Participants are expected to be exceptional investors already. However, our experience suggests that most VC managers are not necessarily exceptional fundraisers.
But let’s get specific.
Introductions to Limited Partners through our matchmaking events across Europe, including in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Helsinki. Strong relationships are not built over zoom.
A list of International Limited Partners and Family Offices investing in European VCs, with details on their thesis.
Fundraising templates such as fund modelling, best-in-class pitch deck examples, portfolio construction, data room and LP reporting.
At least 10 hours of 1-on-1 mentoring from Founding Partners who have built the most successful VCs in Europe, and experienced Limited Partners investing in the next generation of Managers.
6 - 8 days of structured content covering the key aspects of your raise with a focus on LPs, what different types look for based on 200+ LP responses; fundraising materials; portfolio construction; pitch feedback; regulatory analysis for marketing the fund; sourcing LPs & building your funnel; and how to maximise your chances of closing more institutional LP commitments. We will optimise for face-to-face interactions, under Chatham House rules.
A strong peer community of those in a similar position to share learnings and connections, and overcome common challenges, including joining our alumni community.
Option of an LP commit from our LP network if there is a fit. Ultimately, the primary goal of this programme is to increase capital allocation in your fund from the LPs you engage through the programme.
Benefit from some of the best VC service providers, specially chosen for the programme.
There are thousands of startup incubators, accelerators & founder communities in Europe, but there is very little support for VCs. Yet, raising a fund is more time-consuming, expensive and complex, even under favourable market conditions.
This is why for the past few years, we’ve supported the ecosystem at the VC-LP level without monetising it:
• Hosted a number of LP-focused events across Europe, including our annual London-based conference, Funding Venture
• Co-delivered a two-day programme designed to educate Family Offices on investing in founders & funds, the London Venture Capital Academy
• Published LP reports and best practices such as our 2024 CVC guide, 2023 VC Fund-of-Fund report.Capital Behind Venture.
Since then, we’ve received so many requests for assistance from VCs on their own fundraising efforts (some of these are amusing, especially when most funds push founders to run fundraising themselves), we realised that there is a huge gap in the market to build a more structured initiative that could have a material impact on emerging fund managers.
We also felt strongly that we wanted to continue providing these services for free to avoid any selection bias and continue supporting under-represented managers, so went on a mission to find a way of building a VC programme, at scale.
It is only for General Partners and places will be highly competitive, but all VCs that fit the scope are encouraged to apply. The programme is relevant for VCs who are:
🌍 Headquartered and investing anywhere in Europe (this includes the UK)
♟️ Investing with a differentiated strategy, agnostic or specialist
🚀 Emerging Managers (broadly Funds I — III)
Emerging managers consistently demonstrate a likelihood of outsized returns compared to more established managers, leveraging their unique competitive advantage; speed, hustle, network, and alignment. The following are examples:
Second or third-time funds that are now focused on raising from institutions, having raised successful past vehicles mostly from FOs
Established managers bringing on the next generation of GPs or those same investors breaking out to form their own VC
Corporate VCs raising external capital or Family Office investors raising their first few institutional funds
Investors looking to institutionalise their next fund such as exited founder(s) with an existing angel portfolio, angel networks or venture builders launching a follow-on fund
Fund managers without a typical background but bringing something unique and diverse (however you do need to be able to evidence investing activity)
Warm introductions are not required and may delay the process.
Apply here.
All applicants will receive exclusive benefits and fundraising resources, as our objective is to make an impact on the whole VC ecosystem.
The selection process involves an initial short application, followed by a call, a request for other info (if required, reference calls) and then a decision.
Founding Partners from the most prominent VCs in Europe, such as Robin Klein from LocalGlobe, Haakon Overli from Dawn Capital and Sitar Teli from Connect Ventures are joining the programme as mentors. They have collectively raised over $11bn across 80 funds.
We are also excited to have a fantastic group of Limited Partners investing in Emerging Managers such as Christian Stiebner from KfW, Charlotte Palmer from Integra and Dom Maier from AXA Venture Partners.
Our LP community includes Limited Partners interested in investing in Emerging Managers; funds-of-funds, governmental organisations, family offices, corporates such as banks and insurance companies, asset managers and endowments.
Limited Partners who have attended our events in the past, contributed to a report or presented at a workshop, know that we don’t operate a pay-to-play policy — which plagues Family Office conferences and creates poor-quality speakers or selection bias on the funds presented. We only select speakers and funds based on merit.
The programme is free, with no hidden costs.
It is funded by credible and relevant VC service providers who share our vision across legal, fund admin, accounting, regulatory, tech and PR.
You get out as much as you put in.
Just ask some of the 800+ founders who have gone through our startup accelerators.
We have designed the programme to take into account busy schedules and focus on high-quality output-driven outcomes.
The minimum time commitment is:
• Attending 6 days of workshops over a 3-month period, taking place between February and April 2025;
• Receiving at least 10 hours of mentoring from our community of established VCs and LPs; and
• Attending at least two LP VC matchmaking events in May and June 2025.
We spoke to over 60 VC service providers to select partners who had a track record of working with VCs, and who share our vision to level up the European VC landscape.
Our fund admin partner, HFL, is a specialist VC-focused fund administrator and fund services provider, who have worked with many leading managers, including LocalGlobe (Phoenix Court), Seedcamp, and Moonfire Ventures.
Our Legal partner, Osborne Clarke, has been an adviser to VCs across the European ecosystem for decades, with a team of fund formation experts, led by Helen Parsonage (UK) and Tanja Aschenbeck (Germany). They have worked with funds such as Firstminute Capital, Passion Capital and High-Tech Gründerfonds.
Our tech partner, Sage, is the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll, and payment systems.
Our PR partner, Ballou, a pan-European communication agency for tech companies and VCs, who have worked with Commerz Ventures, 2150 and Speedinvest, as well as Deel, Pinterest and Waze.
Our accounting partner, Johnston Carmichael, is one of the top independent accountancy firms with an audit, tax and accounting team that focuses on VC managers.
Our regulatory partner, Leela Capital, is a regulatory host platform built for emerging managers by industry operators. The team supports 20+ emerging managers on their fund strategy, whilst providing them with a jurisdiction-agnostic scalable solution.