Upscalers

Women have less investment knowledge and are less confident about investing than men. We are team of committed women convinced that it’s the time to change this statement. Women have to be part of the technology revolution which takes place right under their nose. Tech with Purpose, where impact is at the core of the business model, is our Club’s investment thesis. The current growth-at-all-costs Unicorn model doesn’t fit the reality anymore. Instead, we are looking for the Camel model, as they show valuable lessons on how to survive through crisis, and to sustain and grow in adverse conditions. If your solution tackles essential problems that human beings face, we are a match.

January Ventures is a VC fund focused on angel/pre-seed in the US & Europe. We are replacing the friends & family round and re-writing the networks in venture. We believe the founders of the next decade will look fundamentally different: more female, more diverse and more distributed. We back founders based on their tenacity and ambition, not their pedigrees or who they know. Our vision is an equal opportunity tech ecosystem. Our firm is built on the principles of transparency and access, and we back founders based on their tenacity and ambition, not their pedigrees or who they know.

CVX is one of Europe's fastest growing venture investors and is executing on our path to become Europe’s largest venture investor by providing high growth companies with capital, knowledge, and network. We are driven by our belief that the best investors are often those that provide founders with the right knowledge, experience, and network for the specific stage and industry. CVX always invests with and through the best angels for the particular founder. Today, we have over 500 angel investor partners in CVX that invest in and support companies that they can truly add a value-adding difference to.

firstminute capital is a $320m sector-agnostic seed fund backed by 120 unicorn founders, including over 20 founders of $10bn+ businesses. Our General Partner Brent Hoberman is a double unicon founder. Yet, we are more than a fund. We’re an ecosystem of entrepreneurs from all over the world who, facilitated by firstminute capital’s team, come together to help one another, turn vision into reality and create the future. Our community is our edge. It is the source of the transformational support we offer to our partners who are warmly welcomed inside. An invitation into the firstminute capital community is secured by those with a special kind of spirit, not just a solid spreadsheet. A rare breed driven by a powerful characteristic we call, ‘Magnetic Ambition.’ Those with it often don’t recognise it in themselves, yet they are propelled forward by it, every day. We see it in their ability to capture hearts and minds with their vision, their belief and their commitment. When we find a founder with Magnetic Ambition, we open the door to the firstminute capital community and we give them everything they need. At your service What can founders expect from working with us? First of all, our 9-person investment team will fight for founders. Between us, members of the team have backed 10 unicorn startups at seed; we have IPO-ed companies; we have started companies; we have fundraised ourselves and we have failed and picked ourselves up again. So we are all here to help with advice, strategy brainstorming, product workshops, introductions to customers, raising a Series A or just being there for you in the tough times as well as the good times. If we can't help, we'll know someone in our extensive network who can and we'll make that intro. On top of the investment team, founders also get the whole "platform" team, which is another 11 people dedicated to helping founders scale their business and help with areas such as hiring and marketing. Our goal is to be the most helpful seed fund in Europe. We love to help founders build. Network effects At firstminute, we see ourselves as collaboration catalysts. We act to unlock the value our the community and bring our own expertise to bear when the time is right. Thanks to our 120 unicorn backers as well as a network of top CEO supporting us, firstminute has an extensive global reach. We like to bring on our investors - some of the top angels in the world - into our deals and as advisers to supercharge companies. firstminute's co-founder is Brent Hoberman, who after founding and exiting two unicorn startups himself created a network of companies under the 'Founders' umbrella. These include a world-class event series called Founders Forum as well as a consultancy, a recruitment firm, a charitable arm and Europe's largest incubator-accelerator. This whole ecosystem is part of our network, which helps with everything from sales introduction to finding top talent. We also have a large investor network to help with that Series A fundraise and beyond, having done deals with our friend at funds such as Tiger Global, Sequoia, Benchmark, a16z, Coatue and Atomico. Being part of our community, with our events and parties with some of the biggest names in tech and business, means you will be working with the best. We do an annual retreat for founders as well as regular drinks and dinners. Every year we hold our flagship summit in London which brings together firstminute investors, portfolio founders, partners from the top US and European multi-stage funds, and friends who are all bright lights in the tech community. Read more about that here.

We are a team of dealmakers. Specializing in Seed, Series A and Series B funding rounds. Our firm empowers capital owners by offering access to groundbreaking tech opportunities. We play a pivotal role in the GCC region, bridging the gap between corporate entities, professional investors, and leading technology innovators to drive impactful partnerships.

Flávia and Érica met in 2021, during an online meeting for angel investors. The two soon discovered that they had many affinities and also a common discomfort: the lack of representation and diversity in the world of angel investing. The environments of both startups and investors were dominated by white men. One cause could be because only 13% of angel investors were women according to data from the Brazilian angel survey. And with this realization came the idea: “Why don't we create an angel investment group just for women?” This is how Sororitê was born. At first, they created a group on WhatsApp and promoted virtual meetings with other investors. The group grew quickly, organically. One participant went, liked it and invited another. It went from virtual to real and today Sororitê has a physical headquarter in São Paulo, has a team of supporters, holds face-to-face meetings, monthly talks and events for networking and knowledge exchange. It is a safe space of empathy and acceptance. It has become a very powerful network with more than 100 angel investors and hundreds of startups, founded by women, evaluated. Jaana joined Flávia and Erica, in 2022. They are founding partners of the largest investors community in Latin America whose main objective is to fight gender disparities in their environment.