Michael Calver’s Post

🌟 Reflections on an Inspiring Time at Slush! 🌟 Attending Slush was an incredible experience, packed with insights and inspiration, especially around corporate venturing. The event was buzzing with energy, and I was thrilled to be part of such an innovative gathering. One of the standout sessions was on Corporate and Startup collaboration, led by our German colleagues from 27pilots and the Deloitte UK Venture teams. They clearly showed how enterprises, even if not the first customers, are vital in helping startups scale. This client venturing model is truly impactful! I was also inspired by the initiative from The EU Inc Petition. Their talk was full of enthusiasm and vision. Their mission to unite the European startup ecosystems is exciting, and creating a pan-European legal entity is a bold first step. I'm fully behind this idea, and if you are too, you can support it by signing their petition: Sign here: https://www.eu-inc.org/ With changes happening in both the market and politics, I noticed shifts in business approaches. A key takeaway was how VCs are now focusing more on profitability rather than just growth. This change affects business cultures, moving from a "fast and furious" approach to a more measured and strategic one. It's a call to rethink how we build teams and take calculated steps forward. One piece of advice that stood out was, "don't go for concessions." In the Netherlands, we're great at making everyone happy, but in business, choosing the best option sometimes means making tough choices. Balancing this is challenging but crucial. At least, I loved the quote at the entrance. AI is changing the landscape, but I believe it will be as commonly adopted as we did with the "internet" (no I was too young back then to feel the impact). Humans survived that, and with AI humans will be more important than ever ;). Slush reminded me of the power of collaboration and innovation. I definitely need a weekend to digest all the inspirational talks and amazing people I spoke to. Ready to apply these insights to our work in corporate venturing. #Slush #CorporateVenturing #Innovation #StartupCollaboration #EUInc

❄️❄️ 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗵 ❄️❄️ Back in Cologne after two incredible days of intensive networking at Slush 2024. This was my second time attending the world’s leading startup conference, and once again, it delivered. While the event’s dark-lighting spectacle is always impressive, the real highlight for me is the quality and quantity of connections you can make. With over 13,000 participants, the chances to meet the right people are high. A tip for future attendees: schedule your meetings weeks in advance! A home base for meetups and spontaneous chats is also invaluable. Striking the right balance between keynotes, roundtables, networking, and side events takes a bit of planning, but it’s well worth it 😉 It was amazing to see the startups supported by KölnBusiness actively seeking investors and partners (eekual bionic, Xaver, Prematch, Urban Ray). Reconnecting with familiar faces from the Cologne startup ecosystem was another highlight, as was catching up with my colleagues from the Startup-Champs city partners—Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich 🤝 Looking forward to seeing how these new connections and insights will shape the months ahead! #SLUSH2024 #startups #cologne #networking #innovation #venturecapital KölnBusiness – the Economic Development Agency of Cologne

🌟 Reflections on Oslo Innovation Week 🌟 What an amazing three days in Oslo! 😍 Although I was only able to attend the first half of the Innovation Week, I walked away energized from all the insights, learnings and thought-provoking discussions. A few key takeaways stood out: 💡 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who share your vision is key. As they say, you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so make sure those are the people that support you to reach new heights. 💥 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. It’s about taking risks, thinking big, and having the courage to pursue opportunities that don’t yet exist. Founders need to be able to imagine a bold future and then create a credible roadmap on how to get there. 🎯𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. Securing funding isn’t just about the pitch; it’s about building strong relationships, understanding what investors are looking for, and demonstrating the right momentum. Whether it's finding the right venture capital fit or leveraging your early-stage investors for introductions, strategy and timing are everything. One of the highlights of the week was the panel discussion I had with Viktoria Hensler, Anna Munthe-Kaas and Lars Johan Bjørkevoll about building an optimal environment for impact startups in the Nordics. It reminded me that we’re all part of something bigger than ourselves, and that while it’s the collective effort that will continue to push sustainable innovation forward in Nordics and beyond, we all need to act as individuals as well. Finally, a huge shoutout to the incredible people I got to meet in all the many events. It’s clear that the future of the Nordic startup ecosystem is bright, bold, and full of opportunities. Here’s to taking more risks, dreaming bigger, and doing everything we can to build a future we can all be proud of! 🚀 #OsloInnovationWeek #StartupEcosystem #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #NordicInnovation #RiskTaking #GrowthMindset

