The development of AI has been driving many investors, even those operating in the health and medical sectors, towards tech-related solutions in the healthcare space in 2023. However, I firmly believe that physical diseases cannot be completely cured or effectively treated solely with an app or AI technology. AI and technology can be excellent tools in medicine, particularly in areas like behavioural science and psychology. They are useful for prevention and support, but when it comes to physical health issues at the molecular or cellular level, technology has its limitations. I believe that AI and technological advancements can only be valuable alongside tangible, physical treatments.

Our production costs rely heavily on the prices of raw materials. The high inflation across global markets in 2023 has substantially increased the costs of our ingredients, which led to an unavoidable increase in our product prices. This price hike has been a widespread challenge, affecting not just us but the entire supplement industry and any business relying on co-manufacturing. Nowadays, few companies have their own manufacturing plants, so the reliance on co-manufacturers is high. As a result, there's a notable delay in securing production slots. The wait is particularly challenging for smaller companies, for whom the increased costs of production add another layer of difficulty, impacting pricing and overall business strategy.

Early-stage investment is an excellent barometer for the future. The choices early-stage investors make reflect the world they want to see in the decades to come.

Having been involved in building and scaling companies, I recognise the immense value of having investors who can empathise with the challenges and rollercoaster journey of building a company. In the US, there are plenty of operator or founder-led venture capital firms, some of the most successful US VC firms were founded by previous founders and operators, but in Europe, especially in the Nordic region, where I'm based, there are few. I see this gap as a great opportunity. Our goal is to create a venture capital firm that can not only genuinely connect with early-stage founders, drawing from our extensive founding and operating experience, but I think we have a higher chance of success looking at the statistics from those highly successful US-based funds.

Before deciding on launching a VC fund, I was an angel investor. Raising a fund will now enable me to write larger checks and make a more significant impact on the startup ecosystem. Becoming a GP has also allowed me to pursue my investment passion full-time, and consequently to secure better deals. It's not just about me anymore; it's about our collective efforts. I believe I've transitioned from a hobby to a career, although my work still feels like a hobby, but now it has a greater impact.

My advice to founders planning to fundraise for a Series A in 2024, is to take the new market reality seriously. As Series A typically occurs when the company has found product-market fit and is looking to scale, founders operating at this stage now need to meet all the necessary criteria, which wasn't as strictly required before. What used to be the 'rule of 40' is now referred to as the 'rule of 60'. The environment where audacious goals were readily accepted even with poor cash flow projections, is over. While it's still good to be ambitious, the current market is about being realistic. If the ideal metrics aren't there, it might be smarter to aim for a smaller Series A round, say €3 to €5 million, where investors are more forgiving of imperfect metrics.

I have noticed that there has been a growing number of founder teams with a truly explosive combination of a strong scientific background and a strong business acumen innovating in the climate (hardware) space.

When we were raising our Seed round in the summer of 2022, investors were very enthusiastic about the long-term potential of our technology. This year’s round was very different. Investors were far more cautious, asking more thorough questions about how we would use their funds and wanting to see more traction. We noticed the biggest difference when speaking with the US investors at the beginning of 2023. When we started fundraising in March, surprisingly, it was US investors, especially those investing outside of the US, who were far more cautious compared to European investors; they took significantly longer to make decisions, a stark contrast to their quick responses in the spring of 2022.

Over the past 12 months, startups have faced challenges such as budget freezes or deals that are delayed because of shifting priorities of their own clients. Our role as investors has been to offer as much support as possible on the commercial front. This has involved not just identifying areas to cut costs but, more importantly, determining where investments in growth are truly worthwhile.

Your core strategy should always be to build a good business. Good businesses get funded in all market conditions. Today, the bar for getting funding is high, and so it is crucial for you to be brutally honest with yourself about what aspects of your business are working and what aren't. As a founder, both your runway and the time you invest in your business are precious, so dare to make bold decisions, as too many small changes here and there may not yield the outcome you want.

