Erik Lindblad

Very proud to announce emma Ventures’ first Direct Venture Secondaries deal! 🚀   Great to combine our vast experience in the Secondaries space with our activity in Venture Capital and to create a win-win situation for the company, the seller and emma Ventures as the buyer! 🤝   Venture Secondaries are on the rise – at a time when companies are staying private for longer, investors increasingly embrace the Secondaries markets as a practical third option to liquidity where they are able to control the timing of their exit, unlike in a traditional IPO or M&A. ↗️   By purchasing from early shareholders seeking liquidity, Secondaries buyers can acquire stakes in potentially high-growth companies at reduced risk and an attractive pricing - thereby supporting the company as long-term partner in the next phase of growth. ⚙️

39

4 kommentarer

Dear Community, if you like to read what are the trends of 2025+, below a good summary article. Two of the trends, are below. At the InnoQube Batch 1, we had a startup from of each. If you are an investor or company, these are two technologies you can't escape. Trend #5 is like in the past mobile Apps. Every company will have one! Check this company www.grizoon.com (Swiss) , which can make AI Avatars with your own face! or this company https://workkiai.com/ (Finland) that has amazing technology. So, my dear European friends, take your Checkbook out and Invest! you want to get in early. Companies: embrace these technologies and don't wait to be the last. DM if you like their contacts Trend #5 AI Avatars: Simulate human interaction across channels Trend #6 Deepfake Defense: Counter AI-powered attacks https://lnkd.in/gsMdRsjt InnoQube Switzerland Bündner Stiftung INNOZET Canton of Graubünden

47

7 kommentarer

🌱 From seed to unicorn: The strategic funding roadmap nobody talks about 🦄 Remember when Spotify was just a small Swedish startup? Their journey from early-stage VC funding to global music streaming giant wasn't just luck—it was strategic funding done right. We've distilled the key lessons from companies that mastered the art of strategic funding into one simple guide. Swipe to learn: • The 3-step funding progression • Common pitfalls to avoid • How to align funding with your vision Tag a founder who needs to see this 👇 #StartupFunding #VentureCapital Read the full article on our website: https://lnkd.in/ecTV_dVG Madalina Lavinia Preda Dr George Shelton Sabine VanderLinden

6

2 kommentarer

𝗠𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 $𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘆𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 Starting YOU MAWO has been a rollercoaster ride! From spotting a gap in the market to using top-notch tech to make personalized eyewear, it’s been all about turning ideas into reality. How It All Started: 🔑 Innovation is Key: To stay ahead, we gotta think outside the box and use new tech to our advantage. ❤️ Customers Come First: Understanding what our customers want and giving it to them sets us apart and keeps them coming back. 📈 Smart Growth Strategy: We need a plan that works and that is adaptive to the changing needs. Flexibility is key in a fast-moving market. Looking Forward: We’re all about pushing boundaries and making our eyewear game even better while staying eco-friendly. The future's bright for bold entrepreneurs who chase their dreams! What challenges have you turned into wins on your own entrepreneurial journey? #innovation #startup #eyewear #apple #amazon #meta #luxottica #lvmh #zeiss

78

6 kommentarer

Made With Intent Seed round 🚀 I'm so happy to finally be able to share that Intent has raised £1.5m led by our new friends at Mercuri, with participation from Portfolio Ventures and, of course, us! 😀 Haatch was founded by ex-retailers who have lived and breathed the pain Intent aims to eradicate. Currently, the way e-commerce communicates with their customers is nothing short of inappropriate. Generic tools built solely for pushing people to checkout reduces store visitors to data points, so you easily forget that on the other side of the screen is a real human being. These solutions are designed for everyone, yet serve only the few. Introducing Made With Intent.... allowing eCommerce to move from this digital directness to something more personal by focusing on their customers and their intent. By predicting where people are in their purchase journey and treating them accordingly. 📈 🎉 --- #madewithintent #intent #seed #venturecapital #team

26

6 kommentarer

Want to build a successful, sustainable company? These are the kinds of milestones you should set: Land X paying customers Increase revenue by Y% Become profitable Reach $Z ARR Instead, too many startups set their milestones based on getting from one funding round to the next. You'll probably have to raise outside capital at some point to achieve those operational milestones. But raising that capital shouldn't be your end goal. You don't need to run on the VC hamster wheel!

