Index Ventures

Dylan Field’s journey in tech began early. As a kid growing up in Sonoma, he was obsessed with math and computers. He saw that building something from scratch wasn’t just a possibility but a viable career path. In college, he met his co-founder Evan Wallace, and they began exploring the potential of WebGL to revolutionize creative tools. Dylan took a leap and started Figma before he had even graduated. Dylan’s approach to leadership has evolved alongside his company. From his early days of learning management on the fly, to building a global design community, he’s always prioritized trust and empowerment. His success is a combination of both parents’ influence — his mom’s care for others, his dad’s deep curiosity — and his own drive to create something meaningful, no matter the risks. Explore more perspectives from our founders at indexventures.com

For Europe’s tech ecosystem to thrive, its startups must be able to attract and retain the best talent by offering employees a share in the success 🇪🇺 That’s why, in 2019, Index Ventures launched Not Optional alongside 500 European startup founders and CEOs to campaign for stock option policy reform across the continent. After five years of campaigning, we’ve seen: 🎯 Policy reforms across 11 European countries 🏆 7 European countries with stock option policies that exceed or match that of the US 💸 €5bn in equity transferred to startup employees 📈 Employee ownership at late-stage startups increase from 12% to 16%📋 Stock options taken up as an EU priority With European competitiveness in the spotlight, today Not Optional has released the latest country rankings with a call for pan-European alignment on stock options and startup policies 👇 🙏 Thank you to the Not Optional's many supporters over the years including Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve at Alan, John Collison at Stripe, Hanno Renner at Personio, Ilkka Paananen at Supercell, Eléonore Crespo at Pigment, Sebastian Siemiatkowski at Klarna, Nicolas Brusson at BlaBlaCar, Daniel Dines at UiPath, Taavet Hinrikus at Wise, Martin Mignot and Neil Rimer at Index Ventures, Andrei Brasoveanu at Accel, Bernard Liautaud at Balderton Capital, Niklas Zennström at Atomico, Saul Klein and Suzanne Ashman Blair at LocalGlobe, Ophelia Brown at Blossom Capital, Gloria Baeuerlein at Puzzle Ventures, Reshma Sohoni and Tom Wilson at Seedcamp, Staffan Helgesson and Fredrik Cassel  at Creandum, The EU Inc Petition and hundreds of others who signed letters, joined meetings with policymakers and pushed for better stock option policies locally and at EU level. notoptional.eu #notoptional

Excited to be heading to TechCrunch Disrupt next week for a few sessions! According to a 2024 Microsoft Study, 75% of knowledge workers use Generative AI on the job. Even in industries traditionally more hesitant, or even resistant, to adopting new technologies, we're seeing increased rates of tech exploration and adoption. What created space for this shift to happen? I’ll be kicking off the week leading a discussion this topic, as well as the future of high-growth tech with DraftWise James Ding and Vizcom Jordan Taylor, who each bring such fresh perspectives to AI applications today. Stop by the Breakout Stage on Monday at 10.30AM PT to listen in!

Congratulations to the Bridge and Stripe teams on their exciting partnership! Chris Ahn's early-morning flight (and his eye for a talented team) marked one of many steps in starting a thrilling journey. https://lnkd.in/dHcGMEWt 

At the Make with Notion conference on Thursday, the company’s co-founder Akshay Kothari will be on stage with Dylan Field, co-founder of Figma. Notion and Figma are two Index-backed companies that have placed community and creativity at the heart of their products, so we’re really excited to see what comes out of the conversation. Ahead of the conference, here’s Akshay telling us how Notion has nurtured its “community of builders”

ServiceTitan announced a number of new AI solutions at #Pantheon2024, to transform how contractors and technicians operate. This included the debut of SalesPro, powered by Siro, an AI-powered tool designed specifically for the trades. SalesPro helps technicians boost their sales skills by analyzing their customer interactions and offering coaching—turning them into sales pros in no time! 💪✨ Check out what you may have missed at Pantheon: https://lnkd.in/dfiNyqbQ And more about this ServiceTitan 🤝 Siro partnership, two companies we're proud to invest in: https://lnkd.in/eY2AV9Yc

Consumer demands are evolving faster than ever. For manufacturers, this puts a huge strain on R&D and procurement teams to build agile supply chains. Across consumer brands and industrial giants alike, teams are racing to act quickly to find the right suppliers to stock shelves on time and ship new products. For many, sourcing the raw materials necessary for popular products can be costly, complex and slow without the right help. Valdera is the AI-driven raw materials sourcing platform that’s transforming the supply chain for top beauty brands, industrial powerhouses and Fortune 500 companies. Here’s why we’re excited to lead its $15M Series A funding to support the company’s continued growth: 🧪 Chemicals alone are a $5 trillion industry. With a rapidly-evolving supply chain, traditional sourcing methods are no longer sufficient for many manufacturers. Valdera’s AI-powered platform is bringing a faster, sustainable, affordable and resilient tool in the hands of some of the world’s biggest brands. 🔨 Founded by siblings Sruti A. and Dheev Arulmani, Valdera’s platform combines proprietary AI & ML technology with real-time market data, making it the most extensive database of chemical and raw material suppliers. 🤝 Valdera’s platform has already delivered impressive value for its customers, shortening launch timelines by 30-40% and achieving an average cost savings of 14%. 👥 Index Partner Georgia Stevenson notes, “Sruti and Dheev are approaching this problem with a fresh perspective and deep empathy for customers.” Watch to learn more about Valdera and our investment:

📊✨Are you scaling your team from 0 to 1000? If so, have your say here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gfKUHAB8 We’ve teamed up with Slush to launch our Scaling Through Chaos survey! 🌱 Share your insights and you’ll be entered into a draw to win: 🎟️ a ticket to Slush or 📚 A copy of Scaling Through Chaos! 🎤📣💫Results will be revealed at Slush!

From his days building Adallom to steering Wiz to new heights, it’s been an honor to be part of Assaf Rappaport’s entrepreneurial journey. Congratulations, Assaf, on joining the TIME100 Next 2024 list! Read more on this one-of-a-kind founder. https://lnkd.in/dfcPEzRV

What does Scaling Through Chaos look like at +$10bn companies? We go behind the scenes with Notion's Akshay Kothari, Revolut's Antoine Le Nel and Wiz's Roy R. to explore 🏗️ Notion empowering its global community to build with AI 🚀 Wiz’s lightning journey over 4.5 years to $500m in ARR 💸 Revolut’s distinct culture, and why execution is everything