We invest in great founders and great teams anywhere. But we do have a soft spot for founders with a connection to the Nordic and Baltic countries, whether by nationality or by being based here.

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We invest in early-stage companies with software-driven business models. We invest in globally ambitious founding teams who are conscious about their impact on the world. Read more about our focus here.

Our sweet spot is Seed stage, but we invest as early as pre-seed, and we can enter as late as Series A.

We ask all founders we meet with to show us their “ugly slide”. What we mean by that is for them to share the biggest challenges that they are facing. We ask this to understand how we can help the entrepreneur and their team. 

When evaluating whether to invest in a company, we must understand how we can help the company move forward. We want to ensure that founders call on us when they need our help. Not because they are obliged to do so, but because they appreciate our contribution. If we don’t see that we can provide value, we don’t invest. Simple as that.

Transparency is crucial to building the necessary trust required for a productive founder-investor relationship.

Read more about the ugly slide here.

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The 8 Ts is the framework we use to evaluate companies. Just like you, we as investors need to consider what rocketships we should opt for a seat on. It’s not just about what company’s valuation will 10X the fastest. 

The purpose of our 8 T framework is to structure and clarify our thinking about your company and the opportunity it represents. It is not a checklist where you need to tick off every box, however, we encourage you to consider how you can address each of the Ts. Read more here.

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We’ve published our standard term sheet for seed-stage investments along with a guide to what we think founders should consider carefully in a term sheet right here. 

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The byFounders Collective is a unique collection of some of the most accomplished startup founders and operators from the Nordic and Baltic countries. They make up a key part of our community and work directly with our portfolio companies where they can add the most value, e.g. by advising on specific strategic areas, host topical workshops, coach, open their networks, and much more. They also help our core team by bringing great companies and founders to our attention, as well as helping us evaluate companies in areas that they are knowledgeable about. 

We have carefully selected these individuals for their competencies, network, and not least desire to give back to the ecosystems that fostered their success. They have all pledged to contribute and many of them have invested in our fund as well, ensuring our aligned interest in the success of our portfolio companies. 

Many Collective members are active angel investors as well and sometimes invest alongside us. When it makes sense and it’s a mutual wish, they can take board seats in our portfolio companies on our behalf.

You can see and read more about the full Collective here.

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Our platform embodies our promise to entrepreneurs. When we refer to our platform we refer to the concrete value you get access to as a company in our portfolio and the tight-knit community you become part of, which includes the Collective and our portfolio companies, including both founders and their extended teams. 

Read more about our platform offerings here.

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Yes. Our ticket size depends on whether we lead or follow, syndicate, or go at it as the sole investor. On average, our ticket size ranges between EUR 500K to 4m.

We evaluate every startup using our 8 T framework, to structure and clarify our thinking about your company and the opportunity it represents. It is not a checklist where you need to tick off every box, however, we encourage you to consider how you can address each of the Ts. Read more here.

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We believe superior financial returns will come from investing in companies contributing to a better Tomorrow. Either through their product or service or by how they run their business. Ideally both. 

We are not an impact fund, but we have adopted an impact-aware approach throughout all of our actions as a fund and firm. This approach complements our existing core values and principles from when we first started the fund.  

We've added an 8th T: Tomorrow, to our existing 7 T framework for evaluating companies. You can read more about that here.

Occasionally, when it makes sense. For example, if we see that our competencies and network are complemented by those of another investor or VC fund, we love to bring them along. You can read more about the investors with whom we have co-invested under each specific portfolio company here.

Approximately 10-12.

YES! Submit your deck here.

Have a look at our 8 Ts and consider how your company addresses each of the Ts.

Our Fund I is EUR100m. Our Fund II will be EUR100-120m. 

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It depends on a few things, including the urgency from your side, but typically about 1-3 weeks at most.

We do not invest in companies focusing on tobacco and alcoholic beverages, weapons, gambling, pornography or the illegal distribution of intellectual property.

We don’t invest in areas and verticals of which we have little knowledge or experience, either as a team or by extension, our Collective. When evaluating whether to invest in a company, we must understand how we can help the company move forward. If we don’t see that we can provide value, we don’t invest. Simple as that.

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As long as it is the founders’ wish, we are happy to serve on our portfolio companies’ boards. What matters to us is that the board member can provide real value to the founder and the company, so whether it is someone from our team or somebody from the byFounders Collective is less important.

Either way, we believe most of the value of any board member, investor, or advisor is to be had outside of the board room.

We believe it’s essential that founders sit on most of the board seats from pre-seed through Series A. The board should be composed in such a way as to reflect relevant competencies rather than shares held.

Read more about our recommendations for building your board here: The Role of the Board

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Yes! We issue a newsletter monthly. You can sign up for it here.

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No! We wish… Truthfully though, these successes were made before we had a fund to invest from, but we are associated with these companies through their founders, who are part of our Collective. These entrepreneurs all have a desire to give back to the ecosystem and support the next generation of founders.

You can see our portfolio here.

The main difference between our two funds is that for Fund II, we have explicitly adopted an impact-aware approach, from how we screen companies, to how we work with our portfolio as well as how we run our own firm. 

No. 

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No. We are a regular fund with the full discretion to make our own investment decisions.

Yes, this is an important signal to us that your company is your main priority.

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