Game-Changing Startup Founder Support

FAQs

At what stage(s) do you invest?

We are early-stage investors with a strong focus on pre-seed and seed rounds. But to be honest, some of our best investments were stretching the limits of how “seed” is defined, so we grant ourselves some flexibility here.

What’s a typical investment round and how big will the check be?

We lead in Seed. Our typical first check is €700K - €1.3M and we aim for double digit ownership. In pre-Seed deals, we invest up to €1M. In Seed, it's up to €3M. But round sizes fluctuate, so ask us again in a few weeks... ;-)

I have other investors lined up, should I still talk to you guys?

Of course, to be honest, we prefer leading rounds and it's also better for you. Given the amount of resources and bandwidth we commit to each of our companies, it is only natural. But we are open to co-investing. It’s really a case by case decision.

Can I count on you to follow on with your investment?

Yes, a significant portion of our fund is reserved to support in follow-on rounds. In total, we can invest multiple millions in a given startup. Of course “to fund or not to fund'' is where Shakespeare meets VC; there is no easy answer. That said, we often support companies longer than our co-investors.

What industries / sectors do you invest in?

We are very rare among VCs in the sense that we are “multi-sector focused." We have six dedicated sector-focused investment teams, which are Deep Tech, Fintech, Health, Industrial Tech, Marketplaces & Consumer, and SaaS & Infra.

We combine the expertise of investors from across our sector-focused teams to collaboratively fund next-generation Climate Tech, Crypto, and Emerging Markets startups.

What countries do you invest in?

Europe is our home turf, our mission. Our investments stretch from Ukraine to Ireland and Estonia to Greece. That’s why we have more offices across Europe than any other early-stage fund. Being close to you is important to us, so our team is on the ground in Germany, the UK, France, and Austria to support business development and expansion.

We have also now started investing in Emerging Markets as expert co-investors with prominent regional leads, which is working really well.

What should my startup have before we contact you?

In some cases, we’ve invested in nothing but a product demo. But what is absolutely necessary is a core team fully dedicated to the venture. In the end, that’s always key to whether or not we invest.

What metrics do you want to see before investing?

The more the better! Your stage, industry, and more come into play here, so it really depends. In a consumer company, we prefer to see some early validation that shows you have a core user group excited about what you’re building. For B2B, we appreciate it if you already have some early customers or pilots.

What do you look for in founders?

You should be excited about the challenge of building a company, ideally have relevant background experience in your startup’s industry, and a unique edge (X Factor) that makes us confident that we’ll win together.

We're ready to pitch! How does it work and how long does it take?

Send us everything you have here. If you wow our investors with your pitch, someone will be in touch directly to set up an introduction meeting. The time from intro call to term sheet varies, but we always try to move as quickly as possible. Our name is Speedinvest ;-)

Unfortunately, due to the large number of pitches received, we can only contact companies who make the long-list. Thanks for understanding!

I got rejected, what’s next?

That’s a painful part of our job. We invest in less than 1% of the teams that we talk to. And it’s a given that we will be wrong in many cases. Yeah, we make mistakes! So if you liked talking to us, keep us posted on your progress. A lot of things change over time, including our minds.

What does it mean to be an operational VC?

Value-adding support, far beyond the usual “VC marketing speech,” was the founding idea of Speedinvest. We refuse to be just another VC that sends startups money, shows up at board meetings to provide “advice” and leaves. Our mission is to empower you throughout the tough journey of being an entrepreneur with real, actionable, aligned support.
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We’ve built a team of in-house operational experts, many of whom have founded their own companies or spent their careers helping to build them. Together, they help you remove roadblocks, find and close important customers, create a growth engine, hire talent, expand to the US market, and more.
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Our sector-focused investment teams offer you deep domain expertise and networks. Most of our investors have either been an operator in their respective field or have spent years gaining first-hand knowledge in their sector. Bonus: They've also built stellar portfolios and actively connect you with dozens of top tier founders facing similar challenges.
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Whatever you need, we do everything in our power to help you make it happen.

What is Platform+?

We're glad you asked! Click here to find out.

What is Speedinvest doing to combat climate change?

We invest in the best and brightest Climate Tech startups and are a carbon neutral firm. Learn more and submit your sustainability-focused startup pitch here.

What is your commitment to Diversity & Inclusion?

Ensuring founders of all backgrounds have equal access to funding and building diverse investment teams is not just good business, it’s also the right thing to do.

Learn more about our commitment here.

Is Speedinvest or your portfolio companies hiring?

Yes! Visit our careers page to browse all open positions.

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Sector-Focused Investors

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European focus, global footprint

FAQs