33

2 kommentarer

A fascinating keynote this morning at Slush #Helsinki by Itxaso Araque - Head of GTM at Google on the impact of AI on enterprises. With over 80% of corporates reporting an annual #revenue uptick north of 6%, and considering that over 70% realised returns in the first year of #adoption, there is only one way to go from here — upwards. This not only showcases the ongoing monetary impact of #GenAI adoption on #EMEA #B2B #enterprises, at least from Google's perspective in this case, it also uncovers how tailored #AIAgent enabled solutions are destined to revolutionise the workplace of tomorrow. We are about to witness a perpetual 'change' not only in the tools we leverage at the enterprise level, but also in the skillsets that corporates will look for in the workforces of tomorrow. There will be standard attributes regardless of the type of outcomes needed across departments. Yesterday's skillsets will soon become outdated and will no longer fit the dynamic future that we are headed into. In my view, this will pave way for a 'fresh' category in training and development over the next 3-5 years. One that will become imperative for us all to adapt and thrive, globally. #AI #AIAgents #Google #Slush #EMEA #GenAI #Helsinki #AICapital #B2B #Enterprises

38

What are the opportunities to invest in Frontier tech 🤔 Very much looking forward to discussing this very topic during our LP dinner at Slush with BACKED VC & Google Theres no argument that Web 2, with companies like Meta, Monzo, and Uber, has played a pivotal role in shaping the internet. It also attracted more venture capital and funding, exists, into what is now one of the most dynamic and exciting spaces (bias aside). However, what got investors here won’t get them there. Regardless of where you stand on the decentralised vs centralised debate (open vs closed systems), no one can deny the power of crypto ecosystems to reimagine industries. The journey may have started with finance—Bitcoin creating "digital gold"—which paved the way for stablecoins (see bridge.xyz acquired by stripe for 1.1bn announced just last week), offering a superior alternative for cross-border payments. Much has happened in between, but as predicted, two technologies are now converging. Web3 infrastructure can solve some of AI’s most pressing challenges towards, data, cost of compute or even verification. If this all sounds interesting to you then DM me for more information or to chat.

24

That damn product-market-fit - and what we do about it at KRING 👊 Building a startup is hard. Period. And the reasons for that are not sensational. We all know that getting product-market fit, go-to-market and the team right requires a lot of work. The top 4 reasons for startup failure are: 🧩 Poor Product-Market Fit (34%): This figure highlights the significant impact of misalignment between a startup's offering and the needs of its target audience. Without a deep understanding of your market and a product that resonates with customers, success becomes elusive.    🚀 Wrong Go-To-Market Strategy (22%): Even if you have a great product, how you bring it to market matters. A misstep in your go-to-market strategy can lead to missed opportunities, wasted resources, and ultimately, failure to capture market share effectively. 🦸🏽‍♀️Team Issues (18%): Building a successful startup requires a cohesive and talented team. Team dynamics, leadership challenges, and skill gaps can all hinder progress and contribute to startup failure.    💸 Fundraising and Cash Flow Problems (16%): Running out of funds is a common reason startups fail. Whether due to inadequate fundraising efforts, mismanagement of cash flow, or unforeseen financial challenges, a lack of capital can quickly derail even the most promising ventures. These typical reasons for startup failure is exactly why we have built our venture studio model and value proposition around: ✅ To navigate the product–market fit, we have developed our structured Speedbooting methodology with pretotyping (and created the company pree.to) to enable a proper validation of the market fit     ✅ To get the go-to-market right, we also use our Speedbooting methodology (https://lnkd.in/egm6im2s) to validate the strategy and benefit from our network of corporates and advisors to test the business model from different angles ✅ To address team issues we offer specialised recruitment support from a pool of talented individuals ✅ To take focus away from fundraising, we provide multi-round financing and can also support building external fundraising strategy if needed and connect with relevant investors Are you curious and what to learn more about building a venture with KRING? Reach out to our Head of Talent, Agnes Agada 👈 Do you have any reflections to share on how to mitigate the typical reasons for startup failure? We would love to hear from you! #venturestudio #startupstudio #productmarketfit Source: Exploding topics, Startup Failure Statistics 2023. Marina Miteva, Jacob Madsen, Jesper Kring, Thomas Krogh Jensen, Tommy Ahlers, Christoph Brandin, Thomas Hofman-Bang, Ulla Sommerfelt, Jacob Dahl, Kurt Bligaard Pedersen, Peter Mægbæk, Martin Bøge Mikkelsen, Betina Nygaard, Ole Herstal, Søren Thorsen, Jakob Bjerre Kistorp, Anders Colding Friis, Flemming Breinholt, Claus Rehfeld, Peter Midtgaard, Lars Thomassen, Lars Monrad-Gylling, Claus Omann Jensen, Erik Holm, Joergen Raguse, David Heinemeier Hansson

