18 Brilliant VCs Coming to SaaStock 2018

Dubbed as the best conference for SaaS founders and VCs in Europe for a good reason, SaaStock18 is the best we will have to date. This year we have carefully thought about how to deliver even more ROI to investors: hundreds will once again join us. We will have more private meeting spaces than ever and an AI-powered platform to facilitate matchmaking and meeting planning. We will offer even more bespoke and personal intros to SaaS founders that truly fit individual investment interests.

It’s our intent and aim to boost VCs deal flow 10x, and make SaaStock18 an immovable feature on any SaaS investor’s calendar.

This year we are also running an additional investor-only event.

Join us on October 15th for our premiere investor-only event, Investock. The goal of the event is to bring together the most influential SaaS investors from leading international funds. Catch up with 200 fellow SaaS VCs and some LPs too before diving head into a craze of back to back meetings with SaaS Startups at SaaStock18.

Investock’s agenda is taking shape. Some highlights:

• LP Keynote
• Impact of VC co-investing with CVCs.
• Fireside chat with SVB.
• Panel discussion on Portfolio Value-add in a Competitive Market with EQT, Notion and Salesforce Ventures.
• Keynote ‘Software 2018’ with Battery Ventures

We will round off the intensive Investock day with a pub-crawl leading us to the SaaStock opening party.

Excited already? So are we! That’s why we’ve gathered the first batch of 18 VCs attending SaaStock Dublin 2018 — at Investock and our renown Investor Zone.

Roel de Hoop, Partner, Prime Ventures

For Roel de Hoop, the investment world is a comfortable ground where he’s thrived for a long time. His professional path passed through the position of Senior Vice President for Prolin, a Dutch company acquired by Hewlett-Packard. Afterwards, he founded a couple of companies, including the successful Hot-Orange, boosting his cross-border marketing and sales knowhow. He then moved on to angel investments, focusing on software and internet businesses. In 1999, Roel joined the Dutch venture capital firm Prime Ventures. Since 2008, he’s been a partner there, serving on the board of numerous successful internet companies.

Michiel Kotting, Partner, Northzone

The early days of Michiel Kotting’s career were at the Boston Consulting Group after he completed his MBA at Harvard. In 1999, he founded Digital Jones, an artificial intelligence company based in Silicon Valley. Michiel’s rich professional experience includes being a partner at Accel Partners. He joined Northzone in 2016 where he’s currently a partner. His present-day investment portfolio includes Catawiki, Personio, FreightHub, and Aidence. Mobile, FinTech, AI, and data analytics are all topics close to heart for him.

William McQuillan, Partner, Frontline Ventures

William McQuillan started out his career as an analyst at Lehman Brothers and strategic consultant at a boutique investment bank. These experiences made him realize his passion about startups. That’s why he also passed through the entrepreneurial experience, founding his company Osmoda in 2011. In 2012, he joined the venture capital arena, becoming a partner at the Dublin-based Frontline Ventures. The VC company is based on the principle of a strong community, providing a peer-to-peer platform to the funded founders. William is currently a participant in the Kauffman Fellowship, a prestigious organization teaching its fellows venture capital insights, as well as innovation in the field of new technology.

Lucile Cornet, Vice President, Eight Roads Ventures

Lucile Cornet’s first serious professional steps were at renowned companies such as Merrill Lynch and Moelis & Company in London, where she worked as an analyst. Already in 2012 she jumped on the venture capital bandwagon, joining the London-based Summit Partners as an Associate. Since 2015, Lucile is the Vice President of the global venture capital firm Eight Roads. There her focus is on providing investments for promising companies in the field of enterprise, consumer and next-generation financial services technology. Lucile is a strong believer in the power of the European startup ecosystem.

Simon Levene, Co-founder and Partner, Mosaic Ventures

With an impressive educational background at both Cambridge and Harvard, Simon Levene quickly entered the budding internet ecosystem already in the early 1990s. He was among the first employees at @Home Network, a pioneering broadband internet provider. His next big move was joining Yahoo! in 2001, where he served as VP of Corporate Development for four years. Equipped with this rich experience in the Silicon Valley, Simon moved to the venture capital world in 2006. He became a partner at Accel in London. Together with some of his closest partners and friends, Simon founded Mosaic Ventures in 2014. His VC company does Silicon Valley-style investments from its headquarters in London.

Joe Krancki, Partner, Frog Capital

With the prestigious MBA degree from London Business School and a BSc and MSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Joe Krancki made his first professional steps as a senior consultant at the likes of Ernst & Young. In 2009, he joined the London-based venture capital firm Frog Capital. He is a part of the board of a number of companies, as well as being a non-executive director for a few of them as well. Joe was promoted to partner in 2015. He is currently leading Frog’s collaboration with the London Business School on the TELL Series.

Christian Claussen, Managing Partner, Ventech

Christian Claussen is a man of many passions. After three MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering from top European universities, he served as the Head of Strategic Business Development and Product Management at Siemens’ Public Networks Group. In 1998, he joined the investment field as a Partner at TVM Capital. Christian moved to the Paris-based OMNES Capital in 2008. At both venture companies, he led numerous successful investments, many of which resulted in high-ranking acquisitions. Since 2013, he is a General Partner at Ventech. Besides leading the firm’s investment activities in the DACH region, he is a board member for a number of funded companies.

Rita Lei, Director, Torch Partners

After a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD from the Sainsbury Laboratory, Rita Lei joined Cambridge Consultants as a Senior Analyst. There she delved in the pharmaceutical, medical devices, and technology sectors. Her passion for startups and innovation brought her to the investment arena in 2010. Rita joined the London-based VC Torch Partners. Her specialties there include consumer internet, digital media, enterprise software, and SaaS. She has led a wide variety of fundings for Torch Partners’ portfolio companies, from Series A to E, as well as equity fundraising, sales, and acquisitions.

