European Women in VC

The 2024 European Investment Fund (EIF) & Invest Europe VC Survey 🗝️ key findings: 🔹 Top 3 Challenges for VCs: Exit environment (with 20% identifying it as a top concern), Fundraising (16%), Lack of sufficient private domestic LPs (13%) 🔹 Fundraising & Exit Environment: Despite difficulties, there is an optimistic outlook for fundraising & exit environment in the next 12 months. Exit challenges persist - 65% responders marked Insufficient liquidity in the IPO market and and 62% underdeveloped M&A market as a challenge in the exit environment. Other top challenges are: Too few large-ticket buyers (56%), finding potential buyers (51%), and Insufficient market infrastructure for IPOs in the EU (48%). 🔹 Portfolio Companies: Securing financing has remained the key challenge for VCs' portfolio companies (42%). Other top challenges are: Customer acquisition and retention (21%), and recruiting high quality professionals (13%). 🔹 Al, Biotech, and Energy/Climate are perceived as the most promising sectors for investment over the next 3-5 years. 🔹 Female representation in investment decision bodies is still low. 4 in 10 VCs report no female partners at all in their respective firms. In only 22% of the VC teams, female partners make up at least one-third of the total (some slow progress is observed compared to previous years.) 1 in 5 VCs report no female representation at all in the senior investment team of their firm with the percentage increasing to 1 in 3 VCs when it comes to female representation in the investment committee (no progress is observed vis-a-vis last year’s survey results).

🎙️ Check out EUVC recent podcast episode featuring Charlotte Palmer, Vice President at Integra Global Advisors! 🚀 Integra is a €700 million fund with headquartered in the US. They're targeting early stage and emerging managers in the US, Latin America, EU and Israel. They're vertically agnostic and they've done some notable investments including Prular, Fly and Retail (EU). In this episode, Charlotte shares her experience transitioning to Integra, reflecting on her role as a global LP investing in European venture, and share thoughts on fundraising for impact VCs in Europe and the US. 🔗 Link in the comments cc: Andreas Munk Holm

On Monday, Alice Tealdi attended Missing Middle reception in 🇬🇧 London - the launch of Smart Society Ventures research, addressing the gender gap in the late-stage VC. Alice represented European Women in VC by participating in a panel discussion alongside: Debbie Wosskow, OBE - Co-Chair, Invest in Invest in Women Taskforce Brynne Kennedy - Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Smart Society Ventures Alex Seddon - Head of Impact & Private Equity, M&G Investments Mike Turner - Partner, Latham & Watkins. We are thrilled to partner with such initiatives. Congratulations! cc: Isabel Runge 🔗 You can download the white paper in the comments.

First-ever Kauffman Fellows Fund Returners Index, recognizing top VCs driving global innovation and unicorn success. Awesome to see talented women highlighted on the list! 🔥 Miriam Rivera, Ulu Ventures Helen Pei-Hua Wong, AC Ventures SC Moatti, Mighty Capital Rosa L. McCormick, Wild Basin Investments Karen Kerr, Exposition Ventures Anna Brady-Estevez, National Science Foundation (NSF) Jenny Fielding, Everywhere Ventures Congratulations! 🚀

Nordic-Dutch climate-tech startup Paebbl, founded by Andreas Saari, Jane Walerud, Pol Knops and Marta Sjögren has raised $25M USD in a Series A funding round! 🌏 The company turns captured CO2 into permanent carbon-storing materials. The funding will help the company build a sustainable value chain for CO2 storage, positioning the construction industry as a key player in mitigating climate change. 💥The funding round was led by Capnamic, with support from new investors including Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Holcim Holcim MAQER Ventures, Aurum Impact, and existing co-investors 2050, Pale blue dot, and the The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. Congratulations! 👏 cc: Marie, Sébastien, Nollaig, Phoebe, Christian, Arnold, Stefan, Nomcebo, Marijn, Matthew, Luiz, Frederic, Ana, George, Toon, Mónica, Alexandra, Marjorie, Adelheid, Julia, Miki, Marie, Heidi

