Last month, we shared some of the hidden gems that hide beyond the SaaStock stage; the deeply knowledgeable and experienced stars of our “corridor track,” representing SaaS-focused investment firms from around the world.
Many hours are put into the careful planning and curation of our onstage content, but it’s the diverse range of VCs waiting around every corner that makes the event what it is.
With a schedule designed to optimize the chance for networking, helping you forge new connections, and a designated investor zone to assist in pointing you in the right direction, you never know where the next conversation will take you.
While we count down the days until October, here’s a sample of just some of the investors who’ll be on-site, sharing an impressive range of experience across early, mid and later stage enterprises.
Grab a ticket for SaaStock19 now while advance pricing is still available. If you have any questions about meeting with investors or joining us as an investor yourself, please do reach out tom@saastock.com.
Andy Davis, Backstage Capital
Hailing from the UK, Andy Davis is the director of pioneering VC firm Backstage Capital. With less than 10% of all venture capital deals going to women, People of Color, and LGBT founders, Backstage take what others see as a pipeline problem and instead view it as “the biggest opportunity in investment.” Originally started by Arlan Hamilton, to date, Backstage Capital has invested more than £7M into companies led by founders hailing from underrepresented minorities. In addition to funding, they provide an accelerator; a 3-month program designed to give founders the support they need to reach their next critical milestone. At SaaStock, Andy will be offering mentoring about raising funds as a founder from a minority background.
Evgenia Plotnikova, Dawn Capital
Leveraging multiple years experience in venture and private equity, today Evgenia Plotnikova heads up Dawn’s investments in France and Benelux. Her wider focus covers exciting B2B companies, in software and FinTech across Europe. Before joining Dawn in 2018, she was a VC at Atomico, spearheading the firm’s entry into France. Dawn themselves target founders who have nailed their product and are starting to see revenues scale up. If you’re in their sweet spot, where “Everything is going right, and everything must change” then Plotnikova would be a great face to watch out for in Dublin next month. She is also another VC who is kindly donating some of her time to mentor underprivillages attendees.
Jonathan Drillings, Riverside Acceleration Capital
Previously with Comcast Ventures, today Jonathan Drillings is a Partner with Riverside Acceleration Capital, a Riverside Company fund, who invest in Enterprise software companies at the early-growth phase. They’re known for their unique model, which prioritizes keeping capital lightweight, and in proportion to a company’s growth. Jonathan himself has extensive experience within growth-stage Venture Capital, working primarily within the enterprise and SMB software sectors.
Chloé Giard, IDINVEST Partners
As Investment Director at Idinvest Partners VC fund, Chloé Giard places a strong focus on Fintech, Insurtech, SaaS and Marketplaces in Europe, from Seed to Series B. Giard is also a prolific board member, sitting with a number of tech solution startups, including wefox, Botify, and Meero. With €8 billion under management, Idinvest are a European leader in financing small and medium-sized enterprises, looking to fund businesses at various stages of growth. They’re known for their three main lines of business: Direct equity investment, senior or subordinated debt investment in SMEs and mid-tier enterprises, and a range dedicated portfolios and funds.
Ertan Can, Multiple Capital
Ertan Can will be representing Multiple Capital in Dublin this October, a fund of funds, who invest in visionary and high-performing funds across Europe. They’re currently invested in 17 funds (having screened more than 600!) with 440 portfolio companies. Ertan himself is an investor in micro VC funds, constantly looking for the ‘underdog’ in Venture Capital. If that’s set your tail wagging, be sure to seek him out at SaaStock19.
Itxaso del Palacio, Notion Capital
We’re not sure how Itxaso del Palacio can have much time to spare to attend SaaStock19, but we’re incredibly happy to hear she will be! Investment Director at Notion, she is also an active Angel Investor and a Teaching Fellow in Entrepreneurship at University College London. Notion Capital invests broadly across Europe in enterprise tech start-ups. They favor fast-growing prospects, with $1m+ in revenue, and founders who are looking to build global, category-leading companies.
