging it is to find architects who don’t see the re-use of materials from the building itself as limitation, but as opportunity– How discussions about future regulations like the outlook of the CO2 tax coming can lead to creating something new beyond known paths– How the availability of historical, detailed plans of a building can come with both advantages and disadvantages for developers

Today we are happy to welcome Audrey Soussan, General Partner at Ventech in its Paris office. The firm is deeply implicated in the evolution and diversity of European tech. Audrey focuses on Product Led Growth, Retail Tech, HR Tech and Marketplaces. She has unique insights on entrepreneurs’ business development, impact investing, and women in tech. She has joined the company since 2011, starting as an analyst and grew all the way through to General Partner.In this episode you’ll learn:– All about Audrey’s journey from analyst to partner inside Ventech– How long term orientation has shaped every part of Audrey’s life and path as a VC– How Audrey thinks about culture, carry and leadership in VC – Succession preparation in VC firm-building

This is the third of a four episode long special on the MENA region here at The European VC. Today, we’re welcoming Laila Hassan, General Partner at Algebra Ventures. She has joined their second, $90 million fund, and her appointment marks progress in Egypt’s VC ecosystem, becoming the country’s second female partner at a VC.This special series of episodes focuses on everything MENA VC, bridging the gap with its European counterparts. We intend to shed light on the ins and outs of venture in the MENA region and promote collaboration between these two beautiful regions.For this special series of episodes we welcome our dear friend and special co-host Mostafa Gado.In this episode you’ll learn:- The conditions that give the Egyptian Market a kind of crystal ball effect- The trends and opportunities in the MENA region through the eyes of a first-time fund manager- Why relationship-building is key in such a small ecosystem like VC- Laila's values, core learnings and suggestions for emerging managers

Today we are happy to welcome Maria, founding managing partner of Beacon, a London-based fund that invests with a laser-sharp focus in enterprise tech venture across Europe. Maria is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD Business School and serves on the Committee of the Chairs in Emerging Technologies as well as the Enterprise Hub of The Royal Academy of Engineering. She is also angel investing and on the board of a number of fast growing companies. This greek engineer used to fence the foil so watch out for her ripostes! In this episode you’ll learn:– How Beacon accelerates the J-curve by focusing on capital gap of founder secondary investments at pre-series B to complement their pre-series A primary investments in enterprise tech– Why off-cycle founder secondaries are an integral part to build a strong ecosystem that can generate 1 bn€ exits - and why the big sovereign LPs need to wake up to this– How Maria thinks the preference stack, discounts and terms for secondary transactions– The three core stakeholders of putting together a secondary transaction and how to make them reach an agreement that all see as a win-win– Why the founder CEO is central to putting together a secondary transaction

Welcome to another hot-off-the-press episode in our special series on navigating the current market with Europe's absolute VC elites.Today, we welcome back Lindsay and Kemper from Industry Ventures. They certainly had a lot more to share.Lindsay is the Managing Director at Industry, and focuses on originating, valuing and managing primary fund commitments and direct co-investment opportunities for the Tech Buyout team. Kemper is the Vice President at Industry and focuses on the firm’s Secondary and Tech Buyout investments, as well as driving business development efforts across their platform.Brace yourselves for some new and exciting advices.

Today, we are happy to welcome Francisco, Partner and Executive Director of Bynd Venture Capital, an Iberian VC investor with more than 30 active investments in the portfolio in different funds. Bynd is dedicated to seed / early stage technology companies in different verticals strongly connected to Iberia.In this episode you’ll learn:– All about Francisco and Bynd’s journey from being an angel club to a VC firm– Why Bynd focuses on all of Iberia & the Iberian diaspora– How Francisco thinks about divesting and sourcing buyers for partial exits– Why Francisco thinks consistency is central to being a successful VC

This is the second of a four episode long special on the MENA region here at The European VC. This special series focuses on everything MENA VC, bridging the gap with its European counterparts. We intend to shed light on the ins and outs and promote collaboration between these two beautiful regions.For this special series of episodes we welcome our dear friend and special co-host Mostafa Gado.And as our guest, we're happy to welcome Omar Almajdouie. He is the founding partner and CEO of Raed Ventures, a Saudi venture capital firm that invests in seed and early stage startups. Raed has invested in more than 40 companies. Omar believed early on that corporations must adapt in order to survive in the digital age, and that tech startups will have a transformative and disruptive impact on the traditional business landscape.In this episode you’ll learn:– The founding story of Raed charting the path from family office to CVC to finally become a strictly financial and independent VC– An insider’s view on VC in MENA and specifically Saudi Arabia - and what’s going on with market there these days?– How Omar has devised their strategy to double down on the strongest tech hubs in MENA– Omar’s advice to European managers learning how to navigate geopolitical risk

Today we are happy to introduce you to Gesa, General Partner of Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund and Board Member of the German Startups Association. Auxxo is a venture capital firm co-investing into startups with at least one female founder in Europe. Besides that, Gesa founded the Evangelistas, a network of female business angels with more than 170 members in Germany.In this episode you’ll learn:– Gesa’s perspective on the biases for and against female focused funds – Why Auxxo invests in female founders and how that focus gives Auxxo a competitive advantage in winning competitive deals– How Auxxo is thinking about their co-invest strategy in the light of the new market– How Auxxo managed to raise their fund with more than 50% of their LPs being women (in terms of €€ as well headcount)– How Gesa thinks about firm development, fund II, and what’s in store for Auxxo

In today's episode you will meet Daniel Tomov, Founding Partner of Eleven Ventures. Daniel is a pioneer in seed investments in Bulgaria and an entrepreneur in technology, cleantech, and consumer retail. Following his passion for building successful companies, he co-founded Eleven together with Ivaylo Simov in 2012.We first met Daniel at HowToWeb last year and can’t wait to reconnect for this year’s event on the 21st and 22nd of September in Bucharest, Romania. Will we be seeing you there?In this episode you’ll learn:– Reaching escape velocity and the story behind the name “Eleven Ventures” – The story of how Eleven Ventures have grown from being an accelerator to fund III of 60M€– Daniel’s eye on the the LP scene in Eastern Europe and how it’s developing– Why Eleven Ventures are investing out of their own pocket to double down on building their value add platform– Why emerging managers must be wary with overpromising to founders