Female founders forced to step away from their companies, the future of the capital markets tech stack, and FinTech
Your weekly guide to start-ups and venturing
Welcome to Heroa, a weekly newsletter for women in start-ups and ventures. If you enjoy what you read, please do share this newsletter with friends and like it above!
Hello and welcome back to Heroa and to our first Monday newsletter! Let me know if this time works better for you?
One of the areas I’ve been looking into this week is the future of FinTech. Globally, FinTech has dominated the news cycle this year. Bold headlines celebrated large exits (Lemonade, Credit Karma, Personal Capital) and Venture Capital investment poured in. While the category has developed quickly the sheer size of the FinTech opportunity suggests that these exits are just the tip of the iceberg. In the next ten years, FinTech will drive some of the largest Ventures Capital exits.
The global FinTech market was worth $127 billion in 2018, with a predicted annual growth rate of 25% until 2022, to $309 billion. It is still very small compared to the global financial services market. By this measure, Fintech is still underinvested.
Tara Reeves from OMERS shares a capital markets tech stack market map in this week’s newsletter. Other stories that are covered today are some further information about Sequoia’s strategy in Europe (FinTech is a cornerstone of their plan) and some great advice on how to keep your company growing in a crisis by Fiona Tee of CurrencyCloud.
Round-up of the news this week
From the Wing to Outdoor Voices to Away, the ranks of powerful women who have been forced to step back at the companies they created continue to grow. Are women in the startup world being unfairly targeted? Venus Williams has launched a plant-based food startup called Happy Viking. The IPO market looks hot as Airbnb and C3.ai raise price targets. Salesforce is acquiring workplace chat app Slack for $27.7 billion. CARV, the new AI ski coach launches. Nonprofit organization All Raise raises $11 Million to fuel its fight for equality in tech.
From the investors
“I love consumer, but I do think it’s harder in Europe” Luciana Lixandru of Sequoia
Brunch with Luciana Lixandru, Sequoia’s new European Chief and Sifted. Luciana talks about how her mandate is to find Europe’s first $100bn startup and how she plans to do this through series A investments and partnering with start-ups for 15 or 20 years. She also reveals how enterprise software, productivity tools, and the underserved SME space are key areas of interest for Sequoia and how she’ll be supported by a scout network.
How to raise a series B round with MMC’s Lucci Levi. A key takeaway is that an important new question that investors are asking in a post-Covid world is "How resilient are you?" Investors want to see that startups are able to weather shocks and adapt to a changing landscape. Companies are increasingly being asked to openly discuss how they adapted through lockdown, even if the business did not suffer setbacks.
Who are the start-ups driving the European economy to achieve Net Zero? Maria Wagner of Beringea spoke recently to Business Insider about the rise of start-ups focused on the sustainability agenda, highlighting the innovators and entrepreneurs pushing to reduce emissions and tackle the climate crisis.
Tara Reeves of OMERS Ventures maps the future of the capital markets tech stack. Capital markets have trading volumes and fees that dwarf the consumer and SME banking space… yet innovation lags far behind it, and the sector has attracted relatively little VC investment. Tara talks through interesting companies in the sector and also provides start-up ideas.
From the operators
“Companies that invest too early in sales and marketing before nailing their product-market fit end up seeing precious dollars wasted that may have been better used elsewhere.” Alyson Welch of Twilio
How to keep growing in a crisis - advice from Fiona Tee CFO of CurrencyCloud and why now could be the perfect time to look at buying companies as opposed to expanding internationally.
How to organise your SaaS marketing function - Kathleen Esteich who previously worked at Intercome and Emily Kramer formerly of Catera show how you can structure your SaaS marketing function.
Best practices when building an enterprise sales team at a developer-focused company by Alyson Welch of Twilio. Alyson recommends hiring your first sales representative when the cost of sale and average deal sizes justify an external hire.
Pip Jamieson founder of the Dots talks about her life as a tech founder and how she overcame discrimination.
Events
Atomico’s annual State of European tech
8th December
The event is in collaboration with Slush, Orrick, and SVB. There will also be a fireside chat between Atomico CEO and French President Emmanuel Macron on the future of European tech.
10th December
TLA Black Women in Tech is hosting an event on Preparing for 2021 with Deutsche Bank.
The Debut Sessions Live Pitch Competition
Tuesday, December 15th @10am GMT
Ascension Ventures host this event which sees 4 early-stage start-ups pitch to VCs in the UK for the chance to win a £100,000 SEIS investment. This will then be followed by interactive discussions on term sheets and investor decks. RSVP here.
Job opportunities
Atomico is hiring for a Senior Associate and Associate candidates, and for the latter, they do not need to have prior investing experience.
Future VC has its 2021 applications open for their VC internship program.
SEE YOU NEXT MONDAY!
If you have any comments, questions, or just want to chat about start-ups and venturing then do drop me a comment.
Written by Alexandra Wyatt, based in London but a global traveler. You can also reach me on Twitter and Instagram.