35

2 kommentarer

Stax - Startup Talent Experts - love partnering with the ‘Rebel Alliances’ of startups 🚀 We help to place the best tech and engineering talent into the most innovative deep tech and clean tech startups in Europe.⭐️ Check out our jobs page for open positions across Software Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. 👩‍💻👨‍🔧 May the 4th be with you! #starwarsday #deeptech #cleantech #startupjobs #techstartups

21

1 kommentar

The Nordic region was the most active European startup ecosystem, attracting €5.8B ($6.2B) in Q1, followed by France and the Benelux region with €3.4B ($3.6B). Relevance: Swedish green steel producer H2 Green Steel’s €4.75B ($5B) funding round was the largest round to close this quarter in Europe. After two years of retreat, non-traditional investors increased their dealmaking, participating in 721 deals worth €13.5B ($14.4B), representing 37% of the total deal value. The increase in VC funding came despite a tepid exit environment, with only 215 VC-backed exits reported in Q1 worth €1.9B ($2B). 47 funds collectively raised about €4.6B ($4.9B) from investors in the first quarter of this year, putting it on track to surpass last year’s tally. #investment #VentureCapitalists #fundraising #funding #fundmanagers #Generalpartners #limitedpartners #USFunds #familyoffices #EUfunds #institutionalcapital #GPs #LPs #VCs #familyoffices #hedgefunds

3

In recent months, the Swedish startup ecosystem witnessed the unfortunate downfall of three promising companies: Mycorena, Coloreel, and &Repeat. These startups, with unique value propositions, faced challenges that led to their bankruptcy. Let's analyze the common factors contributing to their struggles. Mycorena aimed to revolutionize the food industry with sustainable mycoprotein products. Despite the growing demand for alternative proteins, scaling issues, high operational costs, and intense market competition hindered their success. Coloreel brought innovation to the textile industry with its coloring technology for textile threads. However, intensive R&D, supply chain disruptions, and slow market adoption contributed to its downfall. &Repeat focused on a circular economy for disposable food packaging but encountered challenges in driving behavioral change, navigating regulations, and securing funding. Key themes among these startups include financial strains, market entry barriers, and external factors like the pandemic and regulatory changes. Their experiences highlight the importance of effective financial management, strategic scaling, and adaptability to market conditions for long-term success. While the bankruptcy of these startups is a setback, their innovative spirit leaves a lasting impact. Their journey provides valuable lessons for future entrepreneurs to learn and grow from, shaping a more resilient startup ecosystem.

10

It is not always easy to find a good quality guide on unit economics to follow when you're a founder, and it is equally challenging to understand how investors think and what they're looking for. This is exactly why Jens Düing wrote this guide for Frog Capital on unit economics, helping founders understand how to think about investing as they scale and long-term profitability!

26

2 kommentarer

Klarna is launching a credit card! Will it work? Credit card launches have a mixed success. Look at, for example: - Apple Card And there have been several new ones launched recently. Ex: - Robinhood Gold Card And there are others with similar approaches to Klarna's Card - Affirm has debit card that allows users to pay any purchase over time (Klarna's Card has similar functionality, but is on credit rails) - Upgrade, Inc. has the OneCard which is a credit card and BNPL all in one + a checking account and more. The 2 big advantages they have launching a card are (1) distribution (can sell to existing users) (2) product (rewards) DISTRIBUTION On distribution, Klarna Stacks has a great user base to cross-sell into: - 25 million active users in the US (150M globally) versus - 15 million for Affirm - 5 million customers for Upgrade Take these numbers w/ grain of salt, they are company reported figures and not 100% apples to apples. 25 million, however exactly they measure it, is a lot. Bank of America for example has 55 million digitally active users. PRODUCT Rewards. Because Klarna has 500,000 merchants on network, they can do something from day one that few others can...offer merchant funded rewards. Their key feature is "10% cash back at select merchants". Consumers are addicted to points and it's hard to get them to switch from their favorite cards. Touting something big like "10% cash back at select merchants" might work for some users if targeted appropriately and they don't feel like this is a bait and switch. WHY IT MATTERS In fintech more broadly, we are entering a "rebundling error". Point solutions like Robinhood, Affirm, Klarna have reached scale and are become multi-product companies with deep customer relationships. Some of these companies are going to figure it out and that is exciting. Even if a few of these product launches fail, big banks should be worried. Their product bundles haven't changed much in the last 10 years and for the first time they have real competition. Consumers are the real winners. For the first time in a while, they have new options on how to spend, save and invest. Best of luck to the Klarna team and other folks building here!

