Post-Brexit, Seedcamp co-founder and partner Reshma Sohoni gives her reaction and views on what we should be focusing on next.
Yesterday’s vote is shocking and saddening. As a company that sits at the epicentre of a large cross section of the global populace and a group of people who champion unity over division, we are at a loss for words today. And yet Leaders must lead. In times of good, but particularly in times of the chaos of today, leaders have an even bigger responsibility to lead.
For Seedcamp that means we continue to invest in the best possible founders from all across Europe, as we have done for the past 9 years. For our fellow investors and entrepreneurs, who lead a large number of UK, European, and global talent, you must continue to lead, both optimistically and calmly. Your strength is your ability to overcome hurdles. And entrepreneurship knows no borders.
Like 2 sides of a coin this vote has a positive and a negative side. At this moment it is difficult to see any positive. Once today passes we will look at a tomorrow that is dramatically altered. And yet tomorrow offers opportunity. The best of you will work hard to understand the big problems and design the opportunities and solutions that try to put the UK in a stronger position than we find it today.
There will be challenges ahead with questions like: what do I do with my family, where should I live, where do I incorporate, where do I hire the best and the brightest, where do I set up an office, will the EU support us, who do I sell my products to, how do I take payments, and many more. In these challenges, we will support the best of our founders to find solutions that help not only themselves but all others who are seeking solutions and opportunity.
The middle of the UK aligned itself with some of the most extreme forces in the country. That is profound and as a country we do not have an answer today to their grievances. Given the forces currently in action across the globe, it appears that most of the world has very little in answer.
Therefore, we would encourage entrepreneurs, investors, and talent to work hard on building solutions exactly where tomorrow’s challenges lie, bringing the opportunity they seize to a large global middle that sees very little of it. There is no ‘us’ or ‘them’, we are all in this together. Let us move forward with clearer heads and put our efforts back into the hard work that lies ahead.
We at Seedcamp are more committed than ever to continue doing our bit at bringing Europe together by backing the best founders from any part of the UK, Europe, or world without distinction!
We’re very excited to announce that we are partnering with Nextlaw Labs, the innovative legal tech venture development platform launched by global law firm Dentons, in a partnership to co-sponsor a global callout to early stage legal tech startups. Selected startups will receive training, mentorship, and investment from both Nextlaw Labs and Seedcamp.
Nextlaw Labs is a global collaborative innovation platform focused on developing, deploying, and investing in new technologies and processes to transform the practice of law around the world. Dentons is the lead supporter and investor in Nextlaw Labs, serving as the global testing ground for new products, services, and other ideas to be vetted, piloted and scaled.
Seedcamp, the leading pre-seed and seed stage investor based in London, has built an impressive track record since its launch in 2007. The team has invested in more than 220 companies across multiple sectors from around the world, including startups such as TransferWise, Property Partner, and legal tech company, Apperio. To date, its portfolio has raised more than $380 million in further funding and 14 companies have been acquired by companies, including AirBnB, BBVA, and GoPro.
Following an application period where startups must apply, selected finalists will benefit from Seedcamp’s life-long platform of learning and support, which will be enhanced with mentorship from lawyers of the world’s largest law firm, Dentons. The chosen companies will gain in-house training and expert guidance on how to build their business, develop their brand and raise capital.
“We are committed to expanding our activity in Europe and see the region as a critical market for Nextlaw Labs and the legal tech industry,” said John Fernandez, Global Chair of Nextlaw Labs.
“This is an amazing opportunity to expand our initiative to identify and connect with the hottest legal tech companies of the future at a very early stage with Europe’s leading early-stage fund,” said Dan Jansen, CEO of Nextlaw Labs. “We see this as a natural partnership, leveraging the strengths and assets of both Nextlaw Labs and Seedcamp to support the next generation of talented legal tech startups.”
Reshma Sohoni, Founding Partner of Seedcamp, added, “The legal market is primed for fresh, forward-thinking startups to come in and shake up tradition. Using technology we can save law firms, companies and consumers precious time and money, in a market that is a high-cost item for all parties. At Seedcamp, we work with the very best Founders to scale businesses that can have a significant impact on the status quo. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Nextlaw Labs to deliver this offer, and continue to expand our investment portfolio to include the rapidly growing world of legal tech.”
Applications open today, 9 June 2016.
