ScaleX Ventures
ScaleX Ventures focuses on investing in exceptional founders from unexpected places, aiming to support their journey to global success. The firm emphasizes going the extra mile to assist founders, providing support and resources beyond just financial investment. This includes offering strategic insights, actively seeking ways to add value, and committing to the success of their portfolio companies as if they were part of the founding team. ScaleX positions itself as a marathon-runner type of VC, indicating a long-term commitment to its portfolio companies, even when challenges arise. The firm's approach involves providing resources, network access, and proactive support to help startups overcome obstacles and scale effectively. ScaleX seems to look for startups with global ambitions, willing to support them from seed stage onward. The testimonials from portfolio companies highlight ScaleX's dedication, proactive support, strategic thinking, and the genuine care and commitment of the team. The firm seems to prioritize building strong relationships with founders and providing personalized assistance based on their specific needs.
Schwarzwald Capital Fund
Schwarzwald Capital Fund, founded in 2021, is a venture capital firm focused on investing in companies operating within the fintech and creator economy sectors. They back visionary founders who are building a dynamic future. They engage with exceptional teams at the inception of their ventures. Their primary investment targets are pioneering projects in fintech and the creator economy. Schwarzwald forges partnerships with founders possessing foresight and collaborates with astute investors. They aim to provide value through deep industry knowledge and proven company-building acumen. Their network is extensive, offering connections for global scaling and market penetration. They focus on Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies, specifically in post-MVP and pre-traction phases. They are open to leading or co-leading investment rounds.
Sharpstone Capital
Sharpstone Capital operates as both a financial advisory and a pre-seed/seed stage investor, primarily focusing on technology companies. Their strategy involves providing comprehensive financial support to startups, beginning with guidance on public funding for innovation and international development, extending to private financing options. They emphasize a "smart money for smart people" approach, aiming to assist tech companies from creation to IPO. Sharpstone aims to be a one-stop-shop, supporting companies from all tech to deep tech. The firm seeks to actively engage in building the financial strategies of their portfolio companies, adapting to their maturity phase from Seed to Scale-Up and IPO readiness. They want founders to focus on team, product and customers, and state they will build the financial strategy together.
Skyfall Ventures
Skyfall Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on Nordic tech startups. They seek companies with explosive growth potential, operating in sectors that are undergoing a tectonic shift due to major market changes, new technologies, or shifts in customer mindset. They emphasize 'catching the right wind' or 'riding a huge wave.' The firm is sector-agnostic, but areas of interest include artificial intelligence, energy tech, blockchain, robotics, and cybersecurity. Skyfall's investment strategy centers around backing 'fearless founders' who are building in the face of transformative opportunities. They invest at the earliest stages, typically pre-seed and seed, and are often the first institutional investor on the cap table. They are comfortable with high uncertainty as long as the ambition is large enough. This includes backing teams before product-market fit and sometimes even before product. Their approach combines early capital with operational experience, aiming to support founders from day one. The team emphasizes speed and agility as competitive advantages for startups, believing that momentum is crucial for survival. Skyfall highlights the importance of founders leading their businesses, while they provide support and believe founders know their business best.
Square Peg
Square Peg's investment thesis centers around backing brilliant and ambitious founders who are leveraging technology to transform industries globally. They focus on providing support and access to a global network to help these founders shape the world. The firm aims to be a local partner with a global perspective, combining the best of both worlds to assist portfolio companies in their growth journey. Square Peg is particularly interested in companies that can make a leap from their home regions (such as Israel or Southeast Asia) to the US, suggesting a focus on cross-border scaling. They value culture-driven founders at the earliest stages and provide guidance on product and go-to-market strategies.
Varsity VC
Varsity VC operates a seed fund with a unique strategy akin to the NBA draft. They select 30 startups and aim to propel them into the portfolios of top-tier early-stage venture capital firms. This suggests a focus on identifying promising startups at the seed stage and providing them with the resources and support necessary to attract follow-on investment from leading VCs. The fund appears to focus on a high-volume, selective approach, aiming to generate significant returns through successful graduation to later-stage funding rounds. The 'propel' strategy implies that Varsity VC provides more than just capital. This could include strategic guidance, networking opportunities, and operational support designed to enhance the startups' attractiveness to larger VCs. The emphasis on 'the world's best early-stage VCs' suggests a focus on quality and a deep understanding of the venture capital landscape. The firm seems to cultivate a network and provide resources to its portfolio companies, with a strong emphasis on facilitating connections to later-stage investors. Their strategy hints at a comprehensive approach to nurturing early-stage ventures, improving their value proposition, and positioning them for successful Series A and beyond.