103

9 kommentarer

This spring we had almost 8,000 Founders apply to come and work with us at Antler in the US. Of that, we had 300 Founders come and work with us in person in our offices, and we ended up invested in 32 of those teams that we were absolutely blown away by. I can't go into specifics quite yet as these companies are still in stealth but a small sample of what these teams are working on: (Comment below what you think are most interesting and I can help you meet the teams) 1. A team with experience at Boeing, SpaceX, Relativity Space, Hermeus and General Atomics are building full commercial scale wing-bodied aircraft. 2. Team of former Starlink and Raytheon engineers building edge computing software for space and satellite interoperability. 3. One of the biggest contributors to the Ape Coin DAU and his co-founder from Performance-IQ working on tokenizing and democratizing public advertising inventory (think billboards in timesquare) 4. Former leader of one of the most successful WoW clans and Founder of one of the highest traffic gaming sites in the world building the consumer metasearch for weightloss with her CTO who led engineering at Esper. 5. Founder who sold his previous company to Nexa3D building the supply chain needed to 3D print footwear right here in the United States. 6. Founder from C2i Genomics building early disease profiling and detection with novel multiomic sequencing (when they succeed will help solve cancer.) 10. Former researcher at Fermilab, Mercury Data Science and the Smithsonian automating the peer review and analysis of scientific documents to build a new SoR for global scientific progress. Couldn't be more excited to be working with Founders who are truly pursuing their life's work. If you’re an active investor who’d like to meet these founders directly, or a founder interested in becoming a part of this elite group, sign up in comments below ⬇️

183

13 kommentarer

How hard is fundraising right now? Not easy, but not impossible. I worked in VC for five years and Mimo recently raised €18m. Here’s what I’d advise a founder: 1. Adjust your pitch to the stage of growth you’re at. First round? Focus on the vision. Second round? Focus on the product. Third round? Focus on scale. Team is key throughout. 2. Remember that clarity wins. Mimo’s first round was raised with a simple Notion page. No slick slides or over rehearsed pitches. Just a message about simplifying payments to help SMEs grow, with a key insight & twist. 3. Don’t ignore non-traditional options. For some startups and SMEs crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending are better options than bank loans or venture capital. Shop around. 4. Optimise your cash flow. Your chances of raising funds go up if you can prove that you can efficiently manage cash flow. As a bonus, doing this can also reduce the need to raise funds to plug working capital gaps. 5. Remember that it all boils down to three ingredients: a big problem that needs to be solved, a clear POV on the solution and a solid business model underneath. Get those right, and you won’t go wrong. It’s not 2021 anymore. The rules have changed. But there’s always an appetite for good ideas. And from what I hear from talking to founders, there are a lot of those out there. Keep going!

98

7 kommentarer

Something is definitely going on with Alo Yoga, so I dug into it even more... In the last video, you saw that e-commerce sales growth was softening, from 80% YoY in 2022 to 61% in 2023. As a digitally native DTC brand, Alo needs to continue their e-commerce growth and not rely solely on their retail expansion to take on giants like Lululemon and Nike. As an investor, I’ve been hyper-focused on brands that have nailed their ideal customer profile, have strong repeat purchase rates, and are growing profitably. Figuring out how to do that is harder than ever with the current digital marketing landscape and consumer sentiment, but I have a solution. Black Crow AI is an AI and machine learning tool, backed by Imaginary, that DTC consumer brands need to leverage to increase their repeat revenue and bring back the 80% of customers that, on average, never repurchase. I’ve seen a tangible difference and impact for an up-and-coming competitor in the athletic wear space that has been able to unlock hidden value across their entire business with Black Crow AI and their predictive repurchase model. https://shorturl.at/IrRpM It enables quick conversions, upsell potential, and long-term retention for their existing customer base and can take the conversion rate for repeat customers up to 60% using custom-built storefronts and email/SMS flows. Now the question is, will harnessing the power of their existing customer base and turning them into repeat customers be enough to save Alo? Let me know what you think. https://shorturl.at/IrRpM #ai #machinelearning #ecommerce #marketing #businessbreakdown #aloyoga #startup #venturecapital

211

8 kommentarer