are significantly more successful<\/a> at backing companies than traditional investor VCs.<\/p>\nOperator VCs have a long history in Silicon Valley. Still, their adoption is less widespread in Europe and Africa: only 8% of VC firms in Europe and Africa are led by former operators, compared to nearly half in the US. OpenseedVC is applying the model in Africa and Europe with a new fund.<\/p>\n
The firm, which plans to be the first check in startups launched by operators across both regions, has reached the first close of its $10 million angel-style early-stage fund. General partner Maria Rotilu said \u201cthe first close is well into the millions and fundraising is still in progress\u201d without specifying how much. OpenseedVC hopes to reach the final close within a year, she added.<\/p>\n
Supporting operators with funding\u2026 and operators<\/h2>\n
Rotilu founded OpenseedVC with a clear vision: to invest early in experienced operators eager to launch their technology companies. In a statement, OpenseedVC said it would provide these founders with not only capital and conviction at the earliest stages but also the support of a community of seasoned operators, which currently comprises more than 50 individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re supporting operators that have identified a problem and are making the leap into building their technology, you\u2019ve likely recognized a common challenge: the need for capital and guidance from other experienced individuals. To address this, we focus on enhancing the operator network in four key areas,\u201d said Rotilu in a conversation with TechCrunch. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the early stages, expertise in software engineering is crucial. You\u2019d need someone who\u2019s recruited technical talent, built teams and understands infrastructure design, offering invaluable firsthand experience. So if that\u2019s the common thread, I would say firsthand experience is what we optimize for across software engineering, product, go-to-market and people and talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the individuals in OpenseedVC\u2019s operator network are people Rotilu has either worked with or received referrals for. Some are also limited partners in the fund, though they don\u2019t earn carry now. Rotilu also mentioned that other LPs include founders and professionals from traditional and tech businesses and high-net-worth individuals across Africa, Europe, and the US.<\/p>\n
Backing pre-seed startups in Africa and Europe<\/h2>\n
London-based OpenseedVC is targeting at least 60 startups over the next five years. The early-stage fund, which says it operates with an open application process and allows founders to apply without needing an introduction, will provide checks of up to $150,000 to startups focusing on the commerce (including B2B software, AI, and fintech), productivity, and digital health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at the earliest stages; that\u2019s our sweet spot. Openseed is keen on making pre-seed investments, but the early stage of pre-seed because the later stage of pre-seed is more where you find the traditional VCs. We tend to move independently and quickly \u2014 and don\u2019t necessarily need a founder to get a lead investor or anything like that before we invest,\u201d remarked Rotilu. She added that the fund is interested in specific founder profiles within its broader operator-focused lens: domain experts (operators at high-growth tech companies, including first-time founders) and second-time founders who have built and exited a startup.<\/p>\n
So far, the early-stage fund has made two investments: one in a stealth U.K.-based AI-enabled supplier dispute resolution software and another in Intron, a speech-to-text transcription model for underserved accents, starting with Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe chose Africa and Europe to apply our thesis to work in these regions. Our thesis is that by backing experienced operators early in their journey with the right capital and support from peer operators, you can build a diversified portfolio that generates incredible returns for investors and provides crucial support for ambitious operators when they need it most,\u201d said Rotilu, who prior to OpenseedVC, invested across multiple regions with different funds.<\/p>\n
Before launching her fund, Rotilu was an operator in various roles, including country manager at Uber and general manager at Branch in Nigeria, where she helped both tech companies scale to millions of users. She later pursued an MBA at Oxford, where she served as managing director at the Oxford Seed Fund, one of the largest student-led funds in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Striving for a diversified portfolio<\/h2>\n
During her MBA, the operator-turned-investor with a background in computer science interned at Hustle Fund, an early-stage fund in the U.S., where she gained experience investing in startups across the U.S., Latin America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. After she joined Octopus Ventures, one of Europe\u2019s largest funds, as a principal and fund manager of First Cheque Fund, the firm\u2019s \u00a310 million early-stage fund for European startups in \u00a0B2B software, fintech, and health sectors.<\/p>\n
Rotilu said that at Octopus, she realized a need to focus more on Africa, a market where she had made several angel investments during her professional career. The London-based VC firm provided little avenue for that, and Rotilu, who also wanted clarity and autonomy to develop a strategy she thought suited her experience as an operator and investor across Africa and Europe, saw that as an opportunity to launch her VC firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The increasing number of female-led VC firms globally is a positive trend (even though it\u2019s still difficult for women, particularly those of color, to seek funding or raise a fund). As more women participate in venture investing and more LPs and firms support them, this trend will increase funding for female-led startups, setting the stage for every stakeholder\u2019s success. Most female-led funds are conscious of this significance, so it\u2019s no surprise that OpenseedVC will also actively look to support startups led by female operators.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are very few female-led funds globally, and we have a specific perspective on what a diversified portfolio should look like. We focus on diversification across geography, industry, and gender,\u201d Rotilu remarked. \u201cA lot of work is being done around diversity, and as a fund, we apply a gender lens to our portfolio strategy. We aim for a truly diverse portfolio, striving for a 50\/50 balance in co-founding teams,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Founder-market fit is one of the most crucial factors in a startup\u2019s success, and operators (someone involved in the day-to-day operations of a startup)\u00a0turned founders have an almost unfair advantage in finding that fit. Data shows that a lack of expertise and business acumen in founders contributes to failed VC investments. The same principle applies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-98609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}