Christian Miele

European VC fundraising is at a decade low. #Sifted reports a sharp drop in capital raised, and founders can’t ignore it. Key takeaways for 2025 fundraisers: - Cash-flow matters: Aim for early profitability or lean burn. - Angels are still active: They back teams with clear traction. - De-risk your path: Smaller rounds and operational efficiency keep your options open for later VC scale. Challenging markets build resilient companies. Focus, execute, and let your metrics speak. https://lnkd.in/eUMhecej #Equisy #startups #founders #fundraising #venturecapital #europeantech

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Verb Ventures was built to back platforms that bring transparency to opaque markets global trade relies on. Aviation aftermarket is a perfect case — airlines spend $40B on parts yearly while carrying $50B in excess inventory with zero centralised visibility. What convinced us on SkySelect wasn't the tech alone — it was the customer pull. The status quo is failing airlines, and adoption is accelerating. Proud to co-lead alongside RockCreek!

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Jing Kuang, interesting post and well explained. Deliverability of "value add" from VC equity is highly variable. However, companies are also responsible as they wanted to hear value-adds to differentiate capital or justify dilution. There can be real value add - strategy, channel dev, large customer acquisition, however, it often doesn't materialize that way. An investor with a board seat can impede what's not in its interest but may be good for the company. Founders may also feel compelled to explore or indulge ideas which are divergent from agreed strategy. Captures of founders' time adds up and can distract. Our business Pershing Ventures is a bit different as we provide non-dilutive funding to revenue generating, early-stage ventures and SMEs in the US/UK/AUS. If we can facilitate bus dev, offer strategic insight or unlock a problem based on expertise, we will do that. However, we usually don't sit on boards, and we want the capital to make sense in and of itself (capital and its structure). Our captures on founders' time is a recurring catch-up to understand the business ops and strategy - perhaps our biggest value add is being a reliable capital partner who can pre-empt problems with thoughtful capital solutions.

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Series A used to fund potential. Today it funds proof. Series A is where a company’s substance becomes visible. But it’s not only about revenue alone, especially in deep tech. There must be clear evidence of real demand and product-market fit: customers testing, integrating, and paying. The team must extend beyond the founders, as both technical and strong commercial leadership is essential at this stage. Business models need to demonstrate how margins scale in practice, not just in Excel. The fundamentals are what matter. Enjoyed sharing thoughts with Sofia Chesnokova from Tech Funding News on how the bar for Series A in Europe has shifted. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dbxc5Zhf

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Interloom has raised $16.5 million in a seed #funding round led by DN Capital. The round also saw participation from Bek Ventures and existing investor Air Street Capital. Read here>>> https://lnkd.in/d-HchsKB Guy Ward Thomas Fabian Maximilian Jakobi Bas Vlugt Pielina Kamau Michelle Waweru Bob Koigi Kanali Nixon Andrea Ayemoba Patience RUTAYISIRE #enterprise

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Pitchdrive Closes €60 Million Fund IV To Back AI-Native Startups Across Europe: Pitchdrive announced the close of its oversubscribed €60 million Fund IV, reinforcing its Co-founder Capital approach and providing new capital to support 25 to 30 AI-native startups across Europe and beyond. The post Pitchdrive Closes €60 Million Fund IV To Back AI-Native Startups Across Europe appeared first on Pulse 2.0.

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New partnership: Pre-seed to Succeed × Brex 🚀 We’re partnering with Brex to bring better banking solutions and exclusive perks to founders in the P2S portfolio and community. At pre-seed, founders already have enough complexity to deal with, and their financial infrastructure shouldn’t add to it. Brex is built for exactly that — banking solutions for ambitious founders, without the bureaucracy and friction of traditional financial tools. For early-stage founders juggling everything themselves, this is real leverage: 🔷 Corporate cards with no personal guarantee, underwritten primarily on your cash balance. 🔷 Banking with full $250k FDIC insurance and no minimum balances, plus above-market treasury yield. 🔷 Free ACH, domestic wires, and checks. 🔷 Built-in bill pay with a direct, real-time QuickBooks sync — no more month-end reconciliation headaches. Through Pre-Seed to Succeed, our portfolio companies and community members get access to the full Brex platform, along with a set of perks reserved specifically for our network: 🔷 100,000-point bonus after depositing $50,000, plus 50,000 points after spending $2,500. 🔷 A free NYC Times Square billboard once you hit $2,500 in spend — a raise deserves a proper announcement, right? 🔷 $500k+ in SaaS discounts, including $2,500 in OpenAI credits, $5k in AWS credits, $500 in Claude credits, and 6 months of Notion for free. 🔷 White-glove onboarding and 24/7 support. 🔷 Access to weekly community events and Brex’s industry newsletter. ❗️ How to get started: Apply directly at brex.com/p2s. Once you’ve submitted your application, send a quick note to our team at raise@p2s.vc, and we’ll make sure your application gets the P2S treatment from day one. Better banking shouldn’t be a growth-stage luxury. Go build. 🚀

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