Giuseppe Donvito, P101 Ventures
Joining us from Milan, in addition to his role as Partner at P101 Ventures, Giuseppe Donvito also chairs the AIFI (Associazione Italiana Private Equity) and sits on the board with AI wizards, Wonderflow. With a strong interest in innovation-based projects, his areas of expertise include Software, SaaS, FinTech, and PropTech. P101 is a venture capital firm known for its focus on early-stage investments in the digital sector. They boast a broad portfolio, with a special focus on eCommerce and mobile sectors.
Liz Cain, OpenView
Specializing in sales, operations and process development, Elizabeth Cain sits as Partner on the investment committee at OverView, overseeing their Expansion Platform. Primarily concerned with delivering recruitment, market insights and marketing/sales strategy services to OpenView’s portfolio, Cain has extensive leadership experience and spent many years at NetSuite honing her global business development skills. OpenView have a holistic attitude to investment, leaving founders in the driving seat, but plugging in their past experience at all levels to help supercharge success.
Ben Blume, Atomico
Ben Blume is Principal on the investment team at Atomico, where his focus primarily lies on enterprise software making waves by applying the most innovative new technologies (machine intelligence, internet of things, robotics, drones and advanced analytics) to the major issues facing business in the modern age. Atomico themselves are known for their founder-focused principles, as they look to partner with Europe’s most ambitious tech founders at Series A and beyond. They place a refreshing focus on helping the ambitious tech entrepreneurs to scale in a way that ensures diversity and inclusion remain an integral part of their growing businesses.
Maria Wagner, Beringea
Investor, Operator and Adviser, Maria Wagner sits as Investment Director at Beringea, who operate separate funds in the U.S. and U.K to assist fast-growing businesses in a range of dynamic sectors. With past experience leading Beauty sector giant Birchbox, Wagner honed her investment skills with Virgin Group and GMT Communications. Today Beringea positions themselves as the partner of choice for entrepreneurs seeking capital and business support.
Hector Mason, Episode 1
As someone with first-hand experience as a founder, Hector Mason brings real-world knowledge to the table in his current role as an Investor with Episode 1. Based out of London, and with a strong interest in B2B software, deep tech, and marketplaces, Episode 1 are on the hunt for the dreamers, engineers, scientists and creators who are passionate about making change happen. Their portfolio includes the likes of Attest, ContextScout, SimplyCook, and Pickr. If you’re joining us in Dublin and are looking for an investment that will go beyond the realms of finance, seek out Hector to talk about Episode 1’s hands-on approach to helping businesses take off.
Maren Bannon, Jane VC
Maren Bannon is Co-Founder and Partner at Jane VC, a revolutionary early-stage fund created to provide investment in exclusively female-led startups. Herself an entrepreneur, with over 15 years of experience in building her own tech businesses, Bannon’s background rests in leadership roles within the health tech sector. She also acts as a mentor for StartX, a Stanford-affiliated nonprofit in Silicon Valley running one of the world’s top startup accelerator programs.
Tim Rehder, Earlybird Venture Capital
Principal at Earlybird Venture Capital, Tim Rehder has going experience as an investor with a number of other high profile Berlin-based enterprises including CrossLend, eHealth MediDate, and Fraguster. With over €1 billion under management, in recent years Earlybird Venture Capital has evolved three autonomous and specialized teams, which each place focus on their own dedicated region and sector. The Digital West Fund focuses primarily on early-stage digital technology opportunities in GSA, Nordics, UK, Benelux, France and Southern Europe. The Digital East Fund seeks out early-stage ICT investment opportunities in Eastern Europe and Turkey. Finally, The Health Fund is primarily concerned with early and later-stage opportunities across Europe more broadly, within digital health, medical devices, diagnostics and enabling technologies.
Imogen Ahlquist, Northzone
Imogen Ahlquist joins us from Northzone. Founded in 1996 and with over €1 billion under management, Northzone have offices spanning North America and Europe and typically look to invest in early-stage ventures. They’re long-haul partners, seeking out lasting relationships with businesses that they can have a really tangible impact upon accelerating. To date, they have invested in over 130 companies, and offer 200 years of collective operational and investment experience to those they partner with.
