Riccardo Bruni

I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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📰 Great to be featured on the latest Sifted article by Amy Lewin Joe Schorge, Maria Rotilu and I share our thoughts on the topic of ''How many new #VC funds does Europe need?'' and the ''rise in solo GPs across Europe'' 💭 TLDR: In my opinion, Solo GPs are fantastic! They truly do care and are super useful with great networks, hunger and high-speed. However many solo GPs don’t lead deals at pre-seed, and the European ecosystem could do with a few more funds that do. But there are exceptions, such as Germany’s Gloria Baeuerlein, Finn Murphy, and Max Claussen, to name a few. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/dWXUFsWb

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Taavet Hinrikus and I made the Financial Times Due Diligence email. https://lnkd.in/ez2AuGQx One 'unintended consequence' is that if there is a 45% tax on carry and CGT (raising £40m per year, remember) it for all intents and purposes closes the door on new VCs in the UK. Especially started by teams from non-traditional backgrounds. To meet the GP commit, you need to be already part of the 'wealthy' as you cannot rely on the value you create - nearly half of it will disappear - to fund it. We have both had extremely successful startups which are few and far between. The smaller number of new VCs will therefore more likely increasingly be for people who have inherited the capital or can draw it from their already rich family. Probably not want they have in mind with this policy.

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Balderton's €1.3bn raise for European startups sparks debate: Does a bigger VC fund lead to better outcomes? First, consider: 💲 Larger rounds demand bigger funds, but returns get harder at scale 💲 $100M fund needs $1bn exit at 10% ownership for a single 1x return 💲 Most early-stage VCs target 3x returns, investing in 30+ companies 💲Management fees (typically 2%) grow with fund size Plus, the current landscape: Giants like Balderton, Index, and Accel are raising massive funds, while smaller firms stick to sub-$200M and focus on early-stage startups. Many VCs have maintained their previous fund sizes, while others are downsizing or struggling to raise new funds (or even returning un-invested capital to investors, as CRV recently announced they will do). Thus, weigh up the trade-offs: Larger funds (≥$500M): 📈 More firepower, full-cycle support 📉 Risk: Pressure to deploy capital, potentially lower returns Smaller funds (≤$200M): 🔍Agility, focused support, higher potential multiples ❌ Limited late-stage participation The future of European VC may not be one-size-fits-all. As the ecosystem matures, perhaps there's room for both Davids and Goliaths. What's your take? Would you bet on a nimble $150M fund or the muscle of a €1B+ vehicle? Source: Sifted #EuropeanVC #FundStrategy #StartupInvesting PS 🔔 Follow me for strategies and resources for startups and VCs! There's a better, streamlined way to raise capital: 💸https://foundersuite.com/ for startups 💸https://fundingstack.com/ for VCs and investors

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In a recent Sifted article, I share thoughts on emerging managers esp. Solo-GPs, here's what I think 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/eYx7h5Qv I’m a solo-GP building OpenseedVC, here’s what some think this means; 🔻That there is key-person risk 🔻That there is little accountability or governance 🔻That it is a one-person show Here’s what it ACTUALLY often means; 👇🏽 ✅ We've set up governance that foster accountability, not bureaucracy ✅ As a fund, we have a dizzying depth of complementary skillsets ✅ We build conviction and move quickly; critical for early stage ✅ We are process geniuses, automations and efficiency is in our DNA ✅ We have a lean, mean team optimised for high for efficiency There is no "founder-like fund" quite like a Solo-GP emerging manager. For us at OpenseedVC, we invest up to $150k at the angel stage, and are flexible. We can lead your angel round. We can follow if the terms work for us. We don't take board seats. Whatever it is, we are first investors in ambitious and experienced operators just as they start their technology companies! We are founders ourselves, and have parallel experiences to the most ambitious and resilient founders, and this is ultimately superpower 💥 Solo-GPs are outliers, and in the business of #VC #venturecapital, outliers signal potential for outsized opportunity. #operators #openseedvc #europe #africa #soloGPs

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There's a lot of talk about fund sizing. Especially in European venture. But what truly matters? Fund size through the lens of fund returners. These are single investments that return the entire capital of your fund. Why think about fund returners? Because outliers drive performance. 90% of our top-performing early-stage funds. Had at least one fund returner. We had a wonderful conversation on this topic with Sion Evans from VenCap International plc in the latest episode of the EUVC podcast. Link in comments. 🔽 #EUVCpodcast #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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Y-Combinator Guide: How to Split Equity between Cofounders & When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Split… https://buff.ly/3WoVkav The Y-Combinator Guide delves into the intricate process of splitting equity among cofounders, outlining the crucial considerations and scenarios where equity division is warranted. Understanding the dynamics of equity distribution is essential for fostering a fair and sustainable partnership. By exploring real-world examples and statistics, cofounders can navigate this challenging aspect of startup collaboration more effectively. It is crucial to establish clear guidelines and agreements to prevent potential conflicts in the future. This guide provides valuable insights for entrepreneurs embarking on new ventures. #StartupEquity #CofounderCollaboration #venturecapital #startups