Venture Kick
Venture Kick's core mission is to significantly boost the Swiss startup ecosystem. They aim to double the number of spin-offs originating from Swiss universities, accelerate their journey to market readiness, and enhance their attractiveness to both professional investors and strategic industry partners. Their approach is centered around providing early-stage funding and comprehensive support to promising startups. Venture Kick operates a three-stage philanthropic funding model. This model provides Swiss startups with crucial initial capital, up to CHF 150,000, designed to catalyze their entrepreneurial ventures. Beyond initial funding, Venture Kick facilitates access to further financial resources, including up to CHF 850,000 in equity funding through Kickfund and an additional CHF 150,000 InnoBooster grant. Beyond capital, Venture Kick emphasizes hands-on business development and fundraising support. They offer Kickers Camps, which provide guidance from experienced entrepreneurs to structure pitches and develop robust business strategies. Startups also benefit from access to a global network of industry leaders and investors, coupled with strong media exposure, designed to amplify their visibility and attract further investment.
Xplore by Épopée Gestion
Xplore, formerly West Web Valley, is the venture capital arm of Épopée Gestion. Their investment thesis centers around accelerating innovation within specific territories, particularly the Arc Atlantique region of France. They aim to finance, support, and accelerate innovative companies to create economic, ecological, and social value at a local level. Xplore focuses on investments at the intersection of technological innovation and major societal challenges. They prioritize sectors undergoing rapid transformation, reflecting concerns about sovereignty, sustainability, and performance. Xplore offers tailored support, leveraging their in-depth expertise and understanding of local ecosystems, to help ambitious and scalable projects emerge. Their goal is to foster the growth of companies that will contribute to regional development and address significant global challenges. Xplore emphasizes building a strong local network and actively supporting portfolio companies' growth ambitions. They describe themselves as demanding yet supportive partners, offering more than just capital, including mentorship and guidance from experienced entrepreneurs.
Zephyr Angels
Zephyr Angels is currently focused on making investments and appears to be in the early stages of development, as indicated by their website's under-construction status. Their primary objective seems to be identifying promising startups and connecting them with angel investors. The firm encourages individuals interested in becoming business angels to join their network and invites startups to submit their pitches for consideration at upcoming events. This suggests a focus on early-stage investments and a hands-on approach to sourcing deals and supporting portfolio companies. The firm aims to bridge the gap between early stage startups and angel investors.
Antler
Antler is a global early-stage VC firm that partners with exceptional founders from day zero to build impactful, scalable companies. They believe that people innovating is the key to building a better future and focus on backing founders from all backgrounds, often from the very beginning of their journey, even before they have a team or idea. With offices in 27 cities across six continents, Antler provides founders with access to a global network, resources, and capital to remove barriers to building and scaling their startups. They actively seek founders building category-defining companies, especially those leveraging AI to execute faster and more efficiently. Antler aims to be the best place on the planet for people to launch impactful companies by providing them with a platform, capital, and community needed to create lasting impact. Antler invests at the inception stage, allowing them to enter at lower valuations with higher return potential. They spend hundreds of hours with founders, assessing their skills and validating business models. Their approach involves actively participating in the early stages of company building, connecting founders with world-class peers, and providing initial capital. Beyond early-stage investments, Antler Elevate, a $285M emerging growth fund, provides follow-on investment for breakout companies. This fund is managed through offices in London, Singapore, and New York. Antler emphasizes a culture of putting founders first, building talent density, taking 100% ownership, being uncomfortably ambitious, living off the land, and operating as One Antler. They are committed to supporting founders to dedicate themselves to the most meaningful work of their lives and are not focused on chasing trends.
