Vit Horky

myidea.ro/masterclassess - 101 insights about funding and a few seats available tomorrow - for entrepreneurs raising money & for new angels looking to manage the risk of investing for sustainable maximum returns

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🇪🇺 European companies in Y Combinator’s S24 batch [Part 1] (#goEurope) 👇 autarc (YC S24) (Berlin, Germany) 🇩🇪 founded by Etienne-Noel Krause, Thies Hansen and Marius Seufzer autarc is building the OS for Europe’s One-Stop Energy Installers, integrating CRM, planning, and design tools into a unified platform. Their solution helps SMB energy installers reduce pre-installation phases drastically, enabling efficient scaling of heat pump and photovoltaic systems. omnidock (YC S24) (Berlin, Germany) 🇩🇪 founded by Shayan Zakerzadeh, Christian Kohrs and Sebastian Rödling Omnidock provides an OS for global e-commerce expansion, allowing brands to plug in and expand across multiple marketplaces effortlessly. Acting as the merchant of record, Omnidock handles transactions, optimizes logistics, and simplifies multi-marketplace selling, increasing merchant revenue by at least 20%. Argil (YC S24) (Paris, France) 🇫🇷 founded by Laodis Menard and Brivael Le Pogam Argil is the video generation engine for the creator economy. Leveraging state-of-the-art deepfake models, their platform enables content creators to clone themselves, input a script, and generate engaging videos in minutes. It makes video production accessible for branding, education, and social media growth. The Forecasting Company (Paris, France) 🇫🇷 founded by Geoffrey Négiar and Joachim Fainberg The Forecasting Company is building foundation models for time series, providing enterprise-grade forecasting systems. Their plug-and-play solutions help enterprises improve operational decision-making, using a massive dataset of time-stamped information to create accurate and flexible predictions. Saturn AI (London, UK) 🇬🇧 founded by Amal Jolly, Michael Ettlinger, and Rohit Vaish, CFA Saturn is an AI-powered operating system for wealth management, automating compliance and back-office workflows. By streamlining processes and personalizing investment research, Saturn empowers wealth managers to focus on client engagement while reducing operational costs and inefficiencies. Patchwork Technologies (YC S24) (London, UK) 🇬🇧 founded by Benjamin H., Samuel Kramer, and Alex Maass Patchwork Technologies is developing the next-generation logging and observability platform. Automating logging from code to storage, Patchwork creates context-rich, actionable logs across entire codebases without manual intervention, simplifying the lives of developers and improving reliability in production environments. Tabular (Berlin, Germany) 🇩🇪 founded by Tim Hermes, Markus Jungnickel, Kilian Justus, and Leonard von Kleist Tabular is an AI copilot for accounting firms, automating core workflows such as booking expense accounts and VAT filings. Their solution enables accounting firms to generate finished ledger entries with a single click, addressing labor shortages in SMB accounting by transforming time-intensive tasks into streamlined processes. #euvc #venturecapital #vc

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Climate tech investing in Europe is on the rise and I have to say that it's more fund than I ever expected. If you are curious about the stage of climate innovations and the most promising approaches to lowering global greenhouse gas emissions, we will be discussing a few learnings at the DDC Investor Summit in the beautiful city of Prague.

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A mentor equips startups with the tools, insights, and confidence to pitch effectively, turning intimidating scenarios into opportunities to win investor trust and support.

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Back then one of the main problems I had in fundraising for my startup was not knowing valuation benchmarks. That's why ~year ago we prepared key data for every founder in Central Eastern Europe. We're preparing the 2024 edition right now, so if you see any trends in the market, we're happy to include them! :) 👉 What size of the round can you expect? At what valuation? 👉 What do you have to deliver for every round? 👉 What is the expected capable structure? And many many others. Link to the 2023 benchmarks: https://lnkd.in/de3qvJBT #benchmarks #startups #fundraising