Michael Rager, DTCP
Michael Rager joins us from Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners who invest financial and strategic venture capital in European, Silicon Valley, and Israel-based technology companies. They’re typically looking for assets with sophisticated intellectual property and differentiated business models with high potential for market disruption. There’s a focus on companies within the expansion stage, so if you’re currently seeing an annualized revenue run rate of multiple million euros, find Michael Rager and buy him a coffee at SaaStock19!
Rocío Pillado, Adara Ventures
An Early Stage Tech Investor with Adara Ventures, Rocío Pillado’s specialism lies within Enterprise Software, SaaS, AdTech, Data analytics, and security. Adara themselves are well-known for their diverse but strategic portfolios, built primarily out across geographies around the Atlantic Rim covering Spain, Portugal, France, UK, and Ireland. They have an exclusive focus on problem-solving within the B2B market. Pillado is also the founder of club-mba.com, the leading Spanish website providing services for applicants to MBA and other graduate programs.
Mihaly Szalontay, Flashpoint Venture Capital
As Managing Partner at Flashpoint Venture Capital, Mihaly Szalontay has particular expertise in investment analysis, mergers, and acquisitions. Flashpoint’s primary focus is on B2B SaaS solutions in round “A” stage, but they have also shown support to B2C applications. In addition to his current role, Szalontay sits as a board member for a number of eCommerce and AI-focused enterprises, including GetIntent and Bonusway. He’s also an Angel Investor in Chess.com, the leading online chess platform, boasting over 2.5million members. If you see your enterprise fitting Flashpoint’s sweet spot (or if you’d like to test your skills at the chessboard,) Szalontay would be a great person to book time with this October.
Marvin Liao, 500 Startups
Marvin Liao is a Partner at the Micro Venture Capital Fund, 500 Startups, where he oversees the running of their San Francisco based accelerator program. A real heavyweight in the Bay Area and beyond, 500 Startups has invested in over 2,300 companies, via 5 global funds and 15 thematic funds, which are dedicated to either specific geographic markets or verticals. Liao’s investment interest spans across Digital Media, Enterprise SaaS, Internet of Things & FinTech startups and more. Having spent over a decade with Yahoo! Inc, Liao has extensive client-facing senior executive experience, and also has managed large multifunctional teams across multiple countries; he’s a mine of information beyond the investment space!
Moritz Poewe, Paua Ventures
Coming up to a full decade spent with Paua Ventures, Moritz Poewe is a Berlin-based investor with extensive knowledge of the tech space. Paua Ventures are an early-stage VC firm who provide capital to startups with strong technologies. Managing €70M, their investments typically range from €200,000 through to €6M, with a focus on Seed and Series A stage enterprises. They’ve funded 30 companies to date, with 5 successful exits under their belts.
Andy Mulvenna, AV8 ventures
Andy Mulvenna, in addition to being known as the Co-founder of Brightpearl (cloud software accelerating growth and profits for multichannel retailers,) is a Venture Capital investor focused on Artificial Intelligence. Based out of Palo Alto and London, AV8 Ventures is a $180mil early-stage venture capital firm, with a reputation for interest in data-driven health, mobility, and intelligent enterprise. A keen surfer, if Andy hasn’t headed out to see what the waves are doing around Dublin’s immediate coastline, find him to talk all things Artificial Intelligence and high growth / early-stage SaaS.
We hope this brief rundown gives you a good sense of the interesting, diverse and immensely experienced range of VCs who will be helping make up the audience at this year’s SaaStock19.
In addition to our designated investor zone, helping to ensure you rub shoulders with all the right people, attendees will have the opportunity to facilitate meetings using our event app.
The SaaStock19 site gives you the capacity to build out your own customized itinerary, and doing so will give you greater insight into the best use of your time with us. Everyone’s attendance goals are different, and we put a lot of time, care and effort into ensuring visitors to SaaStock have the very best experience possible.
With 400 investors in attendance, and so much to see, do and learn over the course of the event, we strongly suggest going in with a game plan, and using all of these free tools to your best advantage.
Secure your ticket (or tickets – remember, we offer excellent discounts for those looking to bring their team along!) today, while our advanced pricing offers are still valid.