Our investment thesis is very much focused on the outcomes we’d like to see in the world, which includes backing founders contributing to a sustainable planet, an inclusive society and healthy lives. We think solving some of the biggest social and environmental challenges will require even bigger energy and dedication to see how these areas might intersect. Climate tech, for example, has seen and will see rapid growth over the next few years, but we also need to address the consequences of the climate emergency on our health and the very fabric of our lives in society to mitigate future harm.

In 2022, we scaled quite quickly - a big part of the fundraising round we closed in 2022 we invested into research and development. As a consequence, this year, we have put a lot of focus on bringing our burn rate down and extending our runway. We decided to downsize our team from eight people to four, effectively cutting our team size in half. We also cut down on expenses that were not crucial to our business such as office space, subscriptions and hardware. Today, I think we are in a good space when it comes to our burn rate and we are fundraising!

During our first round, we made an extra effort to bring female business angels on board, for our last financing round, we were also actively seeking investment from VCs with female partners. Gender diversity is something we place a lot of importance on. We're proud that our investor base today is about 50% female, and we aim to maintain that level of diversity in our upcoming round of funding.

I was always very curious to be at the forefront of tech innovation and work with ambitious founders who want to change the status quo and tackle the challenges of the coming decades and working as a VC investor has allowed me to fullfill that. In 2023, I was excited by the opportunity to take on more responsibility, especially in challenging times, and to help founders secure their funding rounds. I have also been fortunate to expand my network within the VC community. I find it very fascinating to dive into different technologies and industries and engage with experts on various topics. These learning opportunities and insights are super motivating to me.

I have definitely seen a positive impact of being part of a diverse investment team. This year, we seen a growing number of female founders proactively approaching us. Participating in events (both as an attendee and organizer) dedicated to female founders has been incredibly rewarding and led to very strong connections between founders and VCs. This also gave me the chance to leverage my network to encourage more female entrepreneurs to step forward, start their ventures, and connect with relevant stakeholders such as VCs and angels.

Founders who come across initially with energy and clarity of thought and then back it up with data and details to demonstrate they have a clear understanding of the opportunity and how to execute on it raise capital in all market conditions. Stamina and persistence are also key as rounds are taking longer to get done and founders need to remain confident and upbeat throughout all their interactions.

2023 was a challenging fundraising year for everybody and therefore the practical fundraising support I received from my Investors was incredibly valuable. As an early-stage founder, I greatly appreciate the clarity and guidance my existing investors have offered. I believe that learning about how the venture capital ecosystem works and how potential investors might evaluate our startup will contribute to our fundraising success. We definitely feel better prepared starting our next fundraising round. I also believe that the direct introductions to VCs from our existing business angel investors have been making a material difference to our future fundraising outcome.

The biggest challenge for our portfolio companies in 2023 has been hiring. It has involved first finding individuals with the right skills but also those who would align with the company culture and the scrappiness of early-stage startups. It has not been an easy job, but I cannot emphasise enough the importance of dedicating time to recruiting and getting help with that. Leveraging your network: your team members, VCs, angels etc to also get their views, and conducting reference checks, can significantly help in making the right hiring decisions.

I think the most important difference that I see between the US and Europe is in the way we think about how market dynamics work. In Europe, there's a tendency to view the market as a zero-sum game, where the market size is fixed, and the goal of every company is to beat the competition to take a larger slice of the pie. This means that competitors are viewed as a threat. By contrast, the US market is much more collaborative - American investors expect markets to grow exponentially, especially the AI market, and all companies play a role in making the market larger.

There are several reasons behind our decision to first enter the US market. Firstly, the US is a leader in AI adoption and culturally, it is a market that is more willing to embrace really new technologies, which is highly advantageous for us. However, our expansion into the US market is about broadening our reach rather than shifting our focus. We're really looking forward to expanding our operations into Europe as it seems like Europe has recently really stepped up as an AI hub, especially when we look at ecosystems such as Paris and the French ecosystem. Europe has an abundance of incredible talent.