Nicola McClafferty, Investment Director, Draper Esprit

Nicola McClafferty studied Business and Finance in Dublin and started out her career as an investment banking analyst. She quickly moved on to become an Associate at Balderton Capital. In 2009, she took the position of Investment Manager at Ravensbeck Limited. In 2011, Nicola followed her entrepreneurial passion and founded her own company, COVETIQUE.com, an online retailer of pre-owned luxury fashion. It was acquired by ASOS in 2015. Since February 2017, she has been an Investment Director at Draper Esprit, splitting her time between its offices in London and Dublin. Nicola is a board member of Lyst and Verve.

Muz Ashraf, Vice President, Technology Crossover Ventures

Muz Ashraf got his MBA from Harvard Business School, after completing a BA in Economics and a MSc in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University. Merrill Lynch was his first workplace as an investment banker. His focus there was on strategic M&A and financing. Muz spent some time in the Bay Area, where he was an investor at Vector Capital. His activities gravitated around the software and security sectors. Since 2015, he is the Vice President of Technology Crossover Ventures, a VC that has invested in the likes of Facebook, Netflix, Linkedin, Airbnb, and Spotify.

Joe Bond, Associate, PROfounders Capital

Joe Bond received his BA in Economics from Cambridge University. His first professional experience in finance was at Morgan Stanley soon after. He then spent four years in the consulting field at OC&C Strategy Consultants. Since 2016, Joe has been an Associate at the London-based PROfounders Capital, investing in early-stage consumer and B2B technology businesses.

Daniel Bailey, Investment Manager, MMC Ventures

Daniel Bailey started his promising career path in finances as an Analyst at Deutsche Bank in London in 2012. Since 2015 he is an Investment Manager at MMC Ventures, after completing the prestigious BA in Economics and Management at Oxford University. At MMC Ventures, Daniel focuses his investment activities on enterprise applications and enabling technologies, with particular interest in data analytics, software infrastructure, developer tools, and machine intelligence. He is a board observer for a number of the VC’s portfolio companies.

Itxaso del Palacio, Investment Partner, M12

Itxaso del Palacio is a woman of many talents. She has a MA degree in Industrial Engineering, Venture Capital education from University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. She is also a Kauffman Fellow. Based in London, Itxaso is currently a Partner at M12, focusing on its European investments in the fields of AI, big data & analytics, business SaaS, cloud infrastructure, productivity and communications, and security. She has been a Partner at Lepe Partners, as well as at EC1 Capital. Itxaso has taught entrepreneurship at a number of renowned universities.

Sasha Astafyeva, Principal, Felix Capital

A polyglot and a graduate of the Harvard Business School, Sasha Astafyeva launched her career in finances at Lehman Brothers in London in 2006. Then she moved on to TA Associates, entering the investment world. Sasha is no stranger to the entrepreneurial buzz either. She was the Vice President of Finance and Business Intelligence at VivaReal, a renowned Brazilian online real estate marketplace . She has also taken the position of Head of Business Intelligence and Strategy at the online fashion marketplace Lyst. She joined Felix Capital in 2016, a VC that invests in companies combining creativity and technology.

Jonathan Lerner, Managing Director, Smedvig Capital

Backed by a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Jonathan Lerner bravely sails the seas of technology investments. After working at Bain & Company and Argos, among others, he joined Smedvig Capital in 2017 as its Managing Director. As Jonathan notes, he is excited by the application of mobile tech to big corporate problems. He is an angel investor at Much Better Adventures. Jon serves as Director for a number of funded companies, including Captify, Infinity, Mediamorph, Quill, The Smart Cube, and Poq.

Logan Bartlett, Vice President, Battery Ventures

The fact that Logan Bartlett got included in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list of young venture capitalists speaks tons about his skills and determination to make a difference in the investment world. After a BS in Business Administration from Washington and Lee University, he joined Battery Ventures in 2014. Logan’s focus as a Vice President in its New York office is on growth investments for B2B software companies. Some of Battery’s investments that he oversees include Amplitude, Braze, Clubhouse, Dataiku, Narvar, Pendo, StreamSets, and TrendKite.

Laurel Bowden, Partner, 83North

Laurel Bowden’s experience in consulting and investments is rich and dates back to 1992, when she served as Senior Consultant at Gemini Consulting in Johannesburg, South Africa. She passed through positions such as Director at GE Capital in London and General Partner at JVP. In 2008, she joined Greylock IL, now known as 83North. Laurel established the VC’s activities in Europe, with investments in companies like Just Eat, Qliktech, Notonthehighstreet, and Hybris. She is an angel investor for Fizzback, Wix, and Secret Escapes. Her current investment portfolio at 83North includes MotorK, Ebury, Mirakl, Celonis, BlueVine, Wonga, iZettle TIS, and Workable.

Jos White, General Partner, Notion Capital

Growing up with the entrepreneurial spirit of his father, Jos White took the path of creating his own companies early on. With his brother Ben, he launched three businesses, among which Star, one of the pioneering ISPs in the UK. They also created MessageLabs, a provider of anti-spam and antivirus protection in the cloud. It is one of the first SaaS companies ever, and was acquired by Symantec for $700M. In 2009, Jos co-founded Notion Capital and is currently its General Partner, based in London. The VC focuses its investments on B2B SaaS/Cloud companies. He has angel investments in a number of New York companies, including Bench, Gamechanger, Justworks, and Splash.