Elisabeth L'Orange

Series A Engineering: How does Dreamcraft Ventures support startups towards a successful Series A? 🚀 Find out in our Bits & Pretzels Masterclass in Munich on 30 Sep, which will be hosted by Nico, Founder Enablement Partner, and yours truly 🙌 We will cover how we invest and support portfolio companies. Using Hiber as a case study, I will talk about our collaboration with Michael and his team, and give you insights into how they raised their $15m Series A led by EQT Ventures 🤩 Nico will do a deep dive into crucial building blocks for early-stage startups. Based on his +15 years of experience from VC-backed startups like Trustpilot and Platypus, which he co-founded, Nico will provide hands-on advice for hiring, creating structural trust, retaining talent and building a performance culture 💪🔥 Are you going to Bits & Pretzels? Then join our Masterclass or reach out to myself, Nico or our colleague, Mads, if you want to meet up elsewhere! 💬 #Bits24 #venturecapital #vc #startup

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Top tips for angel investors for more international deals. From Eva Spannagl, Managing Director of Climatos. The easy part: 👉 Build connections with international investors. 👉 Reach out proactively to international teams. 👉 Use Linkedin The tough one: 👉 Define your unique value proposition for this type of founders 👉 Preach what you want to do a thousand times. Talk about what you want. And the actions will follow. What do you think? What other tips will you add to the list? Join the conversation. #venturecapital #startupinvesting #angelinvesting #europe

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Europe unfortunately is a combination of many individual capital markets, some bigger and some smaller, which is keeping the industry's growth modest and never really challenging the US. #vc #funding #startups #privatefunding #privatecapital #investmentstrategies #growth #deeptech #seed #startupcapital

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Forget VC moonshots. There’s a different model that underrepresented founders should pursue. Here's what you need to know about mittelstand businesses. “Mittelstand” is a German word typically used to describe companies focused on doing one thing well and doing it with great margins. In the world of venture capital, these companies are typically classified as lifestyle businesses that generate “only" $1-50M in annual revenue. While plenty of founders want to build big businesses with many employees listed on NASDAQ, most of us would be more than happy to build a sustainable, revenue-generating business that employs 10-50 people and has a great culture. Mittelstands are the best route. The problem is that many (not all) tech founders default to VC, which means they default to chasing VC outcomes. Defaulting instead to a mittelstand model allows founders to expand and aim higher if the opportunity presents itself. Imagine this: you raise a $2m Seed round. You grow to $1M in ARR in 2 years, but it’s a grind. You’re not growing at the high rate your VC investors want you at, but you’re profitable and have a product that your customers love. You have two options: 1. Follow traditional tech startup advice, raise more money, and try to pivot into something with more growth potential, potentially throwing away the traction that you’ve already found and setting your company up to flame out if you can’t raise more money or if the pivot doesn’t work. 2. Go the mittelstand route and grow your company sustainably to ~$5M in revenue while staying as lean as possible. Two years later, your company profits $1-2M a year, and you can exit for $20M to a big player OR keep riding the wave. Option 2 sounds pretty good to me 🤷🏾‍♂️ Venture-sized outcomes are not the only path for founders. The more we know about the different growth models for companies, the more optionality that gives to underrepresented founders looking to build something. H/t Neil Thanedar for introducing me to the idea of a mittelstand business Did you find this useful? If you did, give me a follow Toby Egbuna 💰 and/or report it to your network!

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Wondering what InstaDeep is up to since its groundbreaking acquisition by BioNTech SE? Turns out its game just got an extra nitro boost. "Combining forces with BioNTech hasn’t slowed innovation at InstaDeep. Future projects with massive human impact range from using AI for personalized cancer vaccines to “moonshot” to automate railway scheduling with Deutsche Bahn, the largest rail operator in Europe." InstaDeep is building a new office in Kigali, Rwanda to get homegrown talent to tackle problems unique to Africa like predicting locust breeding grounds using satellite data. Catch the conversation between Karim Beguir & Linda Rottenberg here: https://lnkd.in/denxYhwe #IndustrialAutomation #AI #EmergingMarkets

