Wayra UK

As we enter the last quarter of 2024, our goal is clear: help our portfolio companies close strong. We're brought into cap tables as a strategic investor because we have a track record of supporting companies navigating corporate structures and securing commercial opportunities. And at this time of the year, it's more important than ever. Here is how we help 💪: • Regular Check-ins: We’re increasing the frequency of check-ins with portfolio companies to ensure alignment on top priorities and challenges as we approach year-end. 📅 • Evaluate KPIs & Milestones: It's essential to identify which companies are on track 📈 and which are falling behind on key metrics like revenue, customer acquisition, or burn rate. We focus on those needing immediate support to hit their year-end targets. 🎯 • Quick Wins: For companies close to securing major deals with corporates, fundraising, or launching key products, we're providing extra support to close those deals, make those deals happen this year. 🚀 • End-of-Year Opportunities: Sometimes, budget leftovers 💰 create unexpected opportunities. We’re staying alert for these when engaging with internal stakeholders, as they can open doors for additional growth. 🚪✨ We speak to as many people as possible to source any of those open opportunities. • Next Year Positioning: The last few months are critical for corporate budgeting. Ensuring the right teams allocate budget to commercial opportunities that have been in negotiation for the last few months is crucial for closing deals 💼 and securing future growth. 🌱 • Tailored Support: Every company has unique needs—whether it’s strategic advice, talent acquisition, or capital. We’re tailoring our approach to meet the specific challenges and opportunities of each portfolio company. 🔍 🤝 What do you think? 🤔 Founders and other portfolio managers, what is most valuable to startups in these final few months of the year? Let’s ensure we finish 2024 on a high note and set the stage for an even stronger 2025! 🌟 — I’m Victoria, Head of Finance and Portfolio at Wayra UK. Always looking to improve the support we provide to our portfolio companies. 👩💼 #founders #portfolio #StartupSupport #InvestorInsights #CorporateGrowth #StrategicInvestor #2024Goals #YearEndStrategy #PortfolioManagement #wayra

It's out!! Proud to announce our recent investment in Perplexity. 🔥 We're excited to integrate Perplexity's real-time information access and this enables us to deliver immediate and accurate responses via text or voice input, enhancing customer satisfaction, engagement, and experience. Kudos to the team — looking forward to being part of more exciting AI journeys! Pablo Moro Belén Pérez Santolaria

💼✨ Closing the Year Strong: How Startups Can Leverage Q4 to Secure Corporate Deals After 5+ years in business development between startups and enterprises, I can confidently say this is the most critical time of year for securing corporate partnerships. Why? It’s the 'magical cycle' corporates follow every year—finalising budgets and strategy for this year and setting the stage for the next. Here’s how to make the most of it. 💡 How do you think you could capitalize on this crucial moment to close deals with corporates? Here are some ideas: 🔍 Strategic Alignment: Now is the perfect moment to revisit your partnerships with corporates. Ensure your goals align with theirs and look for ways to help them achieve their 2025 objectives. Start by understanding their pain points for next year—if you know your product can solve a key issue, focus on that. 📊 Push Open Conversations: If you’re already in talks with a corporate partner, this is the time to advance those discussions. Review their strategy, evaluate where they stand, and make sure your product is positioned as a solution for their upcoming challenges. It’s a perfect moment to adapt your product to their evolving needs and show why you’re the best partner for their journey. 🚀 Secure Quick Wins: Corporates are closing out this year’s budget while preparing for next year. Whether you’re finalising a deal or securing your spot in their 2025 plans, now’s the time to act. This could be the difference between ending 2024 on a high and entering 2025 with more momentum. 💡 Leverage Year-End Budgets: End-of-year budgets often leave room for last-minute opportunities. If you’re in advanced talks, find the teams with unused budgets and help them see how your product can fill an urgent need now or next year. Position yourself as a critical partner. 📆 Plan for 2025: These final months will shape how corporates view your partnership next year. Help them see how your solution can position them for growth or solve long-term problems. One year from now, they should feel like they’re in a different, better place because of your product. 🎯 Prioritize and Listen: You can't do everything—focus on the clients where you can deliver the most value. If you have internal info on a corporation’s plans, use it to your advantage and craft tailored, meaningful content that speaks directly to their needs. If not, listen closely. Don’t just sell, try to understand their needs and customise your solution to help them reach their goals. What are you focusing on as we close out the year? Let’s set the stage for an even bigger 2025! 💥 #BusinessDevelopment #CVC #Innovation #BusinessSolutions #Wayra #CorporateVentureCapital #Growth #Strategy #Tech Wayra UK Wayra

