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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

Today, we are joined by Mikko Silventola for a new episode of the SuperAngel podcast. Mikko is an angel investor, and Venture Partner at Superangel. 😉Mikko invests his own capital, but also via Magnetic Global Fund (Index Ventures Angel Fund), and he likes to provide capital for the underdogs in the ecosystem. He was the first investor in companies like:
Bolt (previously Taxify, first investor & hands-on advisor, raised >$2B from Sequoia)Hugo (raised >$100M from TMT Investments, DST Global etc. Acquired by Delivery Hero)PayMongo (raised >$45M from Stripe, Founders Fund, Thiel)Mikko also has a solid track record in the internationalization of companies in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He spent the past 10 years in Asia and the Middle East operating in the private equity sector, focusing on advising early-stage companies, angel investing, M&A advisory, and fundraising.

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

Chapters:

02:30 Miko's Angel Investing Journey
03:32 Transition to Venture Business and Global Investments
07:23 Defining the Superpower of an Angel Investor
09:15 Strategic Angel Investing and Portfolio Management
10:20 The Art of Following On in Investments
12:44 Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in Venture Capital
22:05 Investment Philosophy and Identifying Potential Unicorns
26:12 Selecting the Right VCs and Avoiding Pitfalls
33:34 Personal Reflections and Life Lessons
35:13 The Concept of Life Design and Work-Life Balance
40:07 Investing Without Borders: A Global Perspective
40:28 Analyzing the Strengths of the Nordic and Baltic Startup Ecosystem

The landscape of venture capital is evolving, and Isomer Capital is at the forefront with its new fund designed to meet the dynamic needs of the European venture capital market.We sat down with Joe Schorge and Omolade Adebisi from Isomer to talk through the market, the strategy and the future. Well-worth a watch as we open up the deck that raised the fund and tap the brains that incept and run it. But let’s get the headline numbers in place:
100 M€ Fund dedicated to secondaries exclusively.65-75% of dedicated to acquiring Limited Partner (LP) interests in existing VC funds.An additional 15-25% is earmarked for direct secondaries in companies, providing crucial liquidity to stakeholders.The remaining funds, up to 15%, are reserved for discretionary investments, which may include buying stakes or carry from general partners.This strategic distribution of funds is a response to the current market conditions where many European VCs have yet to realize significant returns from their investments. These circumstances often necessitate liquidity solutions for personal reasons—such as purchasing homes or funding private education—or professional requirements like meeting General Partner (GP) commitments for raising new funds.
Typical ticket sizes range from €1 million to €10 million injecting much-needed flexibility and liquidity across Europe's venture capital ecosystem and broadening Isomer’s impact beyond the traditional fund of funds model to include any Europe-based fund or startup 💖Hope you’ll enjoy the read and watch on eu.vc and the listen here on your pod player 🙏

Rainer Märkle is the General Partner of HV Capital, €380m Venture and €400m Growth fund, with almost €3BN AUM.

Rainer joined HV 15 years ago. In his third week at the firm, HV invested in Zalando. Accompanying the founders of Zalando from seed to IPO and beyond has been the most rewarding chapter in his VC career. It taught him that anything is possible, boundaries are imaginary, and amazing things can happen by working in the right set-up. Aside from this, he has been involved in big exit stories with HelloFresh, Quandoo, and Stylight. Some of his other highlights include working with Scalable Capital, Alasco and finn.auto.

In his spare time, Rainer is a family guy. He also likes to push boundaries in sports, participating in the Ironman World Championships Hawaii and many other endurance events.

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

Chapters:

03:16 Rainer’s Journey: From Engineer to VC
04:04 Diving Deep into HV Capital
07:21 Transitioning from Corporate VC to Independent Fundraising
10:56 Raising Funds in a Challenging Market
13:26 Maintaining Trust with Existing LPs
16:03 Keep Your Principles Against Market Hype
30:57 Strategies for Achieving Fundraising Goals
32:39 The Importance of DPI in Fundraising
34:33 Balancing Act: Liquidity vs. Value Potential
37:34 Decision-Making Dynamics Within the Firm
39:29 Adjusting Strategies and Narratives in Changing Markets
42:05 Insights for Emerging VCs and Fundraising Challenges
44:30 Shout Outs to Emerging Managers and Partners
48:26 Key Learnings from the Latest Fundraise
51:43 Advice for Younger Selves and Emerging VCs

We continue our discussion on Fundraising during and after the tech reset, as part of our little hype parade ahead of the launch of the State of European VC Fundraising Report. Today, we have with us two close friends of the pod: Carlos Eduardo Espinal from Seedcamp and Bogdan Iordache from Underline Ventures.

