For this campaign 30 of Europe's most active female business angels and angel VCs gathered to share unique paths into investing, talk about the current state of the nation and discuss the future of venture capital. This is to inspire even more diversity of thought in backing and building startups to solidify Europe’s contribution to the global tech landscape.

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Humbled and very excited to highlight  Sophia Bendz General Partner at European early-stage venture capital firm Cherry Ventures, which just launched a €300m Fund IV. Sophia is based in Stockholm, Sweden. She scouts pre-seed and seed-stage startups across the Nordics, leading investments such as Juni, Carbo Culture, Fullview, and GOALS. She also has growing interests in impact, climate tech and women's health. She previously was a Partner at Atomico and led global marketing at Spotify. Sophia was also an advisor to the Swedish Prime Minister and a member of the innovation council.

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Being asked about the current state and the future of investing that is what Sophia replied.

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What's the biggest difference between angel investing and venture capital?

As an angel, who generally writes significantly smaller checks than a VC, your responsibility towards the founders is also proportionally smaller. In my angel investing days, I loved supporting founders with my expertise and network but it was not my full-time job – it now is. At Cherry, we are, for example, always a part of the board which you can likely only be for a fraction of your portfolio companies as an angel.

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What is your superpower to support entrepreneurs?

I love to help founders with their marketing, brand building, communications strategy, culture, and international expansion since that’s what I spent most of my time on as an operator. As a team, Cherry’s superpower lies in getting teams ready for Series A, drawing on competencies and specialties across the entire firm.

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What have you learned from your Anti-Portfolio?

Founder-investor fit is key, even if it has meant not partnering with great founders e.g., strictly building for an exit that they’d like to come ASAP. I’m the most useful when solving people’s problems are at the forefront, and capital and company-building are the tools to get you there instead of the other way around.

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What is missing in Europe to bring venture capital to the next level?

Diversity. With 1% of capital going to female founders and 12% going to mixed founders in 2022, the ecosystem has blind spots as a result of its composition – such as in the case of femtech. That’s why we like to collaborate with e.g., Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund and Fund F by Female Founders – two European early-stage funds that exclusively invests in gender-diverse founder teams.

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Thank you, Sophia, for a sneak peek into your investing world and the incredible work you do.

My name is Julia Dous and I am passionate about diversifying cap tables. I accomplish this through investing, talent advising VCs, and running the Evangelistas, a vibrant community of +300 seasoned female angel investors backing exceptional founders with big ideas.

This campaign is our joint contribution for more diversity of thought in European venture capital. The 30 angels and angel VCs who gathered have invested into various startups (and funds) across Europe. All bring amazing super power to support founders - and a long track record. We know there are more great angels. This is to start – and inspire more women to check-writing and to building.

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