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Founders, this is a great checklist to optimise your seed deck. 👇 I tend to ignore the issues highlighted in point 1 and 2, rather than view them as negative signals. One of the repeat pieces of advice I share with founders on decks: focus on your "minimal viable story". And remember every investor has a different checklist. Great post Adam Shuaib, PhD Happy raising! #vc #fundraising #founders #scalebridge

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4️⃣ SaaStock Fundraising Chatter: Finding the Right VC for You. A key takeaway from Tuesday’s post was how important it is to qualify your investors. With so many options, here's how to be strategic: 🔎 Qualify ruthlessly. Treat your investor funnel like a sales funnel. AlbionVC, for example, invests $1-10M in UK-based B2B software and deeptech. If you’re a Paris-based consumer marketplace raising $20M, it’s a non-starter. Founders waste precious time crafting outreach to funds outside their scope. 🥇 Prioritise Smartly. Rank your target funds by both appeal and likelihood of success. 💘 Find a Warm Intro. If you don’t know the fund directly, network like you would for sales. Get a concise, compelling intro via a mutual connection. Remember a “pass” could even lead to a referral to another, better-fit fund. 🎮 Sequence Pitches. Start with lower-priority VCs to refine your pitch with early feedback. Then, approach your top picks with a polished narrative. Generating interest early creates momentum in your process. ⚠️ Requalify Your VCs! It’s as important to assess us as it is for us to assess you. ➡️Ambition Alignment: Are their expectations aligned with yours? ➡️Personal Fit: Grab a coffee, breakfast, lunch, go on a walk: will you enjoy working with them for years? ➡️Support: What do you need? Do your diligence to ensure they deliver it. ➡️References: Talk to portfolio companies, successes and struggles. Were they fair? were they kind? ➡️Partner Stability: The partner who leads your investment will be emotionally and intellectually invested in you and your vision. They will be on call. They will fight for you when things get tough (bridge rounds, etc)…far more than someone who replaces them later. Also, high turnover at a fund could signal cultural issues. #SaaS #Fundraising #VC #AlbionVC

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49 founders and senior startup leaders respond to a survey from Sifted on the relationship between founders and VCs. Are expectations off from the start as VCs try too hard to pander to their founders with over promises of "value-add" and extensive platform teams? Do founders need to be reminded of their primary role - execution?

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🚀 Antler UK’s Latest Investments: 7 Startups Shaping the Future Curious to get an inside view into Antler's latest investments in the UK? We've made seven investments following our Spring residency in London. Check out their one-liners and latest traction below. Comment "Invest" if you want to book time with the founders, and I'll message you a link privately. 1. AI-powered post-trade processing: Running pilots with UK financial service providers and already raised follow-on funding from VCs, angels, and industry experts. 💹 2. Transforming hotel communications with conversational AI: Pilots with prominent hotel groups, will cover over 900 rooms by October, a waitlist of over 1,500 rooms. 🏨🤖 3. The automated data stack for early stage companies: Already revenue-generating, and saving their customers thousands of pounds weekly on analysis and data maintenance work. 📊💼 4. AI property manager: Pipeline of 13,000 units, 1,700 actively using the platform. Strategic partnerships with leading UK property developers. NPS of 91 from early users. 🏠🧠 5. Automating the back-office admin of trades businesses: Gained first paying customers, and signed strategic partnerships for access to 29,000 UK trades professionals. 🛠️📋 6. Business development automation for recruiters: Within weeks of being onboarded to their MVP, early customers generated over £60,000 in additional revenue. 💼💰 7. AI-powered insect rearing system for pest management: A sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides, running 2 pilot trials with farms that operate in the UK, Europe, and Africa. 🌍🐜

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💣 Nearly HALF 5X+ VC funds are small funds sub $50m - I posted this last Christmas and tagged the 2 top emerging managers backing FoFs in Europe. Little would I know that by final closing time I'd be so fortunate and grateful for having both on board :) Data for the stats from Pattern Ventures, proving that emerging small funds smash larger, established funds. Now we just have to deliver and score a 5x+ pice of cake haha 😹 But hey, what would life be without a tough challenge 💪 #deeptech #europeantech #venturecapital #emergingmanagers Molten Ventures Multiple Capital

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The highest valuation in a financing round might be attractive but often it is not the option you should chose. Because it will hurt you later. 1.) With an established valuation you also create an expectation for the exit price. E.g. if you raise at 50m you need to build a 500m company - ask yourself how feasible that is in your industry with your model 2.) The highest bidder might not be the best fit for you in terms of know-how and/or on a personal level. Given you will be "married" to your investor for a longer period of time a 100% match is important. 3.) Often raising at a more aggressive valuation takes longer, so you will put the money to work later than with a less competitive but faster round. It is worth asking yourself if some or maybe all of the additional dilution of a lower priced round will be offset by putting the money to work earlier and spending less time on fundraising. 4.) The high price might come with additional asks that can hurt you later 2x liq pref, additional guarantees.... So don't raise the price at all cost

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The fall of seat based & the the rise of usage based pricing is a major trend in SaaS. Hear more about it from the experts at m3ter at Money20/20.