About Nextlaw Labs
Nextlaw Labs is a business accelerator focused on investing in, developing and deploying new technologies to transform the practice of law. It is an autonomous, wholly owned subsidiary of global law firm Dentons with physical and virtual locations in technology centers worldwide. Through complementary and strategic partnerships with leading technology companies, startups, other business accelerators and established legal vendors, Nextlaw Labs will invest in promising companies and develop a suite of new technologies that fundamentally change the practice of law, improving client service and enhancing client solutions. www.nextlawlabs.com
About Seedcamp
Seedcamp is a Founder’s First Round Fund. We invest smart capital into pre-seed and seed stage startups, providing up to €200k and a lifelong platform of Learning, Network and Capital to support the most ambitious Founders.
Seedcamp was founded in 2007 by Reshma Sohoni with Saul Klein and a number of European investors, to help European startups bridge the gap between knowledge and capital. Today we invest in startups from all over the world and have invested in over 200 companies across a wide range of sectors. You can find out more about us at www.seedcamp.com and follow us on twitter @seedcamp.
About Dentons
Dentons is the world’s first polycentric global law firm. A top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the world’s largest law firm, Dentons’ global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries. www.dentons.com
We’re very excited to introduce you to the companies joining the Seedcamp family later this month!
After receiving a record-breaking number of applications for our pre-seed investment (850+), we have selected seven startups we believe are going to be big.
We have teams from Austria, Germany, Israel, and the UK, in sectors including Communications, FinTech, HealthTech, Human Resources, PropTech, Marketplaces and SaaS, that will officially be welcomed by Seedcamp on June 13th. We’ll be supporting these teams as they scale through our lifelong platform and introducing them to our vast network of mentors and investors soon.
Carlos Espinal, Partner at Seedcamp, said: “At Seedcamp, we want to back the startups that have the potential to develop into the next billion-dollar companies, and each of the Founding teams we back is building services and products in sectors where we’re seeing a lot of demand and growth. As part of that ambition, we received the highest number of applications from interested companies for our pre-seed investment, and out of over 850 applications, these were the seven companies we felt had the ideas, drive, and talent to be successful in their respective markets.”
In the last week, we’ve seen more great success from Seedcamp-backed startups. TransferWise announced it raised another $26M to continue to aggressively grow the business, meaning the company is now valued at $1.1Bn.
Congrats were in order for Pleo in Vienna, as the next-generation card solution to manage team expenses, won the Pioneers 500 competition and its €500,000 grand prize from the Speed Invest team. In the UK, Rock Pamper Scissors, Co-Founded by ex-Just Eat CMO Mat Braddy, also announced it has raised £1.2m in seed funding for its hairdresser booking app.
Reshma Sohoni, Founding Partner of Seedcamp, added: “Our portfolio now stands at 220 companies from around the world. Every day people are using products and services that have been backed by Seedcamp and we see success across our portfolio, daily. The latest teams are all in sectors where we are seeing continued growth – particularly in FinTech, PropTech and HealthTech – and we’re eager to support these talented Founders scale their businesses in these markets.”
The teams joining us
ActionBar (Tel Aviv, Israel) – Helps users find and execute features inside SaaS while providing smart product insights. (SaaS)
Anvajo (Dresden, Germany) – A cutting-edge small device for home diagnostics that allows understanding your health on a molecular level. (HealthTech & Hardware)
Avalio (London, UK) – A platform that enables people to search for freelancers in their city, chat to them instantly, then arrange a face-to-face meeting within minutes. (HR)
KareInn (London, UK) – Using technology to improve the quality of life for our parents’ generation. (HealthTech)
Real Funds (London, UK) – Alternative finance platform disrupting the position of a few major house builders by providing alternative finance to small and medium-sized house builders. (FinTech & PropTech)
Vinterior (London, UK) – A curated marketplace that makes it easy for design lovers to buy and sell high-quality pre-owned furniture to one another. (Marketplaces)
YodelTalk (Vienna, Austria) – Yodel is the business phone service that provides your team with access to phone numbers in over 40 countries directly from your group chat system like Slack, HipChat, Telegram and Facebook Messenger. (Communications)
Applications for pre-seed investment from Seedcamp open again soon. To register for more information, go here.
Looking for inspiration? Check out the Seedcamp Podcast series.
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