Alexandre Flamant

"Platform" in VCs often feels undefined, and different at every firm. But one thing is clear: firms with dedicated platform teams are seeing higher investment returns. What is 'Platform' in VC? Think of it as a support engine for portfolio companies. Platform teams accelerate growth by providing: 1) Strategy & Growth 2) Talent Partner 3) Marketing & Brand Partner 4) Business Development & Partnerships Lead 5) Community Manager 6) Operations & Scaling Partner 7) Fundraising & Capital Advisor Platform in Venture Studios vs. VC Funds: The big difference? Timeframe. Venture Studio Platform: Involved from concept to exit, guiding startups from the very first spark of an idea. VC Platform: Steps in after the startup is funded, focusing on scaling and growth but not the initial concept phase. Both play critical roles—but understanding these distinctions helps founders and investors make the most of their platform relationships.

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🤨 What do I look for in co-founders ? 🤨 This is the question I get asked the most often, and I (finally) have a good answer! At Hexa, I partner with entrepreneurs ~3x/year, a CEO and CTO for each project— essentially “marrying” 6x/year to build the best partnerships. I look for 4 key traits in my co-founders ⤵️ ⚡️ Energy booster Building and growing a company is about convincing people to follow you—investors, clients, team members—and the person’s natural energy is a key factor in achieving this. I call these people exothermic: they move things around them simply by the energy they exude. How do I test this? I need to feel more energized at the end of a meeting with them than I did at the start. ⏰ Sense of urgency The higher the velocity in a startup, the faster it will grow. Having a deep need to act and get things done sets the fast-paced tempo I’m looking for. 🧑‍🏫 Thirst for self-improvement Founders who are constantly looking to improve by proactively seeking feedback and showing vulnerability have an endless strength to overcome the (inevitable) challenges of entrepreneurship. 🏋️‍♀️ Commitment Being a founder means making your company part of your top priorities, it’s a journey that’s all-consuming. If you believe you embody these traits and are ready to build a transformative company, let’s connect!

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A woman co-founder built one of the most successful apps in Europe, without millions in VC money. Here’s how: Julie Chapon, along with François MARTIN and Benoit MARTIN, launched Yuka in January 2017. From day one, Julie knew they weren’t going to be just another startup chasing big fundraising. Yuka was about impact and value, helping people make healthier choices by scanning barcodes to see the real health impact of food and cosmetics. They grew fast, but on their own terms. By January 2018, they hit over 1 million users, far beyond their expectations. They raised a small round in June 2018, not from VCs but from business angels who aligned with their mission. It was just enough to grow the team and add cosmetics analysis, all while staying true to their values. Since then, Yuka has grown organically with their business model, proving that profitability and purpose can go hand in hand. Fast forward to today: Yuka has over 40 million users worldwide, including millions in the U.S., where it’s quickly become a favorite for conscious consumers. This is a success story about focus, transparency, and doing it without chasing the biggest checks. Know other women founders who’ve built successful startups without VC money? Tag them below. 👇 _____________________ 👋🏻 Hi there, welcome! ✨ I'm Sarah. I help women founders develop winning business models, gain market traction, and secure funding through my FundHER accelerator program. As a woman founder, follow me here on LinkedIn for insights and support to help you launch, grow and fund your startup.

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#Fundraising in 2023 was not easy, for founders or VCs. Sifted tracked just 40 new first-time funds that announced a first or second close in 2023 — compared to over 60 in 2022. But these #European #VCs are raising (and closing) first-time funds. Here are all the new first-time VC funds raised in 2024. #business #startups #europeanvc #eu #saasstaartups #sifted #saasbusiness #growthlevers #growthdrivers #vc #startupfunding #europeanstartups #vcfunding #startupjourney #investment #firstround #techstartups #scalingbusiness #scalingup #venturefund #venturecapital #startupgrowth #startupjourney #fundraising #investorrelations #earlystagestartups #preseed #seed #seedround #startupfinancing #startupinvestment #investors #venturecapitalists #capitalraising #fundingstrategy #venturefunding #prepmf #pmf #deathvalleycurve #startupdeathvalley #raisingmoney #2024report #funding #investorawareness #venture #CentralEurope #researchreport #vcfunds #newvc #firsttimefunds #2024outlook #scaleups #seriesa #founders #startupfounders