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Voodoo didn’t buy BeReal for €500MM. Per reporting, the cash consideration in Voodoo’s acquisition of BeReal is €166MM, with the remainder of the €500MM “valuation” being paid out if performance targets are met in an earn-out. I don’t think that Voodoo’s acquisition of BeReal is motivated by cross promotion. Voodoo states that BeReal features 40MM “active users,” which is vague. I’d estimate BeReal has MAU in the 5-10MM range, with the 40MM number representing a longer timeline. This isn’t enough MAU to justify the price solely on the basis of cross promotion, especially given that BeReal’s MAU is likely stagnant. Further, Voodoo’s own social media app, Wizz, is growing faster than BeReal in the US: it sits at Top Downloaded rank #17 in the Social Networking category vs. 27 for BeReal. The CEO of Wizz, Voodoo’s social media app, will become the CEO of BeReal. My sense is that Voodoo may integrate the functionality of BeReal into Wizz at some point to accommodate BeReal’s core demographic and serve a larger TAM. If cross promotion does factor into the equation, it’s likely from games into the social media properties. Voodoo is a much more valuable company with a scaled social media property than an operator of a hybridcasual gaming portfolio, the titles in which are volatile from a growth perspective (see the chart below). BeReal was something of a gimmick, and it may work better as a feature than a standalone app. If Voodoo can use BeReal’s core mechanic to grow Wizz into a scaled social media property, with strong retention and long-term engagement, it can pair its existing advertising infrastructure with Wizz to service ads not just in its social media footprint but against an audience network across its published titles. But in the meantime, I’d expect traffic to move from Voodoo’s games to Wizz as it scales that property.

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Great insights from Adam Agius on what to consider when raising debt for a search fund buyout. Most relevant to the UK market, but a worthwhile read for all searchers. There's more debt capital keen to support search acquisitions than ever before, but approaching it naively can be very costly...

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"Funding Collapse sends investment in start-ups to six year low" The Times today covering the shocking stats that VenturePath uncovered, with our partner Beauhurst. Great quotes from supporters Michael Moore CEO, BVCA and Julian David CEO, techUK. * UK VC funding at Series A is -44% from last year, and worsening * Q3 24 is down a staggering 57% from Q2, itself down from Q1 * 9 in 10 seed funded startups cannot access Series A VC funding, the next 'rung on the funding ladder' * Just 32 future scaleup companies across the whole of the UK were able to access their first VC funding round in Q3...a 6 year low * Half a billion less capital is going in to UK scaleups at Series A, than just 2 years ago! As the UK scaleup funding gap widens, we are losing ground against other countries, at both startup stage (a position the UK worked hard to achieve, since 2011), and for scaleup support. OECD data: 13th in the world for scaleup support, and that's before Series A funding access dried up. I get that its confusing. Another report (BBB, Nations & Regions) released this week spoke of positive trends in private investment, stating "The data for Q2 2024 shows that investment value has continued to grow". Great, I love to see optimistic data. But under analysis that bundles venture with private equity (later stage), where a few megadeals skew the numbers. Otherwise the exact opposite is true. Our independent research here, for the UK ScaleUp Investment Mission, is laser beam focussed on Series A. The funding round where companies move from the c.1m startups launched each year, through the 2,179 that access seed funding, into the rarefied category of being recognised as future scaleups, attracting Series A funding (£2-10m). The UK venture landscape is currently funding just 248 pa of these companies, and declining. We've been sharing this urgent call for support with the new Government since the day after the election. I've personally met with several Ministers, and spoke to all the relevant Government departments. I will shamelessly repeat loudly what is at stake. UK scaleup funding at Series A has nearly halved in a year, and continues to decline steeply, more than halving in the last quarter. VenturePath developed The UK ScaleUp Investment Mission to convene the scaleup support ecosystem and £7bn of funders to help address this problem, to improve nationwide access to VC investment, and create more venture-backed successes. We have clear support, clear recommendations to reverse this decline in UK scaleup investment, and have made a clear ask of Government for participation in this, to ensure immediate action is taken to create the conditions for success for UK scaleups, ensuring the focus on growth isn't undermined by lack of capital, or equitable access to it. Government decision makers, we'd love your interest, to progress to action. HM Treasury: Rt Hon Rachel Reeves Spencer Livermore James Murray & CC Poppy Gustafsson (welcome to the debate).

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Useful and timely analysis Overall: could have been worse

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🌟 Interesting yet unsurprising findings from the latest VC performance report: 📈 Established European venture capital funds (fund 5+) are delivering 2x the IRR of New (fund 1-2) and Developing (3-4) funds. 🌍 European VC funds consistently outperform their US counterparts, underscoring Europe's strength in the global investment landscape. Read the article at sifted https://lnkd.in/eZYF4THT

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