Extra Crunch Tuesday: 5 top investors in Dutch startups discuss trends, hopes and 2020 opportunities

5 top investors in Dutch startups discuss trends, hopes and 2020 opportunities

Editor-at-large Mike Butcher’s latest regional VC survey polled five investors who focus on Amsterdam and the Netherlands to learn more about how they’re operating during the pandemic.

“Plenty of good funding rounds, a highly skilled workforce and a strong entrepreneurial culture have given Amsterdam a booming startup ecosystem,” Mike reports. “And Brexit is helping.”

Here’s who he interviewed:

• Janneke Niessen, partner, CapitalT VC
• Stefan van Duin, partner, Borski Fund
• Nick Kalliagkopoulos, partner, Prime Ventures
• Bas Godska, founder, Acrobator Ventures
• Renaat Berckmoes, partner, Fortino

Also based in Europe, reporter Steve O’Hear filed two stories in recent days:

In 7 things we just learned about Sequoia’s European expansion plans, he recapped his interview with the Silicon Valley VC firm’s new London team, and in Why is GoCardless COO Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas pivoting to become a full-time VC? he asked the fintech entrepreneur about his radical career shift.

We’ll be off on Friday celebrating Thanksgiving. I hope you have an excellent week and a safe, festive holiday.

Thanks for reading,

Walter Thompson
Senior Editor, TechCrunch
@yourprotagonist

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Mental health startups are raising spirits and venture capital

Before the deluge of S-1s that dropped over the last two weeks, Alex Wilhelm was taking a closer look at mental health startups.

In Q3 2020, funding for these startups slowed even as deal volume increased,

“So, at a minimum we can see that the fields are fertile for health tech investing in general,” he concludes.

“It makes sense that as our year of discontent and grief continues, startups that might be able to help are seeing growth and doing well,” but the latest rounds from startups Calm and Headspace “skew this particular niche’s data rather sharply.”

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This is our biggest discount of the year, so don’t snooze on the savings!

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Founders seeking their first check need a fundraising sales funnel

Raising money is easier when you’ve done it before, or if you can reach out to family or friends.

For those who don’t have an entrepreneurial track record or access to capital, however, forming a relationship with someone who does is the best approach.

CEO and co-founder Milana Lewis raised almost $22 million for a music technology startup Stem, her first company. How did she connect with well-known VCs?

“I brought people on my entrepreneurial journey in the beginning,” she says.

“The biggest piece of advice I could give is to start raising a year before you start raising. Start building relationships and data points.”

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7 things we just learned about Sequoia's European expansion plans

Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital just established its first official European office in London with “a remit to invest across the continent,” reports Steve O’Hear.

Last week, he interviewed partner Luciana Lixandru (formerly of Accel Partners) and growth-stage partner Matt Miller.

Recapping their conversation into seven main takeaways, they discussed their plans for building out the team, what they’re looking for in seed-stage relationships and how Sequoia’s angel scout network quietly sources deals.

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Why is GoCardless COO Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas pivoting to become a full-time VC?

After making more than 50 angel investments across the UK and Europe, Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, now COO of London-based fintech GoCardless, is joining Index Ventures.

“I feel a duty of helping the next generation of entrepreneurs and sharing all the things that I’ve learnt,” he said.

“I care a lot about setting up founders as much as possible for success and sharing all those experiences I’ve learned [from].”

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Hulu UX teardown: 5 user experience fails and how to fix them

Continuing their series of articles that deconstruct user experiences offered by popular apps, UX expert Peter Ramsey and Steve O’Hear put streaming platform Hulu on their exam table.

The pair identified multiple fails and fixes that double as object lessons for major media companies — along with the startups that hope to join their ranks.

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6 reasons why reporters aren't interested in your content marketing

I’ve held startup marketing roles, and I’ve also had the opportunity to work as a journalist, which makes it easy to identify articles that contain real insight when it comes to PR.

Successful entrepreneurs cultivate an unswerving belief in the potential of the products they create. That’s a great trait to have while pitching a VC, but it’s worse than useless when pitching a reporter.

Amanda Milligan, marketing director at growth agency Fractl, shared a guest post with Extra Crunch that explores seven common roadblocks. The number-one problem?

Your pitch isn’t newsworthy.

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Will Brazil’s Roaring 20s see the rise of early-stage startups?

Brazil-based startups raised a record $843 million in September and the nation’s IPO market is on fire: Q3 saw 25 primary and secondary equity offerings.

The dynamic markets are a dramatic break with the recent past; Brazil has only seen 21 IPOs in the last six years.

During Brazil’s last IPO boom, 70 percent of the demand was driven by foreign investors. Today, local institutional investors have taken the lead.

As portfolios shift away from commodities to new retail investment options, Brazil’s internet and software startups are experiencing “a short-term boom with long-term consequences.”

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