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Does it make sense to 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 as a founder 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲? 🤔 Short answer: YES. 🚀 Long answer: Also yes, and here’s why… According to this insightful piece by Data Driven VC 📝, moving to the US can significantly boost your startup's unicorn potential 🦄. 🇺🇸 is a powerhouse for networking, funding, and scaling. So if you're on the fence about making the move, it might be time to take the leap! 🌍 ➡️ 🇺🇸 Big thanks to the authors (Dr. Andre Retterath and Jérôme Jaggi) for the great insights! 🙌 Check out the full story here: https://lnkd.in/e2fmgvDk

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Last week I advised startups to drop the 5-year revenue projection. If a VC asks for it, I said, I'll eat my hat. One common reaction was "but Europe!" So here I am eating a tasty beret. (See link in comments for last week's post and the discussion that followed.) Having eaten that beret, here's my analysis of the Europe point, as well as some others that were made in the comments: ¶ First, it's certainly true that where you stand depends on where you sit. I've lived in Silicon Valley for 30-odd years, and I currently do seed-stage VC. So there's that. ¶ In any geography there is a range of investor styles. As commenters made clear, European VCs are 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 to insist on these projections than their US counterparts, but individuals don't always match the stereotype, on either side of the pond. ¶ If we accept, though, that the detailed 5-year projection is a mostly European requirement, then let me ask a (deliberately) provocative question: how's that working out for you? Correlation is not causality; and there are lots of other factors at play; but it's also the case that US-style venture investing (and specifically California-style venture investing) has been empirically more successful than that practiced in other places. It's certainly possible that this success is despite us "doing it wrong" for all this time; and it's also possible that what's worked for the last 50 years is no longer valid in 2024; but neither of those seems like the most likely conclusion. If anything, time horizons are getting shorter, not longer. Now, all that said, there 𝘪𝘴 information content in a 5-year projection. Last week I mentioned four things that are important to VCs: 1) are you ambitious enough, 2) are you realistic, 3) what's your Price and Cost at Scale (PACAS), 4) what's your Customer Acquisition Cost at Scale (CACAS). (Et oui, je me suis bien rendu compte des autres significations :). To those I would add: 5) what's your level of business and financial sophistication? The thing is, these are all things I have to 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳 from a 5-year model. All of them can be gotten in other, usually better, ways. Such as the direct approach: "what's your ambition here? can you show me your unit economics? how much marketing spend do you think it will take to deliver $100 million in revenue?" Some founders in last week's comments said that when a VC demands a 5-year projection, that's someone you don't want to work with. That's an overreaction. More important is to get to the question behind the question: I understand that you're asking for this, but what is the real concern? It's good to figure out if it's one of the five things above, or something else entirely, as that will tell you a lot about the investor as well as how best to answer the request. OTOH, if they don't know why they're asking, or if they won't tell you - "that's just how we've always done it" - that's a red flag; you want your investors to be thoughtful and transparent.

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A trip down memory lane 👴🏻. A couple months ago, Marcel van Oost posted a legendary video from TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2017 where the founders of Revolut, Monzo Bank and N26 – three direct competitors – shared a stage (moderated by Romain Dillet). I was in the audience that day and I highly recommend you watch the video of the panel. It is rare to witness the birth of a mega wave (consumer banking being moved to cloud and mobile). At the time, the three of them were roughly the same size, all sub 1m monthly active users.  Today? According to Data.ai Revolut has 27 million monthly active users, Monzo has 4m and N26 has 2m. So what can we learn from what happened post-2017? Revolut, Monzo and N26 all went on to raise roughly the same amount: between $1.6 and $1.8 billion. In fact, Monzo just announced it had raised an extra $190m on top of the $430m funding round it announced in early March, at a $5bn valuation, demonstrating its continuous success. But looking at their respective trajectories since that panel, it’s striking how different strategies from different entrepreneurs have had dramatically different outcomes years later. There will be business school case studies written about it, no doubt. Since Revolut is the one we invested in, I asked their VP of Growth Antoine Le Nel for his take on what led to their outsized success: 💰 They relentlessly focused on reaching profitability, which gave them the luxury to not have to choose between growth and profitability. Growth picked up in 2021, the year they first became profitable. 🎮 They applied systematic media buying techniques from the gaming world. Antoine actually came from King - further evidence that the startup ecosystem flywheel is starting to turn at full regime in Europe. 🌎 They treated their different geographies, channels and products like internal competitors. If any was overperforming, it got more growth support. In his own words: "The biggest competitor of Revolut France is not BoursoBank, it's Revolut Germany". 🏅 They leaned into market tailwinds for more chances to win. For example, Revolut’s breadth meant they were positioned to benefit from the crypto bull run and high net interest income. Their diversified product range and revenue streams mean they can benefit from most macro scenarios. 🥷 They built small teams that were highly scalable, highly quantitative and highly agile. And I’d add: 🌍 Strategically, going multi-product and multi-country from day 1 and having a strong bias for build vs buy, turned out to be a critical long-term advantage (I wrote about in a post last year, which I’ll share in the comments). 🤩 A delightful product and the killer value prop of free FX allowed for strong word of mouth growth in the early days, fueled by Chad West and his team’s brilliant guerilla marketing. Thank you, Marcel, for prompting this trip down memory lane. I’ll share the full TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin video below.

