The Exchanges

Q So if I had a company based in Silicon Valley that was looking for investment money from someone just like you, but they have no presence in Europe, you would say no?

A Unless they make a very compelling case that Europe is going to be their first entry market, um, for the simple reason that essentially we are really trying to be a very hands-on investor. Um, we make eight to 10 investments per year, um, with a 20 people team. So quite a substantial team size. Um, very few investments, meaning we really spend a lot of time with our portfolio companies, meaning we really try to, um, create value for them, as every VC is probably, VC probably says. But, um, yeah, we, we really are allocating a lot of time, um, to the portfolio companies, and that means we really have to understand our value proposition and, and, and our network and our market quite well. And, uh, we do this in Europe. Where we know a lot of corporates, um, where we know a lot of people in the ecosystem, um, versus in the US where we just don't have this, um, strong footprint to really help, um, a startup accelerate. Um, and this is the main reason, um, that we really want to bring our value proposition to the startups.

AI assessment note: “Unless they make a very compelling case that Europe is going to be their first entry market”

Q So what are some examples of deep tech, you know, startups or products that you've heard of recently?

A Quantum computing, um, is definitely one of those topics there. We actually also invested in, um, a planet computing startup, um, in the summer of 20, 22. Um, then, you know, you have fusion technology, which is essentially the next frontier to really create an, Add a limitless energy source, um, and solve essentially the energy crisis of the world. So very, very massive step forward, um, so to speak, but it can also appear in, you know, how we, how we go about mobility, like, um, one portfolio company of ours is building, um, an, an engine that you can fit into the wheel, and that is much smaller than any, um, combustion engine. Any, um, electricity engine that is currently existing, and just the pure size and efficiency of it essentially allows to not only make the car, um, you know, much cheaper, but also operate much more efficiently and save energy. So deep tech can really appear on, on a variety of industries in very different products.

AI assessment note: “Quantum computing, um, is definitely one of those topics there.”

Q What's the type of deep tech that you're most interested in or excited by right now?

A Yeah, there are some startups, which I find, um, very exciting around API integrations, um, to kind of make it very frictionless to, um, at scale, um, pretty much Integrate, um, APIs and doc, you know, like bring different data sources together and then put, you know, above it a data engine to kind of, um, run analysis and essentially like, yeah, you know, put, put an AI, put machine learning on top of it. So essentially bring together different data sources and then have a superior, um, analytics tool above it. Um, we have one portfolio company that essentially is trying to, um, be novel in that aspect that before you would have, you know, sales department, your procurement department, Um, like different departments and you had coherent analytic solutions in those departments. And they're essentially trying to, um, go one step further and say, Hey, you know, give us the information from procurement, give us information from sales. We are trying to derive an overarching company strategy, not just an overarching, you know, sales strategy or procurement strategy. So essentially to make, you know, little bit decisions as a, as a co-CEO, so to speak.

AI assessment note: “there are some startups, which I find, um, very exciting around API integrations”

Q If the engine is inside of the wheel, Isn't the engine gonna be damaged very easily if people keep hitting things like curbs or if they get into an accident and their wheel rim just gets crushed?

A I mean, it's, it's much more so, um, the technology is like, you know, hidden in the wheel box. Um, but you can also put it, you know, where the, where the combustion engine is in the front. Um, so it is like, you know, up to your taste or up to the car design, let's put it that way. And, um, I mean, I'm not the startup itself, but I imagine that the technology is robust enough that it's not, you know, if you have, if you hit a curb that the, the engine is going to, um, be affected or impacted because it sits quite high up and like very much underneath the car. Um, so it should be protected from that, but interesting question. I'm going to ask the team about that.

AI assessment note: “it should be protected from that, but interesting question. I'm going to ask”

Q Let's assume the founder didn't do their own due diligence and therefore they got an investor that has their own vision for the startup and it's too late. They've already signed the deal and got the money and now the investor is trying to force a vision on them. How do they handle that since they clearly can't get out of the contract?

A That is a bad situation for everybody involved and very difficult to, to navigate because you essentially have signed the contracts. Um, and the question is, do you even realize what's happening? Because the investor might think, Hey, I'm like, you know, making such great suggestions from my point of view, this all makes sense. Um, and you know, the founders might be like, well, you know, those ideas are not, You know, are not too bad, but I actually want to focus on my product or I actually want to kind of like, you know, rather focus on a smaller customer group and not kind of roll it out into a new market, uh, whatever it might be. Um, so, I mean, it depends how straightforward, um, or how conflict avoidant both parties are either. Cause I feel you can talk about it. You should talk about everything head on, especially when it comes down To working together on a board. Um, so I feel it's solvable, but it also kind of depends if people are picking up on it and are able to communicate it openly to each other in a board meeting.

AI assessment note: “You should talk about everything head on, especially when it comes down To working”

Q Have you encountered someone trying to do that? As the, as a VC onto a startup and, and how would you tell a founder to handle that?

A I think the point where this is, you know, the most, the biggest threat that this happens, if you are looking at a company and you are in a due diligence process and you are not essentially have not signed the term sheet yet, or you have not essentially like signed the contracts yet. And so you are, you know, like in the DD, like, you know, kind of, you know, understanding each other, Um, you're like, you know, going through all the, all the points, you're looking at the competition, you're looking at the market, you're looking at the customers, et cetera, et cetera. And then, you know, you are, um, bringing it back to your, to your colleagues, right? In the, in the investment committee. And, um, you know, then they ask very good questions, um, and have very good ideas as well. And then it's important, uh, I think that you kind of, um, as a deal team are able to figure out, hey, You know, what are now good questions and what are essentially things that we can bring forward or kind of probe whether the company brings it, but not essentially distill, um, a vision or, or, or an idea about like, you know, this is how the business model should look like, um, you know, before even making the, the investment. Um, and then when you are like essentially working together, then I feel both sides really start to understand each other and you like start building together. Um, and there I do…

AI assessment note: “there I don't really, or have not come across that”