HERMESA

🎉Many congratulations to Wibke Stoffers, HERMESA CMO, for taking home the prize for Best Women Led Investment in Innovation at the UK Business Angels Association awards last night. 🎉 Wibke received this award for the extraordinary post-deal support that she has provided to the CEO of Byway, Cat Jones, over multiple investment rounds.  Although this award is specifically tied to her work on Byway, Wibke could have received the prize for the support that she provides to any (all!) of her portfolio companies.   Wibke is a tireless advocate and advisor once she invests in a company, providing demonstrable value to her portfolio of startups.  Sometimes her support is simply to be a ‘thought partner’ to CEOs as they struggle with a particular issue, but other times, Wibke rolls up her sleeves and dives in, helping her investee companies with projects  including running brand workshops, helping with go-to-market and channel/customer prioritisation, refining pitch decks and securing follow-on funding. While HERMESA celebrates this very well-deserved award for Wibke, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that HERmesa has another 200+ investors in its community who are also operators turned angels and who also provide targeted high value support to their investee companies. 💪. Adding value above and beyond capital is core to the HERmesa proposition and we are very pleased that this support has now been recognised as ‘award winning’!  Congrats again to Wibke and Cat!

Women founders need money to build their businesses - just like male founders At HERMESA, we catalyse investment into women-led startups by attracting new sources of capital: from women entrepreneurs and operators! 💸💸 If the below statistic makes you mad, get in touch at hello@hermesa.co.uk. We will help you to become an angel investor and become part of the solution. (And by the way, our investors are such high value add that founders actually ask for their advice!)

We are a community of operators-turned-angel investors and leverage our members’ expertise to screen and diligence companies. HERmesa investor Kate Cokayne-Naylor has been successfully leveraging data and insights to drive business growth and increase operational efficiency and customer centricity in her roles at Salesforce and Deloitte. Kate’s operations and growth experience made her a brilliant fit to be HERmesa’s lead angel for our recent investment in Vinterior. We spoke to Kate about her experience of the Vinterior due diligence process. Q: What impressed you about Vinterior? Vinterior has proven product market fit - the company is a leader in the pre-loved furniture space in the UK and well-positioned in Europe, with substantial revenues and a successful fundraising track record.  I was impressed with Sandrine Zhang Ferron as a founder, she is very strategic with a big vision for growth and a clear plan to achieve it and is laser-focused on key priorities. Also Vinterior is operating in a fast-growing market that is set to accelerate further with the rising demand for sustainable options and the questions over the quality of new, flat-pack and ‘fast-furniture’. Q: Is there a key highlight / insight from the due diligence process that you can share? Our diligence was focused on assessing Vinterior’s growth plans, and it was interesting to look at other marketplace businesses in the UK and internationally to help us understand Vinterior’s position and relative strengths. This process helped us build a lot of confidence in the business and in Sandrine. Q: What excites you the most about HERMESA’s investment in Vinterior? Vinterior is a later stage company than the businesses we usually invest in at HERmesa (which are at pre/seed) so it was a great chance to learn about later stage growth companies and understand the different risk profile for this investment. It is exciting to invest in a business that has been able to acquire happy customers at scale and put in place solid fundamentals for growth. And the Channel 4 investment and new TV campaign is obviously very exciting - I look forward to seeing the positive impact on brand awareness and customer demand. [Photo with Kate at far left, Sandrine in the centre surrounded by a few of the HERMESA investors who also participated in the deal!]

We are excited to announce that HERMESA recently completed an investment in the pre-loved furniture marketplace Vinterior. Having made great progress—doubling inventory, adding new product categories like contemporary second-hand furniture, press-worthy brand campaigns and improving customer experience—Vinterior has just launched an exciting new media campaign to further boost awareness. You can check it out here! https://lnkd.in/eW4cF9cW We spoke to Sandrine Zhang Ferron, Vinterior’s brilliant Founder and CEO about what the new funds will enable her to do and why she wanted HERMESA investors on her cap table. Q: What are some of the key things the funds from this round will enable you to do? This funding round is a crucial milestone, bringing us to the brink of profitability. We’re laser-focused on four key areas: technology, marketing, delivery, and seller support. - We’re enhancing our platform to offer a seamless, personalised user experience, making it easier for customers to discover and purchase unique, high-quality pieces. - Our investment in delivery logistics will ensure a smooth, reliable experience, building trust and loyalty. - On the marketing front, we’re expanding efforts to reach more design-conscious buyers and solidify Vinterior as the go-to marketplace for premium, sustainable furniture. - We’re also improving the seller experience with better tools and support, ensuring they can thrive on our platform and deliver exceptional service. This round gives us the final push we need to achieve profitability and set the stage for sustainable growth. Q: Why did you want HERmesa on your cap table? HERMESA was a natural fit for us. They bring more than just capital to the table; they offer a deep understanding of scaling digital marketplaces, especially those with a sustainability focus. Their network and experience in the consumer sector are invaluable assets as we navigate our next phase of growth. Additionally, HERmesa’s commitment to diversity and supporting women-led businesses aligns perfectly with our values. We’re thrilled to have them as partners on this journey. Q: What has been your experience working with HERmesa so far? Working with HERmesa has been a breath of fresh air. From the outset, they’ve been collaborative, incredibly supportive, and always responsive. They’ve kept us informed with frequent, transparent updates on the process and timeline, providing clear rationale and thoughtful feedback at every step. They ask the right questions, challenge us to think bigger, and offer actionable insights. It feels like a true partnership where they’re as invested in our success as we are.

