DN Capital

𝟮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 | 𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗡 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 In July, the 2hearts Angels Collective hosted a dinner with Lucas Schaubel, Ragnar Jongen, and Gülsah Wilke from DN Capital. The 2hearts Angels Collective is on a mission to build the most diverse investing community in Europe, focusing on culturally diverse founder teams. This mission involves building a talented investor community, attracting exceptional migrant founders, and actively investing in overlooked high-potential ventures. The data speaks volumes: 💡 70% of unicorns in the US and UK have founders who are immigrants, women, or people of color. 💡 In Germany, 60% of unicorns include migrant founders. 💡 Interestingly, migrant founders are also often more ambitious and resilient than their non-migrant peers. 💡 However, it remains relatively more challenging for migrants to become founders and secure funding. To overcome this, we are very grateful to have the support from and collaborate with leading investors like DN Capital who are committed to actively shaping tomorrow's success stories that reflect the richness of our society. 🙏 A heartfelt thank you to DN Capital who made the dinner possible and all 20 angels who joined us. For more information about the 2hearts Angels Collective, please reach out to Selma Meryem Peters, Richy Ugwu, or Tolgay Azman. More about DN Capital: DN Capital is a leading European early stage venture capital firm with operations in London, Berlin and Silicon Valley. The firm focuses on Series A investments in software, fintech, marketplace and consumer internet. DN Capital’s mission is to support entrepreneurs in creating global category leaders. DN was an early backer in global category leading unicorn companies such as Auto1, Shazam, Endeca, Incode, Go Student, Job and Talent, Mister Spex, Hometogo, OLX, Remitly, Quandoo and Yassir. #venturecapital #diversity #migrantfounders #europe #collaboration #unicorn

DN Capital is proud to have supported the first ever 2hearts Angels Dinner! 2hearts is a business community for individuals working in tech with migrant or underrepresented backgrounds, co-founded by DN partner, Gülsah Wilke. It’s on a mission to build the most diverse investment community in Europe, and as part of this recently held its first ever Angels Dinner in Berlin to bring together more than 20 angel investors, sharing experiences and perspectives on supporting diverse founders and investors. Thank you to everyone who participated, we’re looking forward to the next iterations and to continue supporting the work of 2hearts! #VC #Diversity #Inclusion

AI in financial services: what’s next? One of our partners, Guy Ward Thomas, shared his thoughts last week in National Technology News on the transformative impact of AI in the financial services industry. In the article Guy outlines how: Generative AI is ushering in a new era for financial institutions, revolutionising everything from investment strategies to customer service. However, these advancements are bringing significant challenges, particularly in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of AI models in critical areas like fraud detection and compliance. The evolving regulatory landscape, especially with the EU's new AI Act, is adding further complexity. At DN Capital, we know that navigating these complexities requires a careful and considered approach. That is why we are committed to investing in technologies that not only drive innovation but also uphold the highest standards of accuracy, transparency, and ethical responsibility. Read Guy’s thoughts in far greater detail, here: https://lnkd.in/ekkvkswa #AI #VentureCapital #GenerativeAI

Congratulations to the Numa team on their acquisition of Native Places, marking their expansion into the UK! Numa is a hospitality startup that is blending technology and taste to provide better hotel experiences across Europe, and this acquisition is a significant milestone for the team who DN Capital first backed at Series B in 2021. Native Places has a portfolio of memorable properties in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond, backed by a strong brand and a capable team who had the vision to create a category leader in UK travel. We’re looking forward to supporting the Numa team led by Christian Gaiser, Dimitri Chandogin and Gerhard Maringer as they expand in the UK! #VC #Numa

🌪 „Frischer Wind: Emerging Manager für den VC-Markt“ war der Titel unserer zweiten #VCAcademy in diesem Jahr. Mit der im Jahr 2022 ins Leben gerufene Veranstaltungsreihe haben wir einen Ort geschaffen, um aktuelle Trends im #VC-Ökosystem zu beleuchten und Raum für #Networking zu ermöglichen. 📢 Mehr als 60 Gäste waren am Mittwochabend in die KfW-Niederlassung Berlin gekommen, um die Impulse und Erfahrungen von Expertinnen und Experten aus der Politik, vom BVK Bundesverband Beteiligungskapital und Startup-Verband, von Fund-of-Funds-Managern und last but not least #EmergingManagern zu hören und mitzudiskutieren. Übereinstimmung aller: Zur Stärkung des VC-Ökosystems benötigen wir mehr #Diversität und Emerging Manager, die häufig mit #DeepTech-Fokus in den VC-Markt streben. Sie tragen dazu bei, dass #Startups und innovative #Technologieunternehmen besseren Zugang zu Kapital erhalten. 💙 Herzlichen Dank an unsere Speaker: Dr. Franziska Brantner, Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin im Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, Zoé Fabian, Vorstandsmitglied Startup-Verband und General Partner Noteus Partners, Ulrike Hinrichs, Geschäftsführendes Vorstandsmitglied des BVK Bundesverband Beteiligungskapital, Joe Schorge, Founder & Managing Partner Isomer Capital, Mark Schmitz, CEO und Managing Partner equation, Maximilian A. Schwarz , General Partner Nucleus Capital, und Gülsah Wilke, Partner und Head of German Office DN Capital und Gründerin 2HEARTS – und von KfW Capital Geschäftsführer Alexander Thees. Die Moderationen übernahmen KfW Capital-Investmentmanager Sebastián Harlander und Pressesprecherin Sonja Höpfner. 🚀 Alle KfW Capital-VC-Academy-Interessierte aufgepasst: Die nächste Veranstaltung findet am Mittwoch, den 11.9.2024, statt, das Thema: „Privates und staatliches Kapital – gemeinsam das VC-Ökosystem stärken!“ Weitere Informationen zu KfW Capital und zu unserer VC-Academy finden sich auf unserer Website und werden hier auf LinkedIn kommuniziert! #kfwcapital KfW © Bilder: Thomas Meyer

