Matteo Masserdotti

Lorenzo Franzi and the Italian Founders Fund. Congratulations! <3 This week, Lorenzo and his team launched the Italian Founders Fund. They brought together over 100 founders and entrepreneurs, pooling €50M to support the next generation. It’s a big deal for Italian entrepreneurship. He has watched the Italian market with Global Founders Capital for three years. He has seen tremendous progress, met many talented people, and met ambitious new founders. Now, they're building the next wave of tech companies and putting Italy on the venture capital map. The pay-it-forward model—where experienced founders help the new generation—has worked in many places. Lorenzo and his team are making it happen in Italy with the Italian Founders Fund. They’re looking to work with angels and local investors. They're also excited about the growing interest from international investors. Their goal? Support Italian founders abroad and welcome foreign ventures to Italy. #ItalianFoundersFund #VC #Tech #Entrepreneurship #Italy #Innovation

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Europe's tech market has some catching up to do. #eu #techmarket #technology #techcompanies #marketvalue #financing #growthcapital #scaleups #commercialisation

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My dog just ate the piece of paper on which I saved my seed phrase 🐶📄 Guess it's time to rethink how we secure our Bitcoin, huh? No worries, I got your back 🔒 Thrilled to announce I'll be speaking at the @Lugano's Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano this October, where I'll deep dive into the concept of Bitcoin's keyless future 🍊 Spoiler alert: We're about to make seed phrases as outdated as floppy disks. (Remember those?) Join me to explore: 1️⃣ Why your grandma's authentication methods just won't cut it anymore 2️⃣ How we're keeping and pushing Bitcoin to be non-custodial 3️⃣ The magic of on-demand key generation (it's like Uber, but for security!) See you in Lugano, where we'll unlock the secrets to a simpler orange pilled world (like my face)! 🗝️💥

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🚀 Exciting Developments at Scalestack! In the ever-evolving landscape of sales productivity, Scalestack is making significant strides with its AI-powered GTM data orchestration and activation platform. Elio Narciso and Alessandro Prioni have been dedicated to enhancing sales productivity by managing both structured and unstructured data, facilitating smoother data integration, and enabling sales teams to focus more on selling and less on manual data handling. Leveraging MongoDB Atlas on AWS, Scalestack's platform provides a unified workflow that automates data organization and suggests actionable strategies, significantly boosting operational efficiency. Their tool, Spotlight AI copilot, enhances user interactions by utilizing Atlas Vector Search to deliver informed, context-sensitive responses. The results speak for themselves: customers report a 40% increase in sales rep productivity and a staggering 53X ROI!!

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🚩 22 investor red flags to look out for. 🚩 You deserve the best investors! But it’s easy to make a mistake. There are over 8,400* VCs in Europe alone. During fundraising you will meet many. And not all investors are created equal. They will all be selling themselves well. You will read and hear all kinds of superlatives. Spotting early red flags is essential. I’ve decided to help you out on this. 🚩 22 investor red flags to look out for 🚩 > Arrogant behavior > Highlife party culture mentality > No track record in your industry > Pressing you to make a decision > Slow response in communication > Slow in the due diligence process > No clear value-add besides money > Wanting to take >50% of the company > Very aggressive valuation negotiations > The VC worked only in financial services > Demanding lock-up exclusivity, during DD > Conflict of interest with other investments > No prior founder experience in the VC fund > Demanding unrealistic stake. Check trends > Wanting too many board seats or veto rights > Discouraging you to do due diligence on them > Not transparent in advance with LP constraints > No exploratory calls with your customers (if any) > Corruption proposals. Getting you into a scheme > Late for meetings and acting like nothing’s wrong > Bad feedback on them by their portfolio founders. > No transparency on process, criteria, decision-makers If you see any of these red flags, be cautious. Dig deeper. If things don’t look well, move on. It’s 8,400* of them in Europe alone. P.S. What red flags would you add? 🚩 Let's discuss in the comments. ⬇️ *According to Crunchbase

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I had so much fun chatting with Massimiliano "Max" Sulpizi on his EquityMatch Investor Talk. If you are curious about the world of angel investing and how investors think when they look at early stage startups, this is for you. Here is what you can find in the episode: ✔ Why I became an angel in the first place ✔ My investment thesis ✔ What I look at in a pitch ✔ How founders should approach investors ✔ Being a Carta SPV organizer with the SIA - Startup Investor Accelerator ✔ How you can best support the founders you invest in ✔ The importance of pivoting when the situation requires it ✔ Direct vs fund investment ✔ The trends that I am seeing in the space My DMs are open for any follow-up questions you have!

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Please consider following Periodic Ventures and check out our offering for startup companies in the link below!