It is time to meet another HERMESA Member of the Month! We are thrilled to introduce Katy Medlock. Tell us about yourself! I am a Go To Market specialist, with a background in marketing and partnerships. More recently I have run the UK market launch for three international start ups/scale ups in various sectors including circular economy, proptech and e-commerce marketplace. I am often the first woman on the ground, hiring the first team members, scaling UK operations and planning the market entry P&L. I am a New Zealander/UK dual citizen – I grew up in the UK, moved to NZ as a kid, and am back here now. Currently I am on maternity leave with my second baby. What brought you to angel investing and HERmesa? I started angel investing for three reasons:  1/ I want to vote for impact with my dollars and support start-ups that create the world I want to see  2/ I find it really exciting to watch small companies find their product market fit and flourish and angel investing offers a front row seat to this 3/ I had an appetite for the high risk/ high return profile of angel investing I learnt about stocks/shares investing via an investment club I set up with a bunch of friends back in New Zealand. We're called the 'Cash Cows' and it's a lot of fun. I wanted to learn collaboratively when it came to angel investing too, so I joined HERMESA. What I like about HERmesa is that we’re a welcoming community of smart women who are happy to share and learn together.  Can you tell us about your investment thesis and some of the companies you have invested in? To me my thesis is simply about voting for companies that improve the world my kids will grow up in, so I have invested in HERMESA portfolio companies like Compare Ethics. And I'm excited about participating in two further deals with HERmesa, due to close in October (& then I will announce them!). Outside of Hermesa I also invest in Green Angel Syndicate and individual companies I find interesting, like Tangent and How to Change the World, and support Impact Shakers. I have to believe in the founders and see a couple of proof points of really clever things they've done to find product market fit, find first customers and grow revenue. What would you say to others who are thinking about becoming angel investors? A syndicate or group is a great way to learn and to work with subject matter experts in areas you don't know enough about personally. It also gives you access to more investment opportunities.  Don't be afraid to ask ‘stupid’ questions if you're a total beginner - it is very likely others will have the same question! 

Thank you so much encourageventures e.V. for inviting HERMESA to your conference. What a great opportunity to share learnings across the ecosystem!

With the Olympics starting tonight, we thought it a fitting time to announce HERMESA’s investment earlier this year in music copyright startup ClicknClear!  ClicknClear provides a platform to officially license music for choreographed sports (people performing alongside music – think summer sports like gymnastics or synchronised swimming) As always, we had an expert investor for this deal: Marla Shapiro, HERMESA’s founder, who worked in music licensing earlier in her career. Q: Marla Shapiro: what impressed you about ClicknClear? It all started with the ClicknClear CEO Chantal Epp FRSA.  She brought a background in both choreographed sports (Team GB cheerleader) & in music licensing, which allowed her to spot a unique opportunity that no one else was exploiting.  This is truly ‘blue ocean’ territory! But beyond seeing the opportunity, Chantal has been able to execute: bringing on board both labels and publishers to the platform; which I know from first-hand experience is fiendishly difficult to achieve! Q: Marla Shapiro: What excites you about HERMESA’s investment in ClicknClear? 3 things: -  Scaleability of the platform -  Sophistication of the underlying technology: matching publishing and performing rights– this is very hard stuff to build -   The opportunity for rights owners to be fairly compensated for use of their music in choreographed sports Q: Chantal Epp FRSA: What are some of the key things the funds from this round will enable you to do?  This funding enables us to move forward with our Create Growth grant from Innovate UK to expand on our License Verification System, testing new technology to improve the system and expand its applications to new markets. Q:  Chantal Epp FRSA: Why did you want HERMESA on your cap table?  Before this round we had no female investors. We have been keen to change that and diversify our investors. It has been hard to find female angles who will invest in the creative industries and when we saw that HERmesa were on the Innovate UK investor list, we thought we’d reach out to see if we could get more female angels on board in a sector they don’t usually invest in.