Likeminded.vc
Likeminded.vc is an early-stage venture capital firm that operates as an invite-only collective of business angels and active founders working together in a venture capital fund structure. Founded in 2021, the firm aims to be the early-stage investor they wished they had when they were founders. They focus on providing VC-sized tickets with angel-like domain expertise, sourcing investment opportunities through their network of +30 partners to invest in promising early-stage tech startups. A key element of their strategy is matching investments with sector-specific knowledge from within their collective. The firm is dedicated to working closely with portfolio companies, providing guidance and support as they grow. Likeminded.vc is a generalist investor, open to opportunities across various tech-enabled sectors. Their investment approach involves writing initial checks of approximately 1.5 million DKK (200k EUR), primarily targeting early-stage and pre-seed startups. They are geographically focused on the Nordic region. The fund intends to add 18 new startups to their portfolio, further expanding their collective. Likeminded's investment strategy is centered around leveraging the diverse expertise and experience of its +30 active and former founders. This collective brings a wealth of operational knowledge and industry-specific insights that can be directly applied to support their portfolio companies. Their structure allows them to make informed investment decisions and provide meaningful guidance to founders as they navigate the challenges of building and scaling their businesses.
Operator Exchange
Operator Exchange is a group of angel investors comprised of individuals who have founded or built fast-growing startups. Their investment strategy revolves around providing not only capital but also the experience and network of its members to support portfolio companies. They aim to be the type of investors that founders themselves would want to raise money from, suggesting a founder-friendly approach. They are not a fund but rather a group of individual investors who invest up to $50k. The firm prioritizes speed in decision-making and investment, facilitated by their non-fund structure. While they review numerous startups, only about 5% receive investment, indicating a selective process. The overall investment philosophy is to serve founders and offer support when needed, leveraging the operator experience of the members. This implies a willingness to be actively involved and provide guidance based on their own experiences in building and scaling companies. They aim to offer value beyond just capital, utilizing their experience and network to help their portfolio companies succeed.
Outlast Fund
Outlast Fund backs disciplined founders building enduring companies, long after trends fade, markets shift, and their vision becomes inevitable. They are proud generalists with zero tolerance for empty trend-chasing, demonstrating a commitment to long-term value creation over short-term gains driven by fleeting trends. They focus on supporting companies with the potential to withstand market fluctuations and achieve lasting impact. Their investment strategy centers around pre-seed and seed stage companies in the Baltics and Nordics. They are flexible in their approach, willing to lead or follow investment rounds, but committed to active involvement in supporting their portfolio companies. They are not passive investors, but actively engage with the teams they back to provide guidance and resources. The fund emphasizes a right-sized fund to maintain an early-stage focus, allowing them to experiment, provide follow-on funding, and remain involved without being spread too thin. They prioritize investing the necessary capital at the early stage to enable companies to build, test, and prove real traction. Furthermore, they reserve significant capital for follow-on investments, indicating a commitment to supporting successful companies as they scale. Operating with offices in Riga and Stockholm, Outlast Fund aims to provide its portfolio companies with access and localized support across the Baltics and Nordics. This dual presence suggests a strong understanding of the regional ecosystems and a commitment to fostering growth within these markets.
Tiburon
Tiburon is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm based in Europe, founded in 2001, with a goal to become the leading European-American early-stage investment boutique. Their mission is to be a trusted sparring partner for founders. They aim to provide more than just capital, offering strategic advice, access to their network, and marketing expertise. The firm emphasizes a deep dive approach, focusing on understanding the underlying reasons for success and actively engaging with portfolio companies to achieve their goals. Tiburon seeks to invest in innovative startups in the digital sector, specifically within media, mobile, communities, meta platforms, FinTech, or SaaS. They look for founders who are hungry for success and willing to engage in a collaborative partnership. Tiburon is led by Daniel Wild, who has over a decade of experience investing in inspiring founders. With over 20 years of venture investing experience and over 150 startup investments, they are one of the earliest movers in European tech. They differentiate themselves by providing 'smart money' which includes access to an outstanding network, marketing expertise, synergies between companies and continuous strategic advice, versus just providing cash. They are not afraid to invest in early stage companies, even referring to them as 'baby sharks'.