Applications closing Tuesday 15th October! I’m excited to be participating in Europe-wide Female Founder Office Hours on 7th November 2024, hosted by Playfair in collaboration with Microsoft for Startups and Carta, alongside 200 VCs from leading funds. If you’re a female founder and would like the opportunity to meet investors for pitching or mentoring, register here: https://lnkd.in/eRM9Nv-Q #officehours #femalefounders #ffoh #diversity #inclusion #founders #vc #technology

When organisations come together we can achieve so much more. Working with Crystal Palace Football Club and Shared Access has been game changing. Selhurst Park is now the first stadium in the world to offer GiveVision headsets as a permanent feature for visually impaired fans, with Shared Access' 5G network enabling both home and away supporters to use the headsets anywhere in the stadium. A special thanks to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for helping us share this exciting news. #football #innovation #innovativetech #accessibility #premierleague

Founders always have to pitch their value proposition to us. So it's only fair we do it in return What You Get When We Invest (Yes, even if you don't believe it, we’re way more fun than we look in photos!) Wayra isn’t just a fund—we’re people. When we invest in you, you get our team’s experience, support, and commitment. 💡 I’ve been at Wayra longer than anyone, and I’ve seen our culture evolve. We’re a diverse team of entrepreneurs and operators, with a shared mission: we’re here for the founders. ✨ We’ve lived both sides— we are just the right mix between entrepreneurs and corporate people to support our companies with their scaling challenges. 🌱 Young talent brings fresh optimism, while seasoned pros bring hard-earned wisdom. 🤝 We invest in what we genuinely believe in and work closely to help you grow. 👫 We care about founders as individuals, not just numbers. 📊 For those founders who value the people behind the capital—this is us. If you partner with us, you're getting more than funding—you’re getting a team that will always be in your corner. — Hi, I'm Victoria, the Head of Finance and Portfolio at Wayra UK. If we sound like the right fit, comment or reach out! #VentureCapital #VC #CVC #TechStartups #AI #Networks #Connectivity #Cloud #Sustainability #ML #Wayra #Fundraising #Founders

🚀 I'll be at Expand North Star in Dubai, and here's why:   I believe the UAE is on the verge of becoming a major global venture hub, and Expand North Star by GITEX offers a unique opportunity to explore that potential firsthand.   🌍 Why the Middle East?   While the region is still behind markets like the US and Europe in some ways, there's incredible tech here with a big gap in scaling outside the region. That’s exactly why I'm excited to meet with investors and founders—hear how they approach the same challenges with different perspectives.   The UAE is committed to innovation, from its $100B AI Investment Fund to its welcoming stance on international talent. Its non-biased position, between Europe and APAC, allows for a collaborative and globally-minded approach that’s hard to find elsewhere.   💡 Why Expand North Star?   It’s not just another EU or US-centric event. Investors and founders from all over the world come together, making it truly global. It’s a huge opportunity, but it’s all about who you meet and what you make of it.   If you are investors with the same belief, or founders looking to expand your business to Telefonica's global footprint… Let's connect!   #ExpandNorthStar #GITEX #UAE #venturecapital #globalecosystem #AI #innovation

