Why Europe’s next unicorns need stars from both the old and new economic worlds

Robert Lasher, co-founder of venture capital (VC) firm Visionaries Club, said: “With a little more confidence, we can leverage the skills and qualities we already have in Europe to develop tomorrow’s global technology leaders. I can do that.” . “Our hypothesis is that if we can provide European entrepreneurs with access to both a deep pool of capital and real sector expertise, they will be able to unlock the true potential of their businesses. is.”

Launched in 2019 by Lacher and his co-founder Sebastian Pollok, Visionaries Club has pursued a different approach to VC investing since its inception. Both Mr. Rucker and Mr. Pollock still bear the scars of starting and selling their own businesses. “We both wanted to start the VC fund we wished we had when we were running our companies,” Lacher says.

Lacher’s point is that early-stage technology companies often find it relatively easy to attract investment backing, but what they really need is support, advice, and access to potential customers. I’m saying that. “Founders make hundreds of decisions every day, many of which are about problems they’ve never seen before,” he says. “It’s much easier to make those decisions when you have the support of people who have recently gone through similar dilemmas.”

While that may seem obvious, Lacher argues that there has never been a real effort to confront that challenge in the VC world. “Ironically, while VC funds spend a lot of time talking about disruption, this is not an industry that has been disrupting itself for many years.”

So Lutcher and Pollock set out to recruit two distinct groups of investors to the Visionaries Club who could provide more than just capital.

Group 1 consists of limited partners of recently successful digital entrepreneurship funds. These investors include founders and senior leaders of companies such as UiPath, Miro, Flixbus, Mollie, Spotify, Personalio, Adyen, and HelloFresh.

The second group is made up of family businesses and includes some of Europe’s largest family business leaders, including representatives from Swarovski, Mittal, Haniel, Steele, Henkel, Siemens, Oetker, Fieg and Bitburger.

The idea is for digital entrepreneurs to provide founders with practical advice on how to build and scale successful companies. Family entrepreneurs also offer wisdom, perhaps as a pilot project as a new business perfects its product, or in the scale-up phase of growth, offering their business as a potential customer and access to the rest of the market. can also be provided.

“We really wanted investors from both the old and new economies of Europe,” Lacher explains. “We need both to build a new generation of high-growth companies.”

The Visionaries Club’s pitch to investors – the opportunity to take a more active role in supporting such businesses – appears to have resonated. In his first four years, he has raised approximately $600 million across five funds and has seen investors step up in terms of the business support they provide.

Successful early investments in companies such as payroll software company Deal, now valued at $12 billion, no doubt helped attract investors. However, entrepreneurs in both types of Visionaries Club express enthusiasm for broader projects.

Franz Haniel, Chairman of the Haniel Family Business Holding and member of the BMW Board of Directors, said: “A unique network of entrepreneurs representing the old and new business worlds is coming together to enable fruitful exchanges that will drive Europe’s digital transformation. I believe it will happen,” he said. This approach is unique to further unlock entrepreneurial spirit and momentum. ”

Meanwhile, in the new economy, Personio founder Hanno Renner describes the Visionaries Club as “an important component of Europe’s technology ecosystem.” The HR software company received early investment from the fund and later Mr. Renner became a backer. “I decided to become an investor, too,” Renner explains. “I love the value proposition.”

Looking to the future, Mr Lutcher and Mr Pollock are now returning to fundraising and seeking support for their sixth vehicle, the Tomorrow Fund. The company plans to invest in what Lacher calls “deep tech” businesses, early-stage ventures that are developing technologies that can be deployed in physical areas such as pharmaceuticals and industrial engineering.

Larcher believes the Visionaries Club’s approach is particularly suited to supporting such companies. New entrants to these markets often require far more capital support than they can raise from traditional VC investors, he argues. So while Tomorrow Fund can help raise capital in the early stages, its biggest contribution may be introducing them to fellow entrepreneurs who have billions of dollars of liquidity at their disposal. I don’t know.

This is the approach the Visionaries Club hopes will eventually allow Europe to compete on the world stage. “We often complain that Europe doesn’t have Google, Amazon or Tencent, the technology leaders that are profitable and can drive innovation in clusters,” Lasher said. “Our network of entrepreneurs can bridge that gap, with deep domain expertise and plenty of capital at our disposal to take bold risks.”