⭐ Two incredible #portfoliocompanyupdates on the way! With all the buzz surrounding Italian Tech Week in Turin in the past week, we are excited to share some big wins from two of our portfolio companies.  📑 Jet HR is making waves! Just over a year after raising a historic €4.7 Mn pre-seed round, the startup that simplifies payroll processing and tackles endless bureaucracy, founded by Marco and Francesco, has now closed a €12. Mn seed round. With 1 Mn ARR already in the bag and ranking among the top 10% fastest-growing SaaS globally, they’re on a mission to scale the team and pack the platform with even more features. 🚀 The round was led by Picus Capital, with the participation of Exor Ventures and Italian Founders Fund. 🌱 Another huge win is from our cleantech startup, Vitesy! Backed by us since 2020, Vitesy just secured a €4 Mn investment to keep driving innovation in sustainable well-being solutions. Following the success of Shelfy (their anti-waste fridge device), they’re gearing up to boost tech development and expand into the US, UK, and across Europe. CDP Venture Capital SGR and Mediaset were active participants in the investments. Super! Marco Francesco Paolo Alessio Vincenzo and a huge congrats to the teams at Jet HR and Vitesy! 🚀 #BHeroes #VentureCapital #SeedRound #Innovation #Cleantech  #HRTech -- More on the round in comment 👇👇

Grateful for the enriching experience at START Summit 2024 in St. Gallen, I'm excited to share some pivotal insights from this year's theme, "Dare to Evolve". The event was a melting pot of inspiration, igniting innovative ideas, sparking personal epiphanies, and fostering invaluable exchanges. Here are some key takeaways that resonated deeply with me: Thank you Judith Dada for your thought-provoking insights: • Embrace intellectual honesty: "I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it yet, but let’s do it together now." • Pursue disciplines that teach critical thinking, questioning established knowledge, and forging new understanding. • Align your passion with your profession to render discussions about work-life balance obsolete. Recognize the privilege in choosing your path, particularly if you've had the opportunity to pursue higher education. • Leadership isn't confined to managerial roles; worthiness transcends titles. During the candid #CavalryVentures breakfast, discussions challenged my biases and offered a glimpse into a future where gender roles in childcare are redefined. Gratitude to Björn W. Schäfer, Jesse Jeng, and Michael Cassau for shedding light on this evolving landscape. Insights from stage sessions were equally enlightening: • Advocate for increased government support for innovation and startups in Europe. • Maybe humans are not qualified to manage their own or the planet’s well-being. Is AI? • Surround yourself with quality team members; good people attract good people. • While capital is abundant, founding a successful company requires diligence and vision. • Founders should prioritize product development over fundraising, regardless of funding raised. • Invest into startups - not only as a company but also as a private person - to connect to the inspiring startup world and learn from founders and investors. Thank you Martin Grosse for your expertise shared about social media and good luck for #koenigsklasse. START Summit 2024 was a testament to the power of evolution, both personal and professional. I'm deeply grateful for the inspiring individuals I had the privilege to engage with and eagerly anticipate our collective journey of daring to evolve together. #STARTSummit #DareToEvolve #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Reflections