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Europe is ahead of the US in VC impact funding and continues to be by far the region with the highest share of impact funding (over 30% vs. less than 10%); 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆.   Of a total of €53 billion raised in 2023, a third went to startups that address one or more of the UN sustainable development goals.   Healthtech startups raised more than €5B in the past five years, climate tech tripled to more than €20B in the past three years, and job creation reached 6.3 B.   VCs now believe in positive impact; startups that address society’s most pressing needs are the center of attention. A survey revealed that 79% of those surveyed have implemented or plan to implement an ESG strategy to guide their investment decisions.   What’s noteworthy is the percentage of Nordic VC investment that flows into impact startups is nearly double that of any other region, with an investment of €7.9B in 2023 and 61% into impact startups.   𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀   Western Europe → €2.5T combined market valuation → €19.2B raised in 2023 → 4.3M jobs created → 96 unicorns → 1637 Active funds   Southern Europe → €262B combined market valuation → €2.3 raised in 2023 → 727K jobs created → 14 unicorns → 313 Active funds   Nordics → €429B combined market valuation → €1.8B raised in 2023 → 629K jobs created → 20 unicorns → 262 Active funds   Central Europe → €119B combined market valuation → €133M raised in 2023 → 461K jobs created → 8 unicorns → 204 Active funds Despite all these achievements, VC funding still has a gap that needs to be filled. “Beyond Return” report 2024—a collaboration between European Women in VC, Founders Forum Group, and Tech Nation, sponsored by EIT Urban Mobility, European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), gives a five-step action plan.   1.   Catalyse more institutional investment 2.   Prioritise diversity in VC teams 3.   Prioritise on scaling 4.   Build a better connect VC community 5.   Champion venture capital’s positive societal and environmental impact   Read the full report here https://lnkd.in/dCjKbd_P   #Venturecapital #AI #Deeptech #Startups   Follow us for strategies and resources for Deep Tech founders and VCs!   And get access to exclusive content on Deep Tech startups like CardiaTec Biosciences , Celeris Therapeutics, HAAWK, Inc., kiutra, and OroraTech in our newsletter. 🔗 https://t2m.io/EV2qHQuo

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I'm thrilled to share the release of our groundbreaking industry report, which, for the first time ever, offers a complete look at "The AI Ecosystem of Ukraine: Talents, Companies, Education," presented by AI HOUSE and Roosh, with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine This comprehensive study offers an in-depth look into Ukraine's vibrant AI market, highlighting key trends, the needs of AI specialists, and Ukraine's position on the global AI map. Here are some major highlights: 🧑‍💻 Over the past decade, the number of AI/ML specialists in Ukraine has grown fivefold to an impressive 5,200, with 36% of them being young talents aged just 21-25! 🚀 Ukraine ranks 2nd among Central and Eastern European countries for the number of AI companies, totalling an incredible 243. 🏆 Ukraine boasts a higher concentration of AI startups in marketing, gaming, and enterprise software compared to other European countries. 🎓 In 2023 alone, 106 specialized AI/ML programs were launched in 42 Ukrainian universities, marking a remarkable 122% increase in student enrolment capacity over the past 5 years. 💰 A total of 44 active Ukrainian and international venture funds are investing in Ukrainian AI startups, primarily focusing on early-stage funding. 🏙️ Kyiv and Lviv are the largest hubs for AI industry development in Ukraine. This study is a crucial resource for companies, government bodies, and talents to navigate and make more effective decisions in the AI field. It underscores the immense potential of Ukraine's AI sector to drive innovative development despite facing challenges such as a shortage of venture capital funding and resources to support startups. Follow the link to access the full study and uncover more fascinating insights into Ukraine's AI industry: link in comments 👇🏼 Kudos to all of the teams involved in this project! Let's propel the future of AI innovation in Ukraine!

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"Three building blocks of the resilient founder" from "The Psychological Playbook for VCs and Startups" written by Noa Matz (Ex- F2 Venture Capital) and Ben Tytonovich ( Ex- Vintage Investment Partners) 1. Emotional Regulation. Emotional Regulation is all about staying strong and cool in the face of change, hardships, and failure. Not getting easily upset and managing to raise energy levels and project them when needed. Experiencing and expressing a range of emotions in a manner that is tolerable to those around and being sufficiently flexible. 2. Intrinsic Motivation It is a powerful and unique type of motivation that is produced as a result of doing things we love and are passionate about. The opposite of pursuing goals for the sake of external rewards (which often involve monetary gains). 3. Mental Flexibility Mental flexibility allows founders to abandon a thought pattern, a habit, or a perspective when it no longer serves a valuable purpose and finds an alternative direction. At its peak, mental flexibility pushes founders to navigate smoothly through a variety of options and alternatives, even at times of significant stress. It supports them in adapting to new and unexpected situations quickly and efficiently. We see that mentally flexible founders are the more coachable ones; they are receptive to feedback, happy to accept constructive criticism and implement it quickly. They tend to show great interest in external insight and constantly seek feedback from their network: investors, customers, colleagues, and employees. I feel the last one is more important than the other two. Find the link to the playbook in the comment section. #startup #venturecapital