🚀 Everything European Founders Need to Know & More to Scale Beyond Seed. XAnge has recently launched the Series A Blueprint, a comprehensive 171-page guide tailored for Europe’s most ambitious seed-stage founders. Here’s what you’ll discover: ➡️ Overcoming challenges as a first-time leader, building your executive team, and meeting Series A expectations. ➡️ Proven strategies for hiring, talent acquisition, and fostering inclusive recruitment, all critical for scaling. ➡️ Expert guidance on hiring finance leaders, improving financial reporting, fundraising, and managing investor relations. Plus, the CEO’s crucial role in fundraising and equity compensation. ➡️ Effective sales strategies, crafting a playbook, and leveraging AI in sales ops, with real-world case studies for context. And much more! 🔥 Congratulations to the incredible team behind this! 🔗 Link to in the comments. cc: Pauline, David, Pierre, Alexis, Valerie, Agathe, Antoine, Jerome, Clementine, Myriam, Nuria, Andreas, Cyril, Elisa, Guilhem, Albane, Alexis, Marie, Marie, Martin, Anna, Simone, Nima, Malte, Marc, Daniel, 😁 Erwän, Liron, Nadja, Julie

"Over the past decade, women have remained ambitious and committed to their jobs. Now, we need companies to stay ambitious and committed to the important work they have started." Reflecting on the 2024 Women in the Workplace report by McKinsey & Company we see the landscape of corporate America. 💼 Although women's representation has increased at all levels (e.g., C-suite positions rose from 17% in 2015 to 29% in 2024), progress remains fragile, particularly for women of color. 🤝 Women are less likely than men to be hired into entry-level roles and to receive their first promotion to manager, perpetuating gender disparities throughout the corporate hierarchy. 🧑🧑🧒🧒 Companies have made strides in supporting parents and caregivers but have scaled back programs aimed at advancing women, with fewer organizations prioritizing gender and racial diversity. 📍Less than half of women feel they receive adequate support from their managers for career advancement, with women of color receiving even less assistance. 🔮 What about the future? Current projections suggest it will take nearly 50 years for women of color to achieve parity in senior leadership roles, while White women may reach parity in about 22 years. To reach that, the next phase of work will require a bigger playbook. 🔗 Full report in the comment. cc: Alexis, Lareina, Emily, Megan, Hannah

🚀 First Closing of €31M! Gründerfonds Ruhr is kicking off its second fund generation with the first closing of #GründerfondsRuhrII with an initial fund volume of €31M. 🔥 The fund aim to provide financial and strategic support to startups from the Ruhr region and beyond! 🔑 Key highlights: - Target: €50M by 2025 - Extended Reach: investing up to 25% of its capital in startups nationwide. - Partners: NRW.BANK along with NATIONAL-BANK AG, RAG-Stiftung, Brost-Stiftung, Evonik, Helaba, KÖTTER Security and in collaboration with Initiativkreis Ruhr. - Focus Areas: innovative, technology-orientated companies with strong growth potential, particularly in the fields of chemicals and new materials, energy and industry, life sciences and healthcare, logistics and the digital economy. 🔥 Congratulations to the team! Ann-Christin Kortenbrede and Jan Graefe leading the way! cc: Dirk, Johanna, Thorsten, Maurice, Massi, Lara

Getting acquired is hard. Just look at the % of stratups! Thanks Zoe Chambers for outlining these important points on exits !

Picture a startup founder: What do they look like? We often imagine young individuals in their 20s, but the reality is quite different. According to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation report: ➡️ Typical founders are around 40 years old, with 60% being parents. Their primary motivations include building wealth (75%), creating their own businesses (64%), and seizing unique opportunities (68%). “Most founders and funders are parents. This is not an industry of only early 20-somethings with no families. If a founder happens to be a parent, we know they may view the world differently. We discuss how being a parent relates to their company goals, vision, and motivation.” 💬 This quote comes from Maxine Kozler, Co-Managing Director of LDR Ventures , a female-led venture capital firm that aims to shift perceptions of startup founders, highlighting that parent entrepreneurs can be highly successful. 📍Recognizing the diverse backgrounds and motivations of founders it's crucial and helps us understand today’s entrepreneurial landscape. The firm believes parents are particularly well-suited to drive impactful change in industries that shape the future, including the challenging U.S. childcare sector. cc: Christine, Drew