We have just finalised our date for the online track of the 10th season of C-shark Tank. This is a closed door event. This will be our last season so we really want to encourage corporate executives - directors, VP, SVPs with more than 20 years experience at global multinationals to join along C-suites for the online track. Many of our C-sharks come back every season because 🦈 they learn with peers about innovation in verticals beyond their own 🦈 they learn from startup founders about how they disrupt established industries or solve mega problems 🦈 they want to giveback from their wealth of experience and corporate track record (and personal funding) 🦈 they get completely immersed into an intentional exercise to fund startups, diving into their background reports and financials to give the fair attention to startups they deserve 🦈 they get more value from this level of networking than other conventional avenues 🦈 they gain fresh insights and perspectives that might even add value to their current day job or their next moves 🦈 they make more authentic connections through a shared experience intense as this 🦈 they find the quality of startups well curated and the program well-paced 🦈 they appreciate the flexibility of choice in investment sum and allocation The experience is certainly more intense if you join us at our 3rd offsite of 10 seasons in Chiangmai, Thailand. However if you can't make it there, do join us online on Nov 28, 7:30pm SGT 6 startups will be pitching to us with ample time for Q & A per startup in a LIVE manner (not textbox). We also close with a discussion among all participating C-sharks which typically is the highlight of the evening. It's highly interactive and not overly rushed. Check us out at she1K.com/CsharkTank and on youtube via youtube.com/she1Kglobal Tian Chong Ng | Peta Latimer Chartered FCIPD | Shankar Viswanathan #director #vicepresident #svp #VP #csuite #angelinvestor #corporate #investment

🌐 Yesterday, we had the pleasure of attending the Plug and Play Tech Center Italy Summit 2024. It was a fantastic opportunity to exchange ideas and network with key players contributing to building a robust and increasingly intriguing startup ecosystem in Italy. 🔍 During the panel "The Italian Early-stage Ecosystem" our Head of Vento, Diyala D'Aveni, shared insights alongside Marco Ogliengo, Founder & CEO of Jet HR, Gianluca Cocco, Founder & CEO of Qomodo, Lorenzo Franzi, Founding Partner of Italian Founders Fund, and Andrea Gennarini, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of 2100 Ventures. Here are some interesting takeaways from the event: 📈 Despite being one of the smaller innovation ecosystems in Europe in terms of venture capital invested, Italy is one of the fastest-growing country in the region. This growth is evidenced by some significant achievements within our portfolio; for instance, Jet HR and Qomodo securing impressive pre-seed rounds, Futura closing a Series A round led by an international fund, and PandasAI (YC W24) entering Y Combinator. 🇮🇹 #Institutional support for innovation is already making a positive impact, yet there is potential for even greater benefits with increased backing. Taking inspiration from France, where state #incentives and #investments are integral to their strategy, it's evident that enhanced government support can significantly transform the innovation #ecosystem. In fact in France, this robust support has facilitated the creation of over 1 million new jobs, with more than 80% being permanent positions. 💬 The discussion was rich with insights and reflections, and we are eager to continue this dialogue with these and many other guests at the upcoming Italian Tech Week in September. 👀 Don’t forget to follow the new page of the event to discover all the happenings and guests of ITW!

Our new baby at The Doers Company is out 🎉 Doers Summit - the most concentrated gathering of founders, VCs, and operators in Emerging Europe - is finally becoming a reality ✨ The first-ever Doers Summit is kicking off in Athens, in February 2025. Technopolis will transform into the ultimate meeting place for the region’s top doers. In true The Doers Company fashion, we’re bringing our signature festival spirit and amazing people 🎉 Who will be there? A curated community of those who truly know their craft—successful founders, VCs, and seasoned operators. 💡 Expect sharp focus, founder-centric discussions, a practical outlook on entrepreneurship, and quality networking (and then some). We’ll cover starting, scaling, creating, failing, pivoting, fundraising, leading, and navigating, while preparing countless opportunities to connect with those who have been through it all. 🚀📈💼 Doers Summit is set to become a can’t-miss event for the who’s who of the EMEA startup ecosystem. 🌍 Next up? Explore our brand-new website for more details, get a sneak peek of the first confirmed speakers 🎤, and apply to become one of the 2,000 attendees of the very first Doers Summit. 🎟️ Check it out ➡ https://doerssummit.com/ #doerssummit #doersunited #athens #greece #doers #founders #investors #operators

These guys produce massive impact driven events loaded with dreamers and doers and those dedicated to bringing change. I recommend checking this event out and getting booked in. #startup #investors #doerssummit

Do you want to explore the best practices about scaling operations across borders and regions? Join our event! 🌟 Emerging Founders is a place where innovation meets expertise, taking your business from local to global! 🚀 Learn best practices from the experts. Grow and network with other successful founders who have scaled their businesses globally. Explore the best practices and challenges encountered when scaling operations across borders and regions. 📈 This is your last chance to secure your spot!