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💰 We invested in StackOne 3m seed round last November. As we are not a VC, our edge come to be the best at supporting founders. 👉 We bring in 2 elements: expertise as well as business intros (revenue) 🤝 How: by giving access to our vetted community of top notch operators from scale-ups and unicorns. Thanks Romain Sestier for your trust ! #startups #investor #operators

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One of the most important concepts we introduced in our recent Healthcare AI roadmap is the notion of “Modality—Business Model—Market fit.” This concept describes how the delivery method and business model of AI in healthcare directly shape its potential to create value. There are many possible combinations of modalities and business models in healthcare. AI can be delivered as software, copilots, agents, services, diagnostics, or therapeutics, supported by business models ranging from usage-based and volumetric pricing to performance-based and shared savings arrangements. Nailing selection of modality and business model is essential for AI companies seeking large market opportunities and profitable operations. As we describe in an example with computer vision-based diabetic retinopathy screening, modality and business model selection can drive a difference in TAM by upwards of 25x, and has serious implications for overall margin structures. Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eK7rjpJz

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Insightful look into bioplatform strategy, and what it takes to raise a Series A from my partner, Omri Amirav-Drory: https://lnkd.in/dFv7GbF6

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🌏 Open Banking & Bank Infra start-ups: what's the trend?  🌎 📊 📈 We’ve been hearing about “building for banks” but if we actually break it down, it seems to break into four segments: 1️⃣  Bank systems (CBS/LOS/LMS), 2️⃣ Credit Card Issuing and Management (CCMS), 3️⃣ Tech enabled banks 4️⃣ Account Aggregator model (AA) for open banking 💡 🎯 I’ve taken a look at Rev X (last valuation / ‘23 revenues). On average (out of the 10 I got details for), “building for banks” fintechs are trending at Rev X of ~21x. This is in line with what fintechs were trending at at IPO: ~19.6x. Deep dive: https://lnkd.in/ghb5w8iS 💡 📊 Visa is betting on this space. It acquired Tink (AA, Sweden) in 2024, Pismo (CCMS, Brazil) in 2022, and bid for Plaid (AA, USA) in 2020. And maybe more in the future? 1️⃣ Core Banking  / Lending Management Systems: Rev X: 11.3x - 20x ✅ Falcon: Founded 2012 (went through pivots), Raised 2 seed rounds, last round in 2022, HQ: India ✅ M2P: Founded 2016, Valued: ~$600M, Rev in’23: $53M, Rev X: 11.3x, HQ: India ✅ Lentra: Founded 2018, Valued: $400M, Rev in ‘23: $20M, Rev X: 20x, HQ: India ✅ Constantinople: Founded 2022, Raised $50M in 2024 Series A, HQ: Australia 2️⃣ Credit Card Issuing & Management: Rev X: 30-40x, only 1 ex, so may not be accurate M2P & Falcon who provide banking systems, also provide credit card issuing / management solutions. ✅ Pismo: Founded 2016, Valued: $1B at Visa acquisition in 2024, Rev in ‘23: $25M+, Rev x: ~30-40x, HQ: Brazil ✅ Hyperface: Founded 2021 by ex-Juspay founder, Valued: $65M, HQ: India ✅ Pomelo: Founded 2021, Valued: $100M+, HQ: Argentina 3️⃣ Tech enabled banks (fintechs with banking license): Rev X: 11.59 - 12x These banks provide payments infrastructure, as well as APIs to banks in their network. In the sample I’ve looked at, this segment seems to have the highest revenues. They also raised at higher multiples: ~11-20x. This is higher than what Indian banks are at as of ‘24 (range from 5x - 8x). And similar to start-ups building for bank systems. ✅ Cross River Bank: Founded 2008, Valued: $3B, Rev in ‘23: $150M+, Rev x: 12-20x, potential IPO in 2025, HQ: USA ✅ Solaris: Founded 2016, Valued: $1.6B, Rev in ‘23: $138M, Rev x: 11.59x, HQ; Germany 4️⃣ AA model (open APIs):  Rev X: 20 - 200x It’s possible some of these companies are overvalued. Plaid (200x), and Yapily (66x - 100x) seem to be trending on the higher side ✅ Perfios: Founded 2008, Valued: $1B+, Rev in ‘23: $50M, Rev x: 20x, HQ: India ✅ Tink: Founded 2012, Valued: $2B at acquisition by Visa in 2022, Rev in ‘23: $32M, Rev X: 62.5x, HQ: Sweden ✅ Plaid: Founded 2013, Valued: $13.4B, Visa acquisition bid $5B in 2020, Rev in '23: $64M, Rev X: 200x, HQ: USA ✅ True Layer: Founded 2016, Valued: $1B, Rev in ‘23: $45M, Rev X: 22x, HQ: UK ✅ Yapily: Founded 2017, Valued: $200-300M, Rev in ‘23: $3M, Rev X: 66-100x, HQ: UK For the detailed article, and more pieces like this, click here: https://lnkd.in/gYjh6H2c