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This is some good work John Cowan. The venture studio is what the 'old guard' vcs used to be. So much of what we have now is 'venture-nistas' - folks that fashionably label themselves vcs, but they aren't good at adding value/de-risking a select portfolio of new ventures (the old guard vc/venture studio model), nor are they particularly capable of deploying capital well as financial buyers/investors - for all the reasons you've cited. Investors are partly to blame, as they get caught up in FOMO just like GPs, mis-allocating risk capital to sketchy funds or deals, based on teh well-documented optics that fuel FOMO. I would offer that the remaining gap in funding startups is a more professional risk-management approach at the portfolio level, that is scalable and can deploy larger $'s without sacrificing alpha (in fact creating repeatable alpha vs. the reliance on the Power Law). The absolute volume and acceleration of the formation of new startups requires vastly more capital, deployed better than the current system and practices can provide today. It is possible

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🌟 Interesting yet unsurprising findings from the latest VC performance report: 📈 Established European venture capital funds (fund 5+) are delivering 2x the IRR of New (fund 1-2) and Developing (3-4) funds. 🌍 European VC funds consistently outperform their US counterparts, underscoring Europe's strength in the global investment landscape. Read the article at sifted https://lnkd.in/eZYF4THT

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The European VC fundraising scene is showing a clear trend. Experience matters. Let's unpack some data on this! From The State of European Fundraising Report. 1/ Why track record matters. In a cautious market, LPs (investors) are prioritizing established funds with a proven history of success. Experienced firms captured 54.5% of the capital raised in 2023. 2/ New opportunities for LPs. This market shift presents a golden opportunity for LPs to build relationships with top-tier VC firms. Firms they might not have accessed before. 3/ Focus on creating value. Investors are seeking firms that prioritize building real value, not just hype. This is a great long-term trend for the industry. If you are an emerging fund manager, the time to build a strong reputation and track record is now. Focus on building a compelling value proposition and demonstrating a clear path to success to attract investors. Learn how to navigate the effects of the #TechReset. Get insights from The State of European Fundraising Report. https://buff.ly/4boUlfm Delivered to you by EUVC | Isomer Capital | Floww.  #EUVC #fundraising #venturecapital #industryreport

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🤔 What do VCs and angel investors think about #mediaforequity? 10 years ago, many investors weren't too keen on these deals, thinking that if your company was involved in one, it might not be very investable 😢 Over the past decade, we've seen numerous successes across Europe, and these wins have shifted investor perspectives on these deals. If you're facing pushback from board members, it's not because of the venture model, but rather a lack of understanding of what a diverse media stack can really do for a growth-stage consumer startup. ✋ If you're experiencing roadblocks or just want to chat about this, feel free to reach out. I have plenty of examples and insights that could help! Here are some of the startups that have raised #mediacapital and the VCs that co-invested alongside media companies include: Mous - Piper & Channel 4 Ventures Feel - Wellness, Reimagined - Fuel Ventures 🚀 & ITV AdVentures Btomorrow Ventures what3words - Hambro Perks & Channel 4 Ventures 4, GMPVC German Media Pool NotCo - The Craftory & TelevisaUnivision COAT Paints - True. & Channel 4 Ventures Grover - Mirae Asset Global Investments (LG Electronics Growth Fund) & GMPVC German Media Pool Deskera - Jungle Ventures & Brand Capital International MAXWELLIA - Praetura Ventures & Channel 4 Ventures bloobloom - dmg ventures & Pembroke VCT

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Great interview with one of the best VCs out there. Lot's of good stuff in this article. One point worth highlighting on the eternal debate whether there is enough growth capital in Europe: great companies will always manage to raise money, no matter where they are based.

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The one statistic I believe is not that widely known among European founders is the median Exit Valuation of European ventures at €22.7 million. No, it is not a typo, the m is an m. #europe #vc #startupfunding #exitvaluation

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Access to top quartile Private Equity funds from €10,000 is now possible thanks to Moonfare! The democratization of Private Equity enters a new era. Moonfare’s ELTIF 2.0 has officially been accepted by the regulator and is being launched in various geographies over the next few months! Thousands of private investors have already joined our waitlist. You can read more about how the revamped rules are setting the stage for retailisation of European private markets below and sign up for the waitlist on www.moonfare.com! Our sincere thanks to Citywire for writing about Moonfare's new investment strategy. Read the full story here: https://moonfa.re/4aASFim Know someone who would like to read the article? Please tag them in the comments section. #PrivateEquity #ELTIF #InvestmentStrategy

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I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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🌏 Open Banking & Bank Infra start-ups: what's the trend?  🌎 📊 📈 We’ve been hearing about “building for banks” but if we actually break it down, it seems to break into four segments: 1️⃣  Bank systems (CBS/LOS/LMS), 2️⃣ Credit Card Issuing and Management (CCMS), 3️⃣ Tech enabled banks 4️⃣ Account Aggregator model (AA) for open banking 💡 🎯 I’ve taken a look at Rev X (last valuation / ‘23 revenues). On average (out of the 10 I got details for), “building for banks” fintechs are trending at Rev X of ~21x. This is in line with what fintechs were trending at at IPO: ~19.6x. Deep dive: https://lnkd.in/ghb5w8iS 💡 📊 Visa is betting on this space. It acquired Tink (AA, Sweden) in 2024, Pismo (CCMS, Brazil) in 2022, and bid for Plaid (AA, USA) in 2020. And maybe more in the future? 1️⃣ Core Banking  / Lending Management Systems: Rev X: 11.3x - 20x ✅ Falcon: Founded 2012 (went through pivots), Raised 2 seed rounds, last round in 2022, HQ: India ✅ M2P: Founded 2016, Valued: ~$600M, Rev in’23: $53M, Rev X: 11.3x, HQ: India ✅ Lentra: Founded 2018, Valued: $400M, Rev in ‘23: $20M, Rev X: 20x, HQ: India ✅ Constantinople: Founded 2022, Raised $50M in 2024 Series A, HQ: Australia 2️⃣ Credit Card Issuing & Management: Rev X: 30-40x, only 1 ex, so may not be accurate M2P & Falcon who provide banking systems, also provide credit card issuing / management solutions. ✅ Pismo: Founded 2016, Valued: $1B at Visa acquisition in 2024, Rev in ‘23: $25M+, Rev x: ~30-40x, HQ: Brazil ✅ Hyperface: Founded 2021 by ex-Juspay founder, Valued: $65M, HQ: India ✅ Pomelo: Founded 2021, Valued: $100M+, HQ: Argentina 3️⃣ Tech enabled banks (fintechs with banking license): Rev X: 11.59 - 12x These banks provide payments infrastructure, as well as APIs to banks in their network. In the sample I’ve looked at, this segment seems to have the highest revenues. They also raised at higher multiples: ~11-20x. This is higher than what Indian banks are at as of ‘24 (range from 5x - 8x). And similar to start-ups building for bank systems. ✅ Cross River Bank: Founded 2008, Valued: $3B, Rev in ‘23: $150M+, Rev x: 12-20x, potential IPO in 2025, HQ: USA ✅ Solaris: Founded 2016, Valued: $1.6B, Rev in ‘23: $138M, Rev x: 11.59x, HQ; Germany 4️⃣ AA model (open APIs):  Rev X: 20 - 200x It’s possible some of these companies are overvalued. Plaid (200x), and Yapily (66x - 100x) seem to be trending on the higher side ✅ Perfios: Founded 2008, Valued: $1B+, Rev in ‘23: $50M, Rev x: 20x, HQ: India ✅ Tink: Founded 2012, Valued: $2B at acquisition by Visa in 2022, Rev in ‘23: $32M, Rev X: 62.5x, HQ: Sweden ✅ Plaid: Founded 2013, Valued: $13.4B, Visa acquisition bid $5B in 2020, Rev in '23: $64M, Rev X: 200x, HQ: USA ✅ True Layer: Founded 2016, Valued: $1B, Rev in ‘23: $45M, Rev X: 22x, HQ: UK ✅ Yapily: Founded 2017, Valued: $200-300M, Rev in ‘23: $3M, Rev X: 66-100x, HQ: UK For the detailed article, and more pieces like this, click here: https://lnkd.in/gYjh6H2c

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A shout-out from Chris Wade, Founding Partner at Isomer Capital. To our amazing European founders. To every one of you out there. 👉 for rebuilding financial plans, instead of raising capital 👉 for developing profitable or cash-neutral companies 👉 for pivoting in new directions 👉 for burning less cash 👉 for giving your best 👉 for your tenacity The story of Travis Pittman, which we discussed recently at EUVC , is just one example, but examples like this are inspiring for us and for the whole ecosystem. Tune in for more insights on the European fundraising sentiment on EUVC. 🎧 Link in comments. #EUVCpodcast #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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📰 Great to be featured on the latest Sifted article by Amy Lewin Joe Schorge, Maria Rotilu and I share our thoughts on the topic of ''How many new #VC funds does Europe need?'' and the ''rise in solo GPs across Europe'' 💭 TLDR: In my opinion, Solo GPs are fantastic! They truly do care and are super useful with great networks, hunger and high-speed. However many solo GPs don’t lead deals at pre-seed, and the European ecosystem could do with a few more funds that do. But there are exceptions, such as Germany’s Gloria Baeuerlein, Finn Murphy, and Max Claussen, to name a few. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/dWXUFsWb

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