Carlos Eduardo Espinal is a Managing Partner at Seedcamp, arguably, Europe's leading seed fund, first launched in 2007 to support European entrepreneurs truly compete 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.

Bogdan Iordache is the Founding GP of Underline Ventures, a $20M seed fund in Romania and the first solo GP in the region. Bogdan and his team are focusing on backing Eastern European founders with global ambitions, and though I just said vertical-agnostic, Underline does pay extra attention to enterprise automation, AI, cybersecurity, industrial tech, defense, and climate-related startups 🌳.

Chapters:

00:14 Shifting Sands and the Rise of New LPs
00:32 Seedcamp and Underline Ventures
04:52 Shifting Sands and Impact on Emerging Managers
05:43 Bogdan's Journey Through the Tech Reset
07:58 Carlos's Insights on Supporting Emerging Managers
10:23 The Challenges of Fundraising
12:00 The Tech Reset on VC Funding
17:10 Raising Fund Six and the Importance of Fund Size
21:02 The Art of Fundraising and Learning from LPs
26:27 Exploring Overlooked Geographies in Venture Capital
39:00 The Role of Community and Background in VC
47:44 Reflecting on the Evolution of the Venture Ecosystem
50:02 Closing Thoughts on GPLP Relationships and Emerging Managers

We sat down with Daniel Keiper Knorr, founding partner of Speedinvest for a discussion on what he thinks allowed them to raise 500 million during and after the tech reset.

What ensued was a conversation revealing how Speedinvest decided to diverge from traditional VC practices by dedicating substantial resources including the full time attention Daniel, one of the founding partners, to fundraising and investor relations.

This conversation ONLY focuses on the raise process, dynamics and learnings, to understand the thesis behind the fund, go read the original launch post of Speedinvest IV by Oliver Holle.

Chapters:

03:34 Daniel's Journey into Venture Capital
04:02 The Evolution of Speedinvest
05:15 The Unique Approach to Fundraising
06:28 Navigating Fund Generations
07:21 Experiencing Market Cycles and Pivots
08:28 The Strategy Behind Speedinvest's Latest Raise
11:22 Adapting to Changing Market Conditions
12:26 The Impact of Macroeconomic Changes on Fundraising
16:19 Pivoting the Narrative Around the Fund
21:11 Differentiating Between Seed and Growth Stage Investing
24:56 Advice for Fund Managers Raising in Europe
26:03 Understanding LP Preferences and Building Relationships
27:41 Creating Urgency Among LPs
28:53 Thoughts and Advice for Future Fundraisers

Key learnings from the episode

Economic sensitivity and its implications for venture capitalOne of the most striking revelations from Daniel’s experience is the profound impact of global economic conditions on venture capital dynamics. He delves into how the sudden shift in LP inquiries from portfolio-centric to macroeconomic concerns mirrored the broader economic uncertainties, highlighting the necessity for VCs to be economically astute. This sensitivity to macroeconomic shifts is not just about staying informed but about integrating this understanding into the strategic narrative of the fund. Daniel’s recount of adapting Speedinvest’s narrative in response to changing economic sentiments underscores the importance of this adaptability not as a reactionary measure but as a strategic imperative. It serves as a compelling reminder that venture capital, while focused on the future, must navigate the present’s economic realities.

The art and science of LP communicationDaniel’s emphasis on transparent and ongoing communication with LPs underscores a fundamental pillar of successful venture capital operations. The strategic approach to communication — viewed through the lens of building trust and managing expectations — is both an art and a science. Daniel illustrates how Speedinvest’s preemptive communication strategy, especially in times of strategic pivots or market volatilities, has been instrumental in reinforcing trust with LPs. This proactive engagement goes beyond regular updates, encompassing a nuanced understanding of LP preferences, concerns, and the strategic dissemination of information to mitigate surprises and align expectations. It’s a testament to the view that in the realm of venture capital, effective communication is as crucial as financial acumen.

Navigating shifts with agility and insight
The conversation further illuminates the critical importance of agility in the face of market shifts. Daniel’s narrative brings to life the concept of strategic adaptability — not just as a response to changing market conditions but as a proactive stance in anticipation of these changes. This agility, underpinned by...