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Every (pre) seed stage tech founder talks to VCs about 'traction'. Here's the hierarchy of traction: Revenue / Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR) --> Contracted ARR --> Paid Proof of Concepts --> Unpaid Proof of Concepts --> Trials --> Master Service Agreements --> Letters of Intent --> Pipeline value If you are pitching to VCs, focus their time and attention as far up the hierarchy as you possibly, credibly can. And don't even bother telling us about your awards. It doesn't move the needle at all. #founders #startups #vcfunding

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What questions should you ask a VC to give them the signal you know what you are talking about? First, prepare your deck, data room, and investor research. Then, head into meetings confident and well-prepared. During your discussions, ask VCs targeted questions on topics like: 1️⃣ Fund Details What percentage is already deployed, and what are their follow-on reserves? 2️⃣ Decision-Making Process How does the process work, from investment memo to committed capital? 3️⃣ Support How much time do they dedicate to each portfolio company, and what type of support do they offer? 4️⃣ ‘Smart Money’ What makes them the perfect investor for your startup? Ask for specific examples. Remember, you’re evaluating them too! Are you prepared to ask these questions tailored to your business? Do you know your ideal investor profile? Can you clearly articulate what you need from investors? Spent the weekend with my mom and sister in Marrakech—such an incredible city! Biggest takeaway from the Souks: a positive mindset and good negotiation skills go a long way 😉

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Whether you're a French startup founder or investing in the French tech ecosystem, this is a must-have resource: The Serena 2024 Edition of the Ultimate VC List is live! Fundraising can be incredibly time-consuming. That’s why, back in 2016, Serena created the Ultimate VC List to streamline the process for entrepreneurs in France. Now an interactive platform, it has supported over 100,000 entrepreneurs and VCs in the ecosystem. Some key trends Sébastien Le Roy and Maxime Furet spotted when putting this edition together: 🚀 The French VC ecosystem is thriving with new funds like Resonance, OVNI Capital, Yellow, and Varsity, signaling a vibrant and expanding market. 🌍 There’s increased interest from US and European funds for French startups, particularly in AI and climate tech, and a rise in non-traditional investors such as Business Angel Clubs and Family Offices (which are now covered by a new section). 🔧 Infrastructure investors are playing a critical role in funding innovative hybrid models amid global warming challenges. ♻️ The growing presence of impact VCs highlights the focus on socially and environmentally impactful investments.