Astérion Impact
Asterion Ventures focuses on investing in and supporting entrepreneurs who are working to solve global challenges, particularly those related to climate change and environmental sustainability. Their investment approach centers around building the largest community of impact investors to propel early-stage entrepreneurs committed to positive change. They seek to back technology-driven solutions that can transform entire industries and contribute to an economy that operates within planetary boundaries. The firm's strategy involves providing early-stage funding and access to a community of experienced investors who can offer mentorship, networking opportunities, and operational expertise. They aim to identify and support innovative technologies that address critical challenges related to adaptation climate. Asterion invests in early-stage companies with the potential to scale and create significant positive impact. They prioritize companies that contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future. The firm believes that by fostering a strong community of impact investors, they can accelerate the growth of promising ventures and drive systemic change. They have a particular interest in technological solutions that contribute to climate adaptation. Their approach is designed to provide not only capital but also a platform for startups to grow, connect with relevant stakeholders, and maximize their impact. They are dedicated to taking care of entrepreneurs who are working to repair the world.
Climate Founders
Climate Founders is an accelerator focused on empowering entrepreneurs to build successful climate-focused ventures. They believe that technology and entrepreneurial culture are the best ways to address climate change and aim to support bright minds and ambitious individuals in becoming successful climate founders. The firm offers a co-founder matching program for individuals without ideas and a remote accelerator program for complete teams, providing a structured approach to achieve product-market fit and secure initial funding. Their strategy involves working closely with startups across various climate-related sectors, including hardware, biotech, nature-based solutions, marketplaces, and software, to help them raise funding and successfully enter the market. They provide mentorship, strategic guidance, and access to a network of supporters to accelerate the growth of their portfolio companies.
Jonathan Hollis
I invest in UK startups qualifying for EIS raising a late seed or A round.
Kiss My Apps
Kiss My Apps (KMA) operates as a platform company focused on launching and growing new tech products globally. Their primary emphasis lies in the creation and expansion of B2C mobile and SaaS products, specifically targeting customers in Tier-1 countries. Headquartered in Kyiv, they operate across global markets, indicating an interest in international expansion and market penetration. KMA's model emphasizes a collaborative "launch together" approach, hinting at co-founding or significant operational involvement with their portfolio companies. Beyond simply investing, KMA aims to foster a digital product development and entrepreneurship culture, particularly within Ukraine, contributing to the country's economic development. This commitment is exemplified through their educational programs, catering to both individuals entering the tech profession and developing C-level management skills within their portfolio companies. KMA's approach seems to blend investment with active participation in product development and growth, offering resources and expertise to accelerate the success of their portfolio companies. This is underscored by the focus on driving YoY average revenue growth and achieving #1 rankings in their respective categories. Their core value proposition is providing comprehensive support to help startups scale and achieve market dominance in a short time. The repeated metrics of "50+ million downloads reached," "20+ successful products," and "x3.5 YoY average revenue growth" likely represents the cumulative achievements across the KMA's portfolio companies, demonstrating a tangible track record of driving growth and user acquisition. This data showcases their ability to execute and create successful mobile and SaaS products within a specified area, which in turn attracts strong portfolio companies.
Mountside Ventures
Mountside Ventures is positioned as a leading accelerator and advisory firm in Europe, focusing on optimizing the fundraising process for both startups and investors. They aim to be the first point of contact for founders and funds seeking capital, operating across the entire venture value chain from pre-seed to growth stages. Their approach involves offering accelerator programs, providing interim CFO and fundraising advice, and connecting startups with a network of venture capital firms, family offices, and corporate venture capital firms. They also work with venture capital funds, accelerating fund managers and identifying promising managers for Limited Partners, in addition to building connections for Family Offices. Mountside Ventures focuses on supporting ambitious entrepreneurs to become the next generation of technology leaders. Their model revolves around leveraging their experience from building early-stage startup propositions at Big 4 firms, indicating a deep understanding of the challenges faced by early-stage companies. They claim to have advised startups that have raised over £500m with a combined valuation of £3bn. The firm's strategy seems to be two-fold: direct support to startups through fundraising advisory, and also through acting as an intermediary between startups, VCs, LPs and Family Offices. They run free accelerator programs funded by corporates, VCs and government organisations. For more mature companies they offer interim CFO and fundraising support and growth equity advice and debt advice. The firm claims to have facilitated over £210m in funding for their clients. Mountside Ventures appears to be a hybrid model, combining accelerator, advisory and placement agency services, all focused on facilitating the flow of capital within the European startup ecosystem. They are also a B Corp.
