‘Hunting unicorns and breeding angels’: 4 female investors every Irish founder should know

Four European female investors Irish founders should add to their contact list / ‘Hunting unicorns and breeding angels’: these 4 female investors should be on the contact list of every Irish founder

When it comes to finding funding opportunities in the start-up world, it is all about opening doors for yourself, or in some cases slipping quickly through one that is about to close. Networking is key and introductions are essential, and not just in your own backyard. There is immense value in looking beyond your country’s borders, getting to know how the land lies in other ecosystems and of course, learning from those who have gone before you.

We appreciate that simply advising anyone seeking to raise finance to look towards other ecosystems may not be enough to support you to actually do it. So, we have picked four women, working in investment circles in Europe, to put on your radar and inspire action. If you are looking to expand your horizons, get a different view or have a great investment opportunity, these women should be on your contacts list.

Ekaterina Gianelli has been investing in European and early-stage companies for a decade. Based out of Finland, she is currently a venture partner with Inventure which has a focus on Nordic start-ups in areas including deeptech, consumer tech and healthtech.

Ekaterina’s background includes a number of positions in start-ups previous to her move to VC, advisor roles and board positions. She has a strong interest in “businesses creating more equal access to opportunities”. One example that she has invested in is Qvin, a US-based biotech that uses menstrual blood for diagnostics.

Last year Ekaterina announced she would be leaving Inventure. There is no formal announcement yet on the new fund but she assures us we’ll still see her scouring Europe for early-stage tech start-ups. When it comes to advice for female founders seeking investment Ekaterina says she often finds women don’t aim high enough and she’d like to see a change in the ambition level.

“I think women are usually a lot more conservative about how they spend money and that can be a good thing, but that can also be a bad thing especially when you are pitching your plan of getting there. Often we would want women to be a little bit more aggressive in how they would do it when it comes to spending money,” she says.

Another point Ekaterina focuses on is the talent and diversity in the start-up team “It is a very good sign to us if you are able to convince top-notch people to join you – it means you are likely to be able to convince your customers, partners and whatnot, in the future,” she adds.

Viktorija Trimbel has taken all of the roads to get to her current position as Managing Director of the Lithuanian sovereign VC fund Coinvest Capital and it would nearly be quicker to list the experience she does not have!

She kicked off her career with investment bank Suprema, just as her first daughter was born. She listed companies on the stock exchange while nursing a newborn. She has worked in government and private finance in the Baltic regions on national and international investments, policy and projects, and also did a six-year stint in Belarus and has telco experience too.

Now with Coinvest Capital, a sovereign VC fund fuelled by the public funds of the Lithuanian State and EU, which is owned by the national development agency INVEGA. It was developed to strengthen the Lithuanian business angel ecosystem through a profit-sharing scheme for accredited private investors, and reducing risk for the early-stage start-up companies seeking capital.

Viktorija says she is “hunting unicorns and breeding angels”. As an angel investor, she likes to support female founders, having last year invested in The Knotty Ones, a Lithuanian sustainable clothing brand that employs knitters from rural communities “providing financial independence for more women and a voice in their families and communities”.

When it comes to the glass ceiling and issues for women within the founder/investment environment Viktorija says, “If you want to have change you have to discuss the matter in a mixed environment – you need to talk with men”. She believes there are a lot of invisible barriers that some men simply don’t see, but who will act to rectify it when it’s pointed out to them.

Nora Bavey is General Partner at Unconventional Ventures (UV), a Scandinavian VC company she founded with Thea Messel born from the frustration of the lack of funding for underrepresented founders such as women, people of colour and immigrants. They saw a gap and decided to fill it themselves.

The unconventional move has certainly paid off and right now UV is in the sweet spot in the investment world, championing diversity and sustainability, and it’s no wonder it’s becoming easier for UV to get funding for its funds lately.

It is likely you have come across Bavey and UV before as they release an annual report on the state of the funding landscape in the Nordics and beyond, which when it comes to underrepresented founders generally carries the tone for Europe-wide expectations.

When asked what funding trends Bavey sees for 2024 she believes that “climate-washing” will disappear and she hopes there will be more social impact investing.

“If you are not finding investors in your own region, never forget, go outside [your region], expand your horizon, that is the only way we are going to make it,” she advises women struggling to secure funding.

“Do due diligence on the investors because it is time-consuming and time wasted to think that you are going to be the woman that is going to get the first cheque out of an investor who has historically never invested in women,” she advises. “More and more angel investors are starting to talk about their appetite for women-led companies so I would start with them,” she adds.

Kaari Kink is an investor at Superangel, an Estonian early-stage VC firm investing in start-ups in the Baltics and Nordics. She is also the Chair of the Board at Estonian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association EstVCA.

Kaari took an alternative route to where she is now, with her career starting as a professional ballroom dancer who was “second best in Europe” as a youth. When it came time to study she moved herself from Estonia to Bath, in England, to study Sports and Exercise Science, where she learned the physical and mental tolls put on athletes and spent her weekends dancing her way around the UK.

Fascinated by the impact of physical activity on health, she joined Energise Me, an NGO that aims to get children from underrepresented communities moving. It was the ‘impact’ of the project that inspired Kaari to get involved with the start-up world and her next move was to get involved with an Estonian health start-up Triumf Health which delivers psychological and behavioural care, via a mobile game environment to chronically ill children to help them cope with their treatments.

After five years in the UK and start-up experience in her arsenal, she moved back to Estonia to join Superangel in a platform role to build the network and the ‘value add’ programme. She spent a summer with another start-up KOOS before transitioning into her investor role with Superangel where she makes sure they don’t miss any opportunities.

“Be aware that you will get a lot of no’s,” Kink advises when it comes to pitching investors. “It is not a reflection on you or your business – you are going to get punched in the face all the time – at first it feels very personal. You just need one yes essentially, and you will get a lot of no’s but going into a journey knowing that can be a little bit liberating,” she explains. “You are defined by your ability to cope with this,’ she adds.

On why Irish women should network in the Estonian start-up ecosystem she says, “we are a very small, very driven, very collaborative ecosystem. The immediate benefit is, when you come here you are able to reach any type of ecosystem player.”

Get out there

In short, the Baltics and Nordics ecosystems are very accessible for founders, even female founders, so get out there and get networking!

Nominations are now open for the 2024 IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards

Nominations are now open for the most prestigious awards for women in business in Ireland. If this is your year to shine (and it should be!), find out more about the categories of the IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year awards on this dedicated page or go straight to the Nominations Page to download your Nomination Form and start your application!

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