Welcome to HERMESA's member of the month, Eda Leka! Q: Tell us about your background and expertise: I have a cross functional background in consumer and retail, initially building operations and brands in traditional brick and mortar settings and later in consumer tech with Amazon and HelloFresh which I joined after finishing my MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management and was part of the scale up journey for 7 years in various leadership roles. I have made 13 angel investments to date and angel investing led me towards consulting and venture partner roles with VC funds & accelerator programs (Carbon13, Pact, Techstars), leveraging my operational expertise to support early stage start-ups. Q: What brought you to angel investing and HERMESA? Having seen the struggles of a startup journey first hand, I know how much support is valued in the early days and wanted to provide that to founders. I read  a book called “Angel” written by Jason Calacanis. It gave me a practical framework on how to go about angel investing. My network led me to an MIT Angels event where I met the first company I invested in - an AI powered precision agriculture company called Deep Planet - alongside HERmesa investors. Q: Any key highlights or learnings on your angel investing journey? I have learned a lot about how to assess early stage deals. I have my frameworks but one key learning is that the founder’s personality and their degree of determination are a big success driver. So I always look for signs of that determination in their past journey and my interactions with them. Another learning is that as an angel, you can’t do it on your own unless it’s a full time job. The time commitment to review enough deals before investing in one (I would say a ratio 10:1 at least) is huge and that’s where angel syndicates can add tremendous value with deal sharing and due diligence. Q: Can you tell us about your investment thesis and some of the companies you have invested in? Coming from the consumer industry, I value tech that can disrupt markets and impact consumer behavior with an accessibility, improvement and inclusion theme. Two examples of portcos with these themes I invested in via Hermesa are Flexa and Code First Girls.  I am also looking to increase my portfolio share in climate tech further (a space where I am currently consulting). Business wise, I prefer B2B software because of scalability and good margins and revenue generating deals, just enough to give me a sense that the company has found product - market fit. Q: What would you say to others who are thinking about becoming angel investors? Get involved! Contrary to popular belief, you can engage with very small tickets and it’s a space where you can really make a difference.  It is a game of numbers so make sure you review 10 -15 times more deals than you invest in which is easier to do through angel syndicates.  Be selective, stick to your investment thesis and diversify, diversify, diversify.

HERMESA are excited to collaborate with HEC in the UK and HEC Paris - Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute to change the funding landscape for female founders. Last week, we jointly organised an empowering and inspirational female founder pitch and networking event to make new connections and build bridges.  We heard 🔥 pitches from exciting start-ups from France and the UK. Well done to the startups that presented: Anya, AUXILIA, martee ai, NomadHer, Oly Platform (Techstars 24) & Smarteem And our HERMESA sector experts were on hand to lead the investor Q&A - thank you for your insights and perspective Cherry Swayne Leila Al-Qattan Machela Sathekga Stephanie Wetmore Suzannah Steele & Wibke Stoffers Thank you Delphine Mourot - Haxaire Layina Oudrhiri Emma Cochrane Inge Kerkloh-Devif for this brilliant event. We look forward to continuing the partnership. Together, let’s change the face of entrepreneurship and investing and help secure funds for exceptional female start-ups!

Massive congratulations to HERmesa portfolio company Byway and CEO and Founder Cat Jones on raising a £5m oversubscribed Series A funding round! Byway is the first tech platform for 100% flight free holidays. Byway makes it easy to go on multi-stop, journey-based holidays that are fully personalised to the holidaymakers’ interests and take in destinations off the beaten track. We are so proud of how far Byway has come since HERmesa first invested in its pre-seed round in March 2021. Back then, we saw a hugely impressive founder in Cat Jones and a significant market opportunity in slow travel, with Byway as the first mover... but Cat was still biking tickets across town herself to ensure the on-time departure of her first customers! Fast forward 3 1/2 years and Byway has served well over 4,000 customers with a whopping 95% giving 5 star reviews. What’s more, Byway customers have saved 3,045 tonnes of carbon versus flying which is the equivalent of 18,270 trees. HERMESA investors invest for both profit and purpose and Byway is hugely delivering on both. We spoke with the brilliant Cat Jones CEO and Founder of Byway about her successful fundraise and why she wanted HERMESA investors on her cap table ... even for her over-subscribed Series A round! Q: What are some of the things that the funds from this round will enable you to do? The funds will be used to accelerate the development of Byway’s unique journey-planning technology, JourneyAI, and to fuel its expansion into new regions. Q: Why did you want HERMESA on your cap table?  HERmesa angels have been fabulously helpful since HERmesa first invested in our pre seed, lending expertise by joining advisory groups to support our leadership team and welcoming us to their events. Diversity of thought is crucial to the success of any company. Being a female founded B Corp, having a female-forward and diversity-focused investment network on our cap table is something we're hugely proud of and thankful for. HERmesa investors are very excited to continue to support Byway on its mission to make flight-free travel mainstream. And if you haven’t booked your summer holiday yet, why not have a look on https://www.byway.travel/ for a fabulous multi-stop sustainable trip to destinations off the beaten track? Olga Pantelyat Sneh Shah Emma Blackburn Deborah Gruenberger Zahra Subjally Mikko Hautanen Fei Chin Kaw Sara Tateno Reema Desai Nisha Uduwawela Dolapo Adeyemi Glenda Levin Tatyana Staneva Mandeep Gill Machela Sathekga Tammy Hongyu H. Joanna C. Hannah Grinsted Symmie Swil Stephanie Wetmore Carla F. Avila