emma Ventures

We are very excited to speaking at the 3rd edition of the Lawyers in Asset Management conference hosted by Advestra and co-organized by Aruna Arasu, Nicky Walsh, Alexander Bueno-Edwards and Nicolò Di Dio. Katja is looking forward to an inspiring conversation with Aruna Arasu of speak invest on the Changing Face of Private Equity. What are successful strategies for tomorrow's visionaries and how is the industry evolving in the context of generational transformation? An exciting topic indeed! Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

🌏 Why Europe Should Be Bold on Diversity? 🚀 Thanks to recent developments in the US, Europe has a unique opportunity to step up and lead the way in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Let us have the courage to create opportunities for Europe! Amid recent US developments to cancel DEI programs of many government organisations and companies such as Meta, Amazon, Walmart, and McDonalds, we, at emma Ventