Michele Mattei’s Post

Ten international investors are venturing north this summer – these Venture Nordics participants have managed a total AUM of around 12 billion euros. 📈🇫🇮 They will be in Helsinki May 30 – June 7th to explore opportunities in the New Nordic ecosystem. Learn more about their business goals and the industry expertise that they bring to Helsinki: 👤 Abhijeet Hivarekar, with 20 years in finance and roles at Standard and Poors, UBS, and Credit Suisse, eyes Helsinki for Haritaki’s expansion, exploring strategic investments and partnerships in Finland's green sector. 👤 Ashish Kumar, leading Fundamentum, delves into Europe's venture scenes via the Venture Nordics Program, targeting innovations with dual appeal in Europe and India, and fostering Europe-India investment links. 👤 Celine Schulze, at the helm of Narwhale Ventures, joins the Venture Nordics Program to explore expansion into Finland and the Baltic, linking with investors and academia to boost ocean-tech innovations and sustainability. 👤 Linn-Cecilie Linnemann Linneman, co-founder of SHE Conference and advocate for gender equality, targets Finland through the Venture Nordics Program to expand her network and delve into the Nordic business landscape, seeking collaborative opportunities. 👤 Matthew Hicks, representing the Church Commissioners, is looking to deepen ties with the Nordic innovation ecosystem, aiming to invest in venture funds and startups that promise high potential and positive social impact. 👤 Milapsinh Jadeja, through the Venture Nordics Program, eyes expanding his investment horizon to Europe, focusing on understanding Finland's venture ecosystem, the process of establishing a fund in the Nordics, and networking with European LPs and family offices. 👤 Nicholas Thibeault, through Venture Nordics, seeks to explore Finland's strategic venture scene, network with stakeholders invested in gender lens investing, and discover opportunities that bridge Scandinavia with Southeast Asia, enhancing cross-regional venture dynamics. 👤 Rahul Rajani aims to meet tech pioneers, network with top-performing institutions, assess their investment strategies, and explore Nordic policies enhancing investment in innovation. 👤 Vadim Shpak aims to propel Vickers Venture Partners in Helsinki by engaging with Nordic deep-tech and life sciences, establishing the firm as a significant global player, scouting strategic alliances, and enhancing its presence in the venture capital sphere. 👤 Vivek Dogra, Co-founder and GP at Defossilisation Development Fund (DDF), a Swiss climate-tech fund dedicated to eliminating fossil fuel dependencies. In the Venture Nordics Program, he aims to explore the Nordic venture scene, build partnerships, gather insights for DDF, and embrace Finland's culture. Read their full profiles and connect with them here 👀👇 https://lnkd.in/geHK2TYX #venturenordics #investinfinland #venturecapital #limitedpartners #whyhelsinki #internationalfund

Luxembourg based #climatetech venture capital firm Satgana recently reached a final close of its debut fund. 💸 €8 million ($8.6 million) following commitments from family offices and high-net-worth individuals, including Maurice Lévy of the Publicis Groupe, and Thibaud Hug de Larauze. 💡 Investing at #preseed and #seedstage in 30 companies with cheque sizes between €100k to €300k in early-stage #climatetech start-ups working on mitigating and building resilience to #climatechange across (i) #energy (ii) #transportation (iii) #food & #agriculture (iv) #industry & #buildings (v) #carbonremoval (vi) #circulareconomy 🌍 #Africa and #Europe 📈 Satgana has backed 15 exciting start-ups incl. Orbio Earth (YC S23), Arda Biomaterials, Fullsoon, Onima, Rebel Tech, Fermify, among others. 💭 “From an impact perspective, it’s important for us to invest in solutions, which [traditionally] receive only a tiny fraction of VC money.” - Romain Diaz, Satgana founder and general partner 🗞️ TechCrunch https://lnkd.in/eRQ-TVEd. 👏 For the #AudaciousInvestors unleashing innovation and empowering tomorrow🚀Romain I Anil Maguru I Desirée Pettersson I Joana Fonseca I Philippe Audebert I Patrícia Silva I Michael Napper I James Crowley I Vinayak Kamath I Marijn Wiersma I Lubomila Jordanova I Team Satgana … #venturecapital #vc #funds #startups #entrepreneurs #funding #tech #entrepreneurship #technology #innovation #Luxembourg #venture

Ada Ventures has selected business angels who will invest in startups across economic empowerment, healthy aging and climate equity. The London-based investment company is giving a seat at the table to new cohorts of angel investors, from backgrounds and education streams that are underrepresented in the field. To break through the homogeneity, Ada Ventures works from the ground up: starting with diverse scouts, it builds diverse teams of investors to finance technology startups that support economic empowerment, healthy aging and climate equity. And today, Ada Ventures has announced its first team of 10 angels in Denmark. The 10 angels get access to a pool of up to DKK 6.9 million DKK. During the next year, they can make up to five separate investments of DKK 200,000 across Ada’s climate equity, economic empowerment and healthy ageing “It is our first program in Denmark, and we are excited to see how it develops. Ada chose Denmark for its deep-rooted culture within healthcare and climate solutions. There is an exciting environment and a dynamic similar to that in Great Britain,” says CEO of Ada Ventures Francesca (Check) Warner. The angels who have been selected include former founders, community leaders, and tech operators. All were identified as having the right skills, networks and knowledge to make angel investors, but who may have otherwise found themselves facing economic, social, or other barriers to entry. In 2023, 92.6 percent of Danish VC funding went to all-male teams, according to a recent report. Just 1.3 percent went to all-female teams. These all-female founded teams also raised smaller rounds – with average Seed and Series A rounds 52.5 percent smaller. The full list of Ada Angels Phaedria Marie St. Hilaire Marie St.Hilaire – Former Scientific Researcher and Corporate Director, NED Startup Advisor and Co-Founder of ProWoc Denmark Sam Eshrati – COO and Chief Engagement Officer at TechBBQ and LGBTQ+ advocate Ana A. – Founder of Even Founders and a former investor at CVC fund Hadiyah Mujhid – CEO and Founder of HBCUvc, co-author of “Black Founders at Work” and former scout at Lightspeed Venture Partners Ellen de Bever - Scaling and GTM expert with experience across the UK, Germany, Sweden, USA, and NL. Founding member of Atlas by DecisionMakers network. Jakob Knutzen 🧈 – CEO and Co-founder of Butter, superconnector and former Managing Director with Lion & Lion Charlene Putney – Ex-Google, Ex-Meta, co-founder of AI personalisation startup Write With LAIKA, and video game writer Katja Meyer – Former COO and CPO at UPCYCL Carl Johan Rising – Data scientist and former Director of Data at Too Good to Go Kathya Singh – Scaleup operator and coach with experience helping startups define a path for revenue growth and retention Full story: https://lnkd.in/dVtjN4WB

There’s a huge gender gap in medical and disease research funding. Mexico City-based New Ventures is rolling out a $20 million fund to offer revenue-based financing to women’s health services startups in Latin America. In the U.S., Europe and Oceania, Global Bio Fund is rolling out a $100 million fund to back women-led, early-stage health tech ventures. The fund, called Jaya Ventures, is backing companies with deep foundations in science and their own intellectual property. Also on this month’s list: Altalurra Ventures, a Black-led venture capital fund that invests in early-stage impact tech and sustainability startups, and Lombard Odier Investment Managers’ new private credit strategy offering short-term debt to North American businesses delivering sustainable goods, services and real assets. #startup #investment #VC #womenled #womenshealth https://lnkd.in/eXvR5jaE

All-female-founded startups in Northwestern Europe received just a small fraction of the total venture funding so far this year, per a new report by Unconventional Ventures. Women-led startups received 1.9% of funding in the U.K., 1.7% in Germany, 1.2% in Nordic countries, and just 0.6% in France. Iceland fared much better than other European nations, with women-led startups bagging 7.3% of the total capital. Unconventional Ventures' co-founder Nora Bavey said, "The persistent and substantial funding gap is glaringly obvious... addressing and closing this gap will require uprooting the ingrained biases against diverse founders that permeate Europe's VC ecosystem." In Nordic countries, all-female-led startups represented 6.1% of the funding rounds but could bag only 1.2% of the capital. The discrepancy between the two suggests that women-led startups are getting smaller funding rounds than their male counterparts. The situation is the same in the U.S., where all-women teams secured 1.9% of the total capital raised in 2022.

✨ Simsy Ventures and iCapital Ventures are thrilled to announce a dynamic partnership to foster the startups & innovation ecosystem across seven countries and more. 🌟 iCapital Ventures , a neo-digital business bank, specializes in innovative support for clients, including investment banks, funds, and high-growth companies investing in growth-phase Startups/SMEs. By leveraging a robust network of ecosystem partners like Simsy Ventures , they aim to empower startups and SMEs like never before. 💡 This impactful collaboration will enable iCapital Ventures to leverage the AI-driven Simsy - Startups & Innovation Platform to provide their Startup/SME portfolios with comprehensive managed lifecycle services: #assessment, #education, #skill development, pre-incubation, #incubation, #acceleration, #fundraising, and #market access. The iCapital Ventures ecosystem members can now assess their entrepreneurial traits, learn, ideate, set up, launch startups, and scale them into ventures while connecting with relevant mentors and investors. The Simsy.io platform will be crucial in generating quality pipelines, conducting due diligence, providing investment insights, and ensuring effective portfolio management, ultimately boosting success rates, scale, and impact. 🌐 Through this nation-building partnership iCapital Ventures ' #G25 leaders will collaborate with local ecosystem partners, including higher education (#universities & #colleges), industry (#corporates, enterprises & #SMEs), startup ecosystems (#incubators & #accelerators), government policymakers & bodies, and development agencies & NGOs. Together, we aim to advance shared missions of employment/job creation, #GDP growth, and increased per capita income, leading to economic stability, social well-being, and sustainable development. 🙏 We extend our gratitude to the visionary leaders making this partnership possible, including Achille AGBE. J 💱 , Chairman, Christophe Rencien , Satish Kumar CEO Simsy Ventures , Director of Strategy, and Ish Anand , Lead Partner in India/UAE of iCapital Ventures. A special thanks to Ish Anand for his vision, leadership, and continuous support in forging this impactful partnership with iCapital Ventures.

Meet multi-million dollar Ghanaian impact investor Yvonne Bajela and partner of the $1 billion LocalGlobe who was inspired by a venture capitalist on a flight to Ghana in 2013👌🏾🇬🇭💫 Yvonne who grew up in the UK and has invested invested $170 million into startups across the globe, started her career in International Banking at Goldman Sachs. She always had a love for economics and capital markets - and saw the impact funding could have in developing economies and outcomes. Yvonne didnt know much about venture capital back then - but that changed in 2013. She realised that's where she needed to be. She joined Japanese conglomerate, Mitsui, as their youngest investment manager. At Mitsui, Yvonne lived across the world (in South Africa, Japan, Uganda and Kenya) looking for the best companies to invest in. And she invested in a few winners - like the now public Wise. But along the way, she noticed a problem. Some of the best founders she met couldnt raise funding - particularly black and female founders. Yvonne wanted to invest in underrepresented founders across Europe from day one. So she joined Impact X Capital Partners LLP as a founding member and investor - where she backed underrepresented founders. Adding companies like Marshmellow (now a unicorn) and Pace Revenue (acquired by FlyrLabs) to her portfolio. On the side, Yvonne angel invested in African companies. But she wanted a space to invest in both African companies and underrepresented founders. So she joined LocalGlobe (one of Europe’s largest funds) as a partner - where she does both. To date, Yvonne has invested in African companies like Jumba, Itana and Moove Yvonne sees that the world’s demographic data all points to Africa being the future. And she wants to be in the middle of Africa’s development - by influencing how capital moves. In my opinion, Yvonne is one of Africa’s top investors - and an example of what investing for impact and returns looks like. And in a few weeks, Yvonne will be on the Afrotech Fest stage in London - talking about Africa’s venture opportunity Thanks Caleb Maru for sharing👍🏾 #investinwomen #investinafrica #leadingwomen #womeninbusiness #womeninleadership #venturecapital #privateequity #weallthbuilders #impactinvestors

🎉 Today, we're thrilled to announce the final close of Vertex Ventures SEA & India's Fund V at USD 541M, surpassing our target, despite the challenging fundraising environment. This is also 80% larger than our previous fund. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our existing and new limited partners, including Japan Investment Corporation (JIC), IFC - International Finance Corporation and DEG and returning investor Cathay Life Insurance Co., Ltd. for believing in our mission to drive #SEA and India's tech landscape forward. Our focus remains on early-stage startups across various sectors including but not limited to #Enterprise, #Consumer Internet, #Fintech, Health and Wellness, #Mobility and #Sustainability, and we're excited to expand our investments in, #ClimateTech, and beyond. We have already started to invest from our fund 5, so do reach out if you are fundraising for Pre-A or series A/B! As we step into the next chapter, we're eager to continue being hands-on investors and supporting more startups in becoming global champions. Here's to the continued growth and success of SEA & India's startup communities! 👏 Ben Mathias, our Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India commented, “Our earlier funds have had superior cash-on-cash returns and are outperforming benchmarks. This track record led most of our investors from VVSEAI Fund IV to return as investors in VVSEAI Fund V and increase their allocation. In addition, we expanded our total investor base significantly and are happy to welcome all our Limited Partners." Our Managing Partner, Joo Hock Chua shared that, “We continue to be bullish about the tech startup opportunities in this region as we see the ecosystem evolving deeper and becoming more mature. We have been an early, and in many cases, the first institutional investor in successful Southeast Asian and Indian startup companies. Our investment approach has always been, and will continue to be – investing selectively and judiciously. We do not believe in being a prolific investor, but in closely partnering founders and supporting them throughout their journey through ups or downs. This approach has enabled us to build unicorns including Grab, Patsnap, Nium, FirstCry.com (BrainBees Solutions Pvt. Ltd.), Xpressbees (BusyBees Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd.) and Licious.” The fund corpus includes a dedicated co-investment envelope of USD 50 million for co-investing alongside the main fund in startups led by women founders. More than 35% of the startups in VVSEAI Fund IV have at least one woman founder and this envelope will be used to further the fund’s intention of supporting more women entrepreneurs. Read our official press release here: https://lnkd.in/gxrrrf-h #VVSEAI #VVSEAIFund5 #Investment #NewInvestment #Fundraising #CoCreatingChampions #Vertex #VertexVentures #VentureCapital #VC #Investors #Founders #Entrepreneurs 

UK based venture capital firm Giant Ventures recently announced the launch of two new purpose-driven tech funds. 💸 ‘A $100 million seed fund targets 25 early-stage companies and a larger $150 million climate-focused growth fund. Backers include Richard Branson, BMW Group, Henkel, RIT Capital Partners plc, Denmark’s sovereign investment fund, The Nature Conservancy, amongst others. 💭 “Our vision is to create the world’s leading engine of purpose-driven innovation,” and further added, “We deliver top returns by partnering with the most ambitious founders using technology as a force for good.” - Cameron McLain, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Giant 💡 ‘The funds are set to support technology companies addressing critical global challenges, emphasising themes such as climate, health, and inclusive capitalism.’ 🌍 The funds will be allocated across the #UK, the #USA, and the #Nordics. 📈 ‘The company has a proven track record of success, with prior funds doubling in value since 2019, ranking in the top quartile of venture capital firms globally.’ 🗞️By Vivek Chhetri Tech Funding News https://lnkd.in/dDFpCeZs 👏 For the #AudaciousInvestors unleashing innovation and empowering tomorrow🚀 Cameron McLain I Tommy Stadlen I Jon Dishotsky I Jia Lin Yong I Madelene Larsson I Oliver Jupp I Georgia Ritter I Team Giant Ventures … #venturecapital #vc #funds #startups #entrepreneurs #funding #tech #entrepreneurship #technology #innovation #climate #health #inclusion

FemWealth Issue 146 highlights 💌 In the Spotlight 🌎 Founded by Sierra Peterson and Sarah Sclarsic, Voyager Ventures, a US-based decarbonization-focused VC, launched Voyager Partners Select I, its second venture fund with $100M in capital commitments to back companies across software, hardware, and biotech that are focused on decarbonization. Startup News: - Co-founded by Vilve Vene, Tuum, an Estonian startup that enables banks to manage financial services raised a $26.9M Series B round - Co-founded and led by Mikela Druckman, Greyparrot, a London-based startup that uses computer vision for waste analytics, raised a $12.8M round  - Co-founded by Meredith Perry and Heather Read, Ph.D., Elemind Technologies, Inc., a US startup developing an AI-enhanced neurotech wearable that aims to improve sleep and attention, raised a $12M Seed round  - Co-founded by Daniela Sordi, CarbonX, a Netherlands-based startup is developing a cost-competitive and more sustainable alternative to graphite for EV batteries, raised €10M - Co-founded by Glennys Rodriguez, finally, a US company that provides an automated business processes solution for SMBs, raised $10M - Co-founded by Ava Chandler-Matthews and Rebecca Jefferd, Ultra Violette Skincare, an Australian sun care brand, raised AUD $15M - Co-founded by Dani Grant, Jam.dev, a browser extension that facilitates internal bug reporting, announced a $9M Series A round - Co-founded and led by Sonja Jost, DUDE CHEM, a Berlin-based chemistry company that supplies ‘greener-produced’ active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates, closed a €6.5M Seed round  - Co-founded and led by Clare Elford, Clue Software, a UK startup that provides software for investigations and intelligence management, raised €4.7M  - Co-founded by Helen Zhou, Galileo AI, a startup developing an AI tool that enables designers to transform written prompts into user interface design, raised a $4.4M Seed round  - Founded by Stina Lönnkvist and Josefin Landgard, MANTLE, a Stockholm-based skincare brand focused on clean and clinical formulations, raised £2.4M - Co-founded by Beatriz Acevedo and Mary Hernandez, Suma Wealth, a US-based fintech providing financial tools, content, and live and digital activations for young US Latinos to build wealth, raised $2.2M - Founded and led by Hannah Samano, Unfabled, a London-based startup offering a data-driven health platform that provides curated and personalized solutions for women, raised a $1.6M Seed round PE & VC News: - Founded and led by Managing Partner Stephanie Geveda, Coalesce Capital, a PE firm investing in human capital-driven and technology-enabled services companies, launched its inaugural fund and parallel vehicles, with $900M in capital commitments - Co-led by Managing Partners Annie Theriault and Donna Parr, Canada-based Cross-Border Impact Ventures closed its Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund, at over $90M https://lnkd.in/eHamqCAa