Philipp Angermann
PA Ventures GmbH, led by Philipp Angermann, focuses on early-stage fintech and B2B SaaS startups. As an angel investor and startup advisor, Philipp leverages his experience in product management, B2B marketing, B2B sales, and operations to support portfolio companies. His investment strategy centers around providing not only capital but also hands-on guidance to help startups navigate the challenges of early growth. He aims to connect them with a strong network of fellow angel investors, VCs, and family offices for subsequent fundraising rounds. Philipp also runs the PA Foundation to support non-profits and is committed to sustainability by offsetting his carbon footprint through Leaders for Climate Action.
Prequel Ventures
Prequel Ventures focuses on empowering sustainable supply chains by investing in visionary founder teams building resilient, efficient, transparent, and sustainable supply chain solutions. The firm combines operational startup experience and venture capital expertise with a passion for the supply chain industry. They aim to provide financial backing and operational support to transform the inner workings of global trade. Their goal is to fund related startups from the pre-seed stage onwards, helping innovative teams turn their business ideas into financially viable ventures that align profits with principles. Prequel Ventures takes a purpose-driven approach to investing, emphasizing a commitment to building a greener and stronger tomorrow, one supply chain solution at a time. The firm seeks to invest in companies that are at the forefront of positive change within the supply chain sector. They are interested in startups that are driving innovation and creating a more sustainable and efficient future for global trade. Their primary focus is on empowering supply chain pioneers right from the initial stages, specifically pre-seed stage, recognizing the importance of early-stage support. They aim to scout and invest in teams throughout Europe, targeting those who they believe will become champions of industry. They combine over three decades of experience as investment specialists with a common drive to transform the inner workings of global trade.
Ugly Duckling Ventures
Ugly Duckling Ventures (UDV) focuses on backing Nordic founders at the pre-seed and seed stages. Their investment strategy centers around providing capital, know-how, and real-world application to early-stage ventures. They aim to be active GPs, leveraging their experience as builders and business angels to help startups scale rapidly. UDV emphasizes building relationships with founders, valuing transparency, and offering straightforward communication. They take a hands-on, operational approach, actively engaging with their portfolio companies to prepare them for growth. A key differentiator is their GPs-only model, ensuring that portfolio founders work directly with experienced partners rather than junior account managers. Furthermore, their established network within the Danish startup community provides access to investors and resources that can assist portfolio companies.
7percent Ventures
7percent Ventures focuses on backing determined founders solving significant problems with the potential for 200x returns. They seek to invest in technologies and products that will become indispensable in ten years, aiming for breakthrough companies and technologies rather than incremental market iterations. The firm looks for moonshots, indicating a high-risk, high-reward investment strategy. They aim to invest in solutions to problems which impact a lot of people. With experience as ex-founders in both the U.K. and U.S., the firm provides expertise and capital through the networks they've co-founded. Their guiding principle is to help, not hinder, startups, empathizing with the challenges founders face due to their own operational backgrounds. They believe the venture capital journey is best for big risk, big outcome businesses – startups with exponential growth potential and sector-defining change. The firm name is based on the idea that a good early-stage growth rate is 5-7% a week.
w3.fund
w3.fund is a next-generation investment house focused on the web3 ecosystem. They operate with a content & community-driven approach, leveraging both a Venture Fund (w3.ventures) and a Liquid Token Fund (w3.wave). Their approach appears to be centered around actively engaging and building a community around their investments, potentially giving them an edge in sourcing deals and supporting their portfolio companies. w3.ventures is their early-stage VC arm, concentrating on seed investments in Web3 startups. They aim to back builders and teams that are shaping the future of the Web3 space through equity and token investments. This suggests a hands-on approach, actively participating in the development of the ecosystem. w3.wave is their liquid token fund. The fund employs a hybrid approach to investing, integrating fundamental analysis with market responsiveness. This means they consider both the intrinsic value of the tokens and the prevailing market conditions to make investment decisions. The fund is open-ended, offering investors the chance to participate on an ongoing basis.