EUVC

Today we are happy to welcome Augustin Sayer, General Partner at OVNI Capital, a VC seed fund specialising in France-based tech startups. Based in Paris, Augustin manages the company's investments in France and Israel. He was previously Partner at Newfund, a french-american fund, overseeing 20 investments in companies such as FairMoney, the largest African neo-bank, and Umiami, a plant-based texture technology company.In this episode you will learn:- From Banking to PE, to founder to VC to now emerging manager- How Gus’ journey as monoentrepreneur made him realize that VC was the way to go- Everything about the French ecosystem and how to think about it- Why OVNI’s thesis of backing French founders who are international from day-1 positions them incredibly

Today we are happy to welcome Kim Lundberg, Senior Portfolio Manager at the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, formerly known as Vækstfonden, a Danish Growth Fund that he joined in 2017. Kin has been supporting numerous Danish startups with venture debt and growth loans in collaboration with both investors and other venture debt lenders, offering a great overview on tech lending.In this episode you’ll learn:- Everything about tech lending in Europe, it’s history, role and who it’s for (and not!)- The core terms you need to know and how to think about them- The intricacies and nuances of Venture debt and Revenue-based financing and how to employ these services as a VC for your founders- Kim’s take on the effect of tech lenders not having an equity reward as part of their deal structure- Where to seek more knowledge and key resources about venture debt

Today we are happy to welcome Nick de la Forge, Co-Founder and General Partner of Planet A, a leading European GreenTech Fund looking to invest into scalable, sustainable innovation. Before following the calling of building Planet A, Nick worked in different roles at leading firms at European deep-tech startups and funds, his own company Scalewonder, and he has a long-ranging track record as an angel investor in the WEB2.0 and WEB3.0.In this episode you will learn:- Nick’s surprising journey from his university studies to Web 3 to finally launching Planet A- Nick's views on ReFi as investment vertical and solution to our climate issues- How to build from a theory of change when building your fund and why causing systemic change is a success criteria for Planet A- The importance of ensuring that prospective LPs understand and accept the core assumptions of your fund- How Planet A employ Life Cycle Assessments to measure impact and use science in your investment decision making

This is the second part of Miguel Pinho's episode. Today we will explore the common misconceptions about the VC techstack and check his top tips for emerging VCs building their techstack. Miguel is the head of technology at Seedcamp, the European seed fund launched in 2007 that helps European entrepreneurs to compete on a global scale. He works on internal and public-facing projects ensuring they leverage the right tool suite to continue to identify, invest and support the most exciting companies out there.In this episode you will learn:- Why following the herd and FOMO is the worst, yet one of the most pervasive way to select tools for your VC tech stack- Why Airtable is an absolute power tool for VCs and Miguel’s perspectives on leveraging it’s power- Why Miguel believes there’s too little deep thinking about the VC tech stack and too many looking for a magic bullet rather than making the effort to build their own path- How to think about the organizational development to leverage the power of data and tech as a VC - when to hire a Miguel!? Should you even?- How Miguel thinks about the trend of data driven VC and if it’s more than just big words

Today we have a special episode, brought to you by Latitude 59, the flagship startup and tech event of the world’s first digital society taking place in Tallinn, Estonia, from the 24th to the 26th of May. Latitude59, in collaboration with a syndicate by Estonian Business Angels Network and TeraVC, is looking for bold and promising startups that are shifting paradigms and changing the world for the better, to compete for €1 million in 2023. The application deadline is April 9th. Make sure not to miss it!And on that note, we are happy to welcome Andrus, Founding Partner of Tera VC, and Martin, Head of Business Development at TEHNOPOL, member of EstBAN and co-lead of the 1M€ investment during Latitude59 conference.In this episode you’ll learn:– Why you should consider having Latitude59 on your event plan this year– Why Andrus and Martin have committed to the 1m€ prize pot for the Latitude59 Pitch competition– A look behind the scenes of the process, deliberations and decision criteria behind the 1m€ prize pot – A discussion of the Estonian venture scene and how it’s positioned in relation to the New Nordics and Baltics