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Excited to share what I learned from Sandro Stark, founding partner at Vanagon Ventures backing FrontierTech from Munich/DACH 🚀 to the World at the YUVC video podcast (links in comments) 💡 Above all, Sandro is a super nice person to get along with and has a great NPS from founders 👋 Here 3 Core Takeaways ✨ 1. Vanagon’s approach to startup evaluation 👀 - Distribution capability is now the key differentiator, not just technical innovation - Customer "stickiness" and deep industry understanding - The solution must demonstrate both climate impact and profit potential 2. Why is Munich's ecosystem strategic? 🇩🇪 - Part of DACH region - third-largest market globally after China and US - Rich concentration of technical talent and corporate headquarters - Untapped potential in Mittelstand venture engagement 3. What's the philosophy behind sustainable success? 😉 - Don't postpone happiness for future achievements - True leadership creates more leaders, not followers - Consistent effort matters more than breakthrough moments Now listen in for more insights! ❤ Kudos to his great co-founders/GPs @Vanagon: Susanne Fromm Axel Roitzsch Shoutout to their amazing portfolios: Senken Particula Renoster youba The Landbanking Group LoopID heartstocks Learn.xyz ExoMatter and more

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One European City (Paris) made it to the top 15 cities by VC deal value - 🥲 One of many reason for that is the mobility of capital: 1. US capital free floats across the continent without any barriers. 2. The Delaware Inc. is the most frictionless entity (Pre-IPO) in the western hemisphere that attracts also foreign founders & VC from Europe, whole Americas and India. 3. Europe runs on 25+ legal entities, capital stays in its borders & the likelihood of getting funded from another EU country is as likely as attracting funding from a US based investor. Institutional foundations matter - let's make a change.

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🚀 Being friends with portfolio CEOs: A double-edged sword? I am friends with some of the CEOs of our portfolio companies, like Steffen Hetzel, CEO of lawpilots. Take last week, for example—nothing builds camaraderie quite like tackling a Spartan Race together. But beyond the races and friendly banter, these relationships create a unique dynamic in our professional interactions. From my experience, the benefits far outweigh the downsides. When you are friends, you understand each other's strengths, weaknesses, and motivations deeply. This leads to honest conversations about the business—no sugarcoating or "bullshit talk." Plus, being friends often means you're more aware of each other’s personal plans, enabling better alignment and smoother decision-making. However, there are also challenges. If things don't go well, separating professionally can strain or even end the friendship, making the break more complicated. Yet, this risk is often minimized when both sides maintain open, transparent communication and mutual respect. Overall, I believe the trust, understanding, and straightforward communication that come with friendship can be a significant advantage in business partnerships. And most importantly, it makes work so much more enjoyable to interact with a true friend! Have you ever navigated a friendship in business? How did it impact your decisions and outcomes? #Leadership #BusinessStrategy #Entrepreneurship #Partnerships #TrustInBusiness 

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Daniel Glazer of Wilson Sonsini for European founders Part 2 - US vs European lawyers: - Lawyer involvement is very different in the US to Europe. For example, in the US it is the norm for tech-focused law firms to assist (in the background) with term sheet review and negotiation, and with investor outreach in advance of the raise. It also is extremely common in the US for the company’s outside counsel to attend the company’s board meetings as a matter of course.   - On average, US startups use lawyers much more than European startups, largely due to the more robust litigation environment in the US. In Europe, startups often take a relatively light touch approach to using lawyers. In the US, the potential consequences of legal exposure are more severe, such that US lawyers play a “problem-avoidance” proactive advisory role in addition to a “problem-solving” reactive one. This dynamic will be relevant post flip. #founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic More at unbundled dot vc.

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If you are a founder or funder in Austin on Wednesday, November 6th, join us at Stubb's BBQ 🍖 to hear these six pitches from startups visiting from Switzerland: ​- Magnes AG offers a cutting-edge solution for monitoring walking patterns in patients with neurological disorders. Smart sensors embedded in sneakers collect data during daily activities, and AI generates reports and real-time feedback to prevent falls and freezing. ​- MYNERVA has developed a groundbreaking medical device combining AI and neurostimulation to artificially restore the sense of touch and decrease pain in patients suffering from diabetic neuropathy. ​- Authena advances supply chains with real-time technology, improving transparency, efficiency, and sustainability. Their eco-friendly IoT devices and AI analytics, developed with leading Swiss universities, offer single-unit visibility for tracking and actionable insights. ​- Auxivo AG, a Swiss exoskeleton spinoff from ETH Zurich, enhances worker safety with wearable exoskeletons that reduce physical workload and injury risk. The company has quickly established itself as a leading developer, launching multiple products in the market. ​- ORamaVR aims to transform global healthcare with advanced XR and deep learning technologies, addressing the urgent issue of inaccessible and unaffordable surgical care by modernizing outdated medical training systems. ​- Biosimo Chemicals specializes in sustainable chemical production using renewable resources and green chemistry. They combine bioprocessing with advanced catalysis to create environmentally friendly, scalable solutions. In partnership with FIESTA. https://lnkd.in/gi6q8ged

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Mid - year report from Endeavor Catalyst