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Fantastic panel at Web Summit Rio “How Fintechs Serve as SMB Accelerators” with my co-founder Andrea Burattini, Cora’s founder Igor Senra and Vexi’s co-founder Cinthia Merlos. Here are a few excerpts from the panel, focusing on Andrea's experiences as she developed Dinie. Having grown up around small businesses, most of her family and friends included, Andrea recognized the chance to enhance their lives through a seamless banking experience, where financial products are easily accessible on platforms that these businesses use daily, aligning with their ongoing needs and routines. We decided to tackle credit cards and business overdrafts directly, since we've observed numerous small businesses fail due to these products, which aren't suitable for their working capital needs. We've been at the forefront of introducing embedded lending as a service in Brazil and have taken advantage of regulatory innovations like Receivables Registration, Open Banking, and PIX. Looking forward, our embedded API model allows us to integrate all the services we develop into any ecosystem that supports small and micro businesses. #womenarethefutureoffinancialservices #WebSummitRio #Fintech #SMBs #FinancialInclusion #EmbeddedLending #OpenBanking #BusinessInnovation #Entrepreneurship #Dinie

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https://lnkd.in/epFgH79T You’ve probably read tons of articles about the different rounds of VC funding and all the associated terms, but how often do you come across something that really breaks down the numbers? Ever wondered how to keep track of your startup’s equity as you grow? Dive into our hands-on guide to cap tables, where I break down everything from your first seed round to that exciting exit moment.  By walking you through various scenarios and terms with comprehensive examples and visual aids, I offer a solid foundation for managing equity financing in startups. While real-world cap tables can be intricate, this primer ensures fair ownership and proceeds distribution, helping you maintain investor confidence and support your startup’s long-term growth.Let’s get your cap table game on point!

Looking for VC investment in your Open Source based company? this is what is important says Maxime Corbani #opensource

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There has to be a fair and transparent process to any change to taxes and a coherent plan for the future. Unfreezing fuel duty would raise £3bn to absolutely dwarf these taxes on ambition and value creation. And benefit the environment.

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Through analysing hundreds of companies with Samuel Boggio at Hexa #Scale, I’ve come to think that #bootstrapped startups are the most well-run tech companies and yet they have tremendous scaling potential that we can unlock. So now, I’m obsessed with these entrepreneurs that have mastered both growth and profitability without big VC money. Currently digging patterns of previous success stories, I’ll bring you the best learnings and tales in this “No-VC” series we’re trying out. Edition 1. Hotjar - How they reached $40M+ ARR driven by PLG Founded in 2014, Hotjar's mission was clear: help businesses understand user experiences on their websites through heatmaps, recordings, surveys, and dashboards. Built in Malta by David Darmanin and his team, Hotjar became a leader in digital experience analytics for SMBs, scaling to +1M websites and +$40M ARR without raising venture capital. 💡 How? Hotjar mastered its PLG strategy, acquiring customers with very low costs while evolving its product to increase ACV and drive growth. At the heart of their impressive success lies: 🤫 A beta launch leading to 35,000 users in 6 months: Hotjar's beta program was a masterclass in B2C-inspired user acquisition. After launching their MVP, they created a waiting list where new users had to invite friends to move up. The higher they climbed, the sooner they got access to Hotjar, with additional incentives like free lifetime accounts for top referrers and even Hotjar branded merch. With this strategy, Hotjar became viral, generated over 35,000 users and enabled Hotjar to reach $1M ARR in 6 months, becoming profitable almost from day one. 👀 True user obsession, delivering user value in 15 minutes: Hotjar treated customers as co-creators, actively involving them in refining the product and pricing. This led to rapid iterations based on real-time feedback. By delivering value quickly—within 15 minutes for 66% of users—Hotjar boosted adoption rates and reduced customer support needs, maintaining high satisfaction. 🌟 ACV expansion as a North Star: Initially focused on small ACVs (around $2k), Hotjar mastered increasing ACVs with pricing adjustments every 6 to 12 months. They implemented strong customer qualification to determine when a sales-assisted approach was needed, effectively converting at the right product-pricing fit. ➡️ Personally I think that’s the most impressive learning of Hotjar, their scientific approach to Sales-or-no-Sales scoring and their permanent pricing iterations. When you’re capital constrained, you’re forced to be smarter. 🍾 The story ends nicely as well: Hotjar could have raised money, or continued their self-funded path, but instead they decided to get married to an Enterprise player, Contentsquare, and bring them their SMB expertise. ⚡️And yet, in a parallel world, they could have partnered with a player like us and scaled further from their 34 000 customers, before an even bigger exit — I’ll share such a story in a future post!

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