If you are a EUVC regular listener you know we've had a few of Seedcamp's stars on the show, but this will be a whole new ride. This is the first of a two-part special episode. Today we are happy to welcome Miguel, head of technology at Seedcamp, he works on internal and public-facing projects ensuring they leverage the right tool suite to continue to identify, invest and support the most exciting companies out there.In this episode you will learn:- Miguel’s journey to becoming one of Europe’s leading voices on the VC Tech stack & the path to being a truly data-driven VC- How Seedcamp’s journey with tech took Miguel from a Fireman-phase, through a Gandalf-phase, then MacGiver-phase to finally arrive at the Architect-phase- Why simple and unsexy things like Password managers are things VC managers need to think about when building their tech stack and why- Why, how and when VCs should think about hiring a head of tech- Why FOMO might be a good thing in venture, but a terrible thing in building the VC tech stack - and pervasive in the industry nonetheless

Today we are happy to welcome Bryan Duarte and Keyona Meeks, the CoFounder and Managing Partner and the General Partner of BlackTech Capital, a Toronto based pre-seed fund that invests in Black and other Underrepresented Founders focused on CleanTech, leveraging partnerships with top organizations, universities & accelerators and the managers’ expertise, networks and track record in growing several companies to 9x valuation increases.In this episode you'll learn:- The story about how BlackTech Capital’s founders decided to build their firm together without ever having met in person- Why there’s a true need for funds focused on minorities and how doing so can give an edge to your fund- How fighting consumerism and fast fashion presents a venture investment opportunity- A discussion of how we can collaborate across the pond to promote CleanTech founders from diverse backgrounds

Luca is the Managing Partner and co-founder of Una Terra, a €200M Venture Capital fund to accelerate European scale-ups fostering solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss, and targeting the removal of 2 Gtons of CO2 and 1Mtons of plastic waste per year from the environment by 2030. In this episode you’ll learn:- The value that the WEF network and Una Terra’s involvement in the Uplink challenge for Innovative Funds For Our Future- Why Una Terra have tied their carry to impact metrics, how they’ve thought about it and implemented it- Why Luca has dedicated himself not only to VC but also to advising the world’s leading PE funds- The importance of governance in the Climate Tech sector and how Luca and Una Terra have built their setup to protect against greenwashing

This is a special episode, recorded on the snowy mountains of Villars-sur-Ollon during the WEF's Uplink & Villars Institute Summit, where we had the pleasure to talk to Rokas Peciulaitis, Founder & Managing Partner of Contrarian Ventures, a Seed stage VC mobilising resources for climate action in Europe & Israel with a founders-first approach, and Christian Jølck, Co-founder and Partner of 2150 VC, a venture capital firm investing in technology companies that seek to sustainably reimagine and reshape the urban environment.What you will learn in this episode: - The role of venture capital in shaping and saving the future and why impact will give birth to Venture 2.0- Reflections on the application of the VC & Startup creation playbook and it's applicability for the challenges of the future- Why the military is incredibly important for climate investing & why the next trillionaire will be made in climate- Exactly what Climate50 is and how you can get involved as a VC or LP

Today we are happy to welcome Isabelle O'Keeffe, partner at Sure Valley Ventures, an AI-focused VC firm which helps early-stage software entrepreneurs in the UK and Ireland grow and scale. Isabelle joined SVV in 2018 and was involved in building out the fund as well as relationships with founding teams innovating in immersive tech, e-sports, Metaverse, Enterprise AI and cybersecurity.In this episode you’ll learn:- Raising fund 3 in the current market- LP environment in Europe, where it’s evolving to and the growing collaboration- How to think about balancing two funds with similar mandates but different geos- Dry powder turning wet and the timing of a new fund in today’s market