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👉An interesting overview #BusinessAngels #VentureCapital #LPs #GPs #Innovation #InnovationManagement #CorporateInnovation #CorporateStrategy #DigitalTransformation #StartUps #StartusInsights #InnovaticGroup InnovaticGroup. Create the Future Now

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#Germany's Funded Startups Directory. You can view the list of startups funded in #Germany whenever you need it. Access the directory here https://lnkd.in/dc9emGbb #startup #startups #vc #venturecapital #investmentbanking #privateequity #managementconsulting #b2b #founders #entrepreneurs

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We've just launched "The State of DACH Private Equity 2024" report! After an exciting visit to see prospects, customers, and partners in Germany 🇩🇪 this week I've been reflecting on the huge opportunity for DACH HQ'd Investors and Advisors to maximise the potential of the DACH market in the coming years! 📈 This report provides an in-depth analysis of the PE landscape across the DACH region, offering insights on entries, exits, investor activity, portfolio performance and more. Key findings include: 📌 PE-backed entries in DACH have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, though deal activity remains slower compared to the Rest of Europe. Add-on activity remains robust and at a multi-year high. 📌 Exit activity in DACH has stabilized, with strategic exits accounting for half of all exits. IPO exits also seem to be coming back after a very subdued 2022. 📌 Advent International emerged as the largest global investor in DACH with an estimated EV of €18.2bn in the region, followed by Cinven (€13.3bn) and CVC (€12.7bn). 📌 Partners Group, ACP | Allianz Capital Partners, and DWS Group have emerged as the largest DACH HQ’d investors followed by Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and Bregal Unternehmerkapital . 📌 PE-owned assets in DACH show strong growth. Industrials make up the largest share of DACH PE-owned assets (+12pp vs. Rest of Europe). View the full report: https://okt.to/6ra30s

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🌟 Spotlight on Female Founders in European Venture Capital! 🌟 The latest Q1 2024 European Venture Report from Pitchbook reveals intriguing trends in VC activity, especially concerning female-founded companies. While the overall investment landscape has been challenging, the resilience and innovation of female entrepreneurs stand out. 📉 Current Trends: Deal activity for female-founded companies started slower this year, with €1.9 billion in deals, marking a 28.6% drop YoY. Despite this, the ecosystem for female-led companies is vibrant, with sectors like femtech showing promising growth. 🚀 Top Deals: The largest female-founded deal was with Everphone, securing a whopping €270 million in venture growth funding. Other notable deals include Medical Microinstruments and Razor Group in the healthcare and B2B sectors. 🔍 Looking Ahead: Female-founded exits appear more buoyant, showing a healthy exit/investment ratio, which highlights the growing investor confidence in female-led startups. With increased focus on diverse and inclusive funding, the future is promising for female founders. Let's celebrate and support the incredible achievements of female entrepreneurs in Europe. Their success is not just a win for gender diversity but a testament to the innovative spirit driving the European venture ecosystem forward. #VentureCapital #FemaleFounders #EuropeanVenture #Innovation #DiversityInTech #StartupEcosystem

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Is Germany missing out by not backing its tech champions? 🤔💭🚀 Germany is a global leader in innovation with over 1000 companies driving disruption worldwide. However, many promising startups struggle to scale internationally due to a lack of large local funding. When growth-stage companies have to look abroad for investment, it puts them at a competitive disadvantage versus overseas rivals. With limited local options, more may feel pushed to relocate rather than stay to build in Germany. While American tech companies have abundant access to both private and public investment, including VC funding and IPOs, financing for later-stage German startups tends to lag. On average, US tech companies raise significantly more money per funding round compared to their German counterparts.  📈 For example, in 2021 the average Series B round for a US startup was $35 million, whereas for a German startup, it was only $10 million. This financing gap has real consequences. With more funding, American tech scaleups can achieve stronger growth and international expansion faster—and they can also offer higher salaries to attract top talent 🔝 on a global stage. As a result, many promising German founders end up relocating to Silicon Valley to access resources and continue building at the scale required to succeed in a global market. 🌎 We believe in leading great entrepreneurial visions sustainably into the digital future—D11Z can provide a network to enable startups to have better later-stage options. So how can we inspire our own investors to back the country's burgeoning tech champions and help them scale at home? I'm interested in your thoughts on strategies to close the late-stage funding gap. #D11ZVentures #FutureOfTech #VCInsights

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This table by Antler allows to guide founders on how much to raise in their first round. You can use it to form an initial understanding, but keep in mind: 1. The numbers are German, so they’re conservative. 2. The numbers are from last year. But as a starting point for research, they are definitely useful. #Startups #Fundraising #Entrepreneurship #Founder #Traction

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