I had rented the tiniest office space in Singapore. Man, this country was expensive. Sulma Mahdiyah would put SIM cards in boxes. Sometimes I would find her sitting on the floor and organizing next day's delivery with boxes around her at 1am. Go home! I would beg her🙂 Ali Ozdemir, my dad then would stack those SIM cards in his backpack and walk around the ports of Singapore. Under scorching heat. At the age of 60. He had come to Singapore to make sure I was not lost. To make sure I felt supported❤️ We were all trying to survive the pressure of Singapore. I had the honor of working with the two most selfless human beings I know. That small business - Sim4crew - put food on the table for a lot of people. It led me to the idea of Airalo. I'm forever grateful for it. We kept thousands of seafarers connected for years. And today we are shutting down Sim4crew - The Global Mobile Operator for Seafarers. Goodbye my lover. Goodbye my friend. You have been the one. You have been the one for me😊 To all maritime folks that supported us during Sim4crew journey, we'd love to keep you connected with Airalo. I promise you'll enjoy the convenience of eSIMs💪

We live in a world where vulnerability is something we hide—from our bosses, investors, and even family and friends. We mask it by trying to control everything—creating detailed roadmaps, strategies, sales funnels, and even timetables for exercise 🏋️♀️ or diets 🥗. We measure, we analyse 📊, we aim for perfection, thinking that control equals success. But here’s the truth: we are not machines 🤖. We are human beings—imperfect, vulnerable, and living in an unpredictable world 🌍. And that’s OKAY. Acknowledging vulnerability doesn’t mean moving away from structure or giving up on improvement. We should absolutely measure and analyse why business processes, or personal goals, may be falling short. But we must also remember that imperfection and vulnerability are part of the human experience—they don’t diminish our worth, in fact, they enhance it ✨. If someone tells me their business, career, or marriage is "perfect," I see it as a red flag 🚩. There’s always room for growth 🌱. The first step to making real impact is admitting that we are imperfect—and working from there. To my children 👧👦, and to all the founders I have the pleasure to work with: You don’t need to be perfect. Your vulnerabilities are what make you unique and capable of great things 💪. And for what it’s worth—I’m far more imperfect than you, and I’m not ashamed to say it 😊. Thanks Martina Klingvall for sharing this amazing talk - Final piece of advice, watch it!! #founders #resilience #investment #wayra

For the CVC network, let's not shy away from understanding why some startups are hesitant to engage with us... 😬   Here are the most common challenges I’ve encountered:   1️⃣ Strategic Conflicts Questions like “Can I still work with other telecoms if Wayra invests?” or “Will Telefónica deprioritize our partnership if their goals shift?” frequently arise.    The nature of the telecom CVCs is more collaborative than competitive. We have many portcos with other telecom CVCs on the same cap table, which strengthens their growth potential. ( See Airalo and many others )   While we can’t guarantee full alignment with Telefónica’s shifting goals, we outline what we can deliver and help portcos navigate both wins and losses with our BUs. We even encourage referral calls between founders and our existing portcos before investment. 📞 2️⃣ Loss of Independence Control terms vary depending on the strategic assets the CVCs planed to deploy. Taking a board or observer seat is standard across the industry—it ensures alignment between corporate investors and startups.    At Wayra, we don’t take board or observer seats. But still, we assess investments based on the strategic assets we can provide. The extent of corporate involvement is always an essential part of our decision-making process. 🎯   3️⃣ Exit Restrictions Exit restrictions, like exclusive acquisition rights, can be tough for founders but are uncommon unless the CVC leads the round. Most of us, including Wayra, are follow-on investors. Check a CVC’s past exits to get a sense of their M&A intentions. 💼   4️⃣ Information Sharing Startups are often wary of how CVCs tied to large corporations handle sensitive data. Rather than signing NDAs, we tend to be more comfortable being transparent with founders about which teams will receive information.    Looping in internal teams early helps us quickly validate deals and gives startups more exposure across our BUs. Building trust is key, and investors play a crucial role in controlling the extent of information shared to make quick decisions while keeping sensitive details (i.e. investment memos) confidential to the CVC itself. 📝🤝   5️⃣ Longer Process Speed matters to startups—and to us.   CVCs may have longer validation processes due to corporate structures, but we set expectations from the start. Engaging founders early and outlining clear timelines and milestones for capital deployment before the actual fundraising is critical for smooth collaboration and decision-making. 📆 If you're in the venture ecosystem and have ever come across the above challenges or concerns, let's connect and drop me a message!   #VentureCapital #CVC #Startups #Investment #StrategicCapital