💡 VC event in Berlin On July 3rd DN Capital partner and head of our Germany office Gülsah Wilke will be joining a panel of experts convened from across Germany’s VC and investing landscape by KfW Capital , to discuss fostering a diverse VC ecosystem, and how this can support innovative start-ups – particularly those with diverse founding teams. Get the full details and sign up via the post below 👇 #VC #DiversityAndInclusion #Germany

DN Capital was honoured to be part of the Ukraine Tech Summit, which took place earlier in June in London. The Summit brought together Ukrainian and global tech leaders, investors, and government officials to catalyse the revitalisation of Ukraine's tech sector, facilitate global expansion, and encourage international cooperation. The summit featured high-level content and insightful discussions from prominent figures including Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation Oleksandr Bornyakov, current and former UK policymakers Alex Sobel MP and Jonathan Djanogly, TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher ✍️, and members of Ukraine’s tech and VC ecosystem. The programme included panels on governance and support, investing in Ukrainian innovative businesses, and the Ukrainian business ecosystem in 2024, along with a startup pitching stage and networking reception. Financial inclusion and supporting migrant-led businesses are core to our mission at DN Capital. We will continue to support entrepreneurs and work to foster positive change across borders. Thank you to all the attendees, speakers, and organisers for their hard work in making the event such a success. #VC Steven Schlenker

How does a start-up take that first step from concept to reality? Often it’s a result of good fortune, timing, and the right people in the right place at the right time. One of those right places is Stanford University, which has for decades taken a singular approach to teaching and supporting entrepreneurs – and it’s where DN Capital operates our Palo Alto office, putting us at the heart of where so many good ideas are brought to life. A great example of this is the story behind AI company Sanas, which leverages its technology to radically improve customer service interactions through real-time accent translation. It was at a presentation at Stanford where co-founders Maxim Serebryakov and Shawn Zhang met DN co-founder Steven Schlenker, who invested in their seed round, introduced the founders to other investors, and connected them with other entrepreneurs. For a great account of the beginnings of Sanas and many other great firms at Stanford, check out the piece here: https://lnkd.in/eVfGnYax #VC #SeedFunding #Startups

📢 Exciting news from our portfolio company Hometree ! Hometree, the UK leader in home decarbonisation, has secured a £250m debt facility from Barclays to finance more than 28,000 residential solar panel systems, batteries and heat pumps across the UK over the next two years – the first residential renewables securitisation in the UK. Hometree is a home energy services platform on a mission to accelerate the decarbonisation of homes, providing insurance, maintenance and finance for sustainable energy solutions such as heat pumps and solar panels. The DN Capital team led by Guy Ward Thomas first backed the business in 2017, before its Series A. The securitisation model has proven highly effective in the US in providing the financing residents need to install renewable energy solutions in their homes, driving the uptake in these technologies. We’re looking forward to working with the team on their continued journey to improve sustainability in the UK by making it easier for residents to install renewable energy systems in their own homes. Congratulations to Simon Phelan, David MacLean the rest of the Hometree team! You can read more details in the Financial Times piece 👉 https://lnkd.in/eSNGsuR8

Our portfolio company Cognigy, an enterprise AI platform that streamlines and automates customer service interactions, announced earlier this week it has raised $100m in its Series C. It’s a major milestone for the company and for Europe’s AI sector. To unpack the announcement and share some more detail about how DN Capital has worked with co-founders Benjamin Mayr, Philipp Heltewig and Sascha Poggemann since our first investment at Series A in 2019, we’ve written a short blog about the company’s growth trajectory and how the DN team led by Guy Ward Thomas and Steven Schlenker have helped them along the way 👇 #VC #AI #Cognigy #DNCapital