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It is very easy to develop a pessimistic / negative view of the world these days - in particular when sitting in Europe. And while some developments are undoubtedly far from great, I maintain a positive view - in particular when it comes to entrepreneurship. The slowdown of the tech sector over the last 2.5 years has been sobering, yet continues to create great opportunities for innovation. Three themes emerge in my interactions with founders: Way fewer people are looking to get “this cool startup experience“: While it has never been easy to build and scale a successful venture, the heydays of 2020/21 and media coverage focusing on mega seed rounds / fast successes have made the journey seem straightforward to some. Many people wanted to “get that startup experience”, blinded by the successes that looked like “straight lines”. The struggles of the past 30 months have been a powerful illustration of how hard it is, how much dedication it takes and that success is far from certain. I now see founders thinking more binary - either they feel that it is a great time to start out now or they suddenly feel that times are too risky to start something new. This is a very healthy side effect and separates the tourists from the believers. Opportunity costs of starting something new have dropped: A lot of incredibly strong and experienced people who wouldn’t have thought of building a company 30 months ago suddenly do. We have seen founder application numbers continuously trending up all through 2022 to 2024 and we have had the chance to work with really great people that wouldn’t have started something before. I believe that this is a function of lower opportunity costs (ESOP programs are priced differently, pet projects are gone, focus is on cost not growth). Many people I speak to share the belief that there is an opportunity at their fingertips, since i) markets have been shook up and incumbents / competition have been stirred up, ii) hiring is much easier today - the amount of talent available is amazing and iii) liquidity is there - early stage investors continue to back great companies and unlike other phases there is no liquidity crisis. Founders are pulled towards healthy economics: Capital has a cost - how weird, huh? Therefore, many founders are focusing more diligently on the capital needs and burn rates that their businesses have, knowing that money is expensive. It has also pushed people in ideation stages to focus more on stuff that customers really want - and are willing to pay for. It is very clear that investors take their time to do proper due diligence, that they are more patient when evaluating businesses and that they value (future) financial health over the mere prospect of growth at all cost. All of these effects are healthy - and they will help bring forward a new generation of winning companies! ⛸⛸

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Proud to support this petition for a unified pan-European startup entity. Let’s unite Europe's startup ecosystems! https://www.eu-inc.org 🇪🇺 Ok I would love to see more things getting done in Europe, and enabling faster development of companies. Reality is founders spend a lot of time talking to lawyers and other founders about how to setup their companies in different countries. It's very expensive and slow for a startup and we're never sure we are doing everything exactly right. You could end up paying €50,000 out of a €300,000 yearly budget just to be able to sell your product in another country. So people don't do that but they set themselves up for high potential tax liability and time-sucking questionnaires and paper-filing. Also, why would we not want to make it easy for employees to have ownership in companies? It's pretty crazy in Finland that it's very hard to give people ownership without them getting taxed before they get any money. Same in Sweden, it's just really difficult and risks are high. Let's just make it easier quickly.

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🥁 A call for European policymakers to unify the startup ecosystem !!! 🥁 Motivated to support this petition for a unified pan-European startup entity. Let’s unite Europe's startup ecosystems! https://www.eu-inc.org 🇪🇺 Join and sign for: 🔔 Standardize investment processes to enable genuine pan-European investments. 🔔 Establish a unified employee stock options program to share startup success more widely. 🔔 Simplify cross-border operations, such as employment and capital flows. 🔔 Fully digitize the incorporation process

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I will be at Sifted Summit again next month, with my weirdly distorted head, doing female founder office hours for Alma Angels with 49 other investors for 100 founders. 🎟 Get your ticket to Sifted Summit with 15% off with the code Alma15 - link in comments - and Sifted will contact you to register. During the day, I will most likely just find a spot and stay there. Please come and say hi. Roxane Sanguinetti 😃 David Fogel Willo® Runna The Maydays AndAlso Improv #founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic More at unbundled dot vc.

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Our mission is clear: to make top-tier services affordable and accessible to the mid-market. Freelancers were often the only viable option in the past, while consultancies came with high costs and other downsides. Our experience shows that a small integrated team of senior operators delivers the best results. A rapidly growing number of repeat customers agrees. Reach out to learn how we can help you accelerate growth affordably yet through a best-in-class delivery model. #operatingpartner #commercialexcellence #privateequity #freelancer #managementconsultant Mitul Ruparelia Pedro Correia Krishna Chaitanya Simon Blackburn

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🚀 We are part of Silo Teams 1,16M Pre Seed Round! 🚀 It is difficult to find and attract highly qualified tech talent. Retaining them is an even bigger challenge. Silo Team solves the problem of high turnover among developers and facilitates the onboarding, offboarding and retention of developers to manage the entire lifecycle of a software developer on a single platform. That's why I'm thrilled about Silo Team's recent round. Founded by Rasmus Stjernström and Ida Stjernström, Silo Team has just received a huge boost to drive its growth with an 1,16M investment. Here's why this matters: ➡ Developer turnover costs companies big time, anywhere from $67,000 to $180,000 per developer! ➡ Silo Team is tackling this with an advanced onboarding tool, aiming to cut those costs dramatically. ➡ Looking ahead: Silo Team aims to evolve into a comprehensive platform that enhances the entire developer lifecycle by leveraging AI to streamline knowledge management and automate key workflows. The round was co-led by Pitchdrive | Early-stage VC 🚀 and Fuel Ventures 🚀 and futher backed by Genesis Ventures, StartupIst Ventures and further Angels like Michael Proszynski, Ferdinand Dietrich and us! We are very excited to be part of the mission to significantly reduce developer turnover and play a pivotal role in tech development. Marco Raggl | Patrick Funke | Laura Raggl | Julian Sachs #investments #venturecapital #startups ___ ROI VENTURES 

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2024 is coming to its end, and I am writing here about a book from 2022! Still super relevant, with timeless lessons, insights and great stories. I read Sebastian Mallaby's "The Power Law" this year and absolutely loved it. Strongly recommend. Here are my three key takeaways: 👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏽👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏻 A small group of people can change the world: 70% of the companies born in Silicon Valley trace their origins back to Fairchild Semiconductors. 🔬🧬 Deep tech is fundamentally different: capital does not equal growth. 💰🔮 Big successes in venture capital are all about uniqueness: the best startups have unique talent and intelligence, and the top-performing funds and firms have unique approaches. Has anyone here read it? Any thoughts, insights or favorite passages? Share below and let me know. Additionally: what is your favorite book about VC?

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"If we want innovation to actually happen on this continent, we need startups to succeed - and there is no way around it" Andreas Klinger on stage for The EU Inc Petition with Aura Salla & Amy Lewin. Forward, fixing Europe for startups.

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Some interesting startups you might like to check: HindSight Modoru Platforum9 And since 5 out of 12 different founders I talked to this week still weren’t sure how to identify and where to find the right investors for themselves- shipshape.vc #scaling #growth #investment #marketexpansion #marketlaunch

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In 2023, women-founded #startups in Europe raised just 1.8% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups - a figure that’s only slightly higher in the US at 2%, according to the World Economic Forum. Although I really hope that one day the industry finds a way to overcome its similarity bias, the reality today is typically that diverse founders have to adjust to the industry bias. Therefore, to support female founders seeking funding, I was one of 58 female investors from 26 countries who shared my perspectives. Please find the PwC report on ‘5 fundraising recommendations from women investors to women founders’ here: https://lnkd.in/dGUVPyRK

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h1 took a few months to build but our new founder co-pilot was years in the making. In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, we launched an initiative to help founders polish their decks and strategize their next raise with Hi Ventures feedback. Our objective was simple: support as many entrepreneurs as possible with professional, one-on-one feedback as they prepared to talk to investors. Every week, our team took turns reviewing decks. It took hours, but over the past four years, humans at Hi have reviewed hundreds of decks. Founders received tailored feedback and a list of potential investors that fit their opportunity. We know it's not much, but on the margin, it may have made a difference—especially for founders without easy access to capital or mentors. As LLMs got better, more consistent (and easier to program!), Jimena Pardo decided to productize our initiative. Together, we built h1. This simple co-pilot does everything humans did and more. It’s consistent, instant, and always available. It’s not as good as a call with a VC associate, but it’s a start.As we go deeper into becoming better VCs and exploring the potential of AI, this has been an amazing learning experience. Take a look at h1.0, link in comments. If you have time, test and send your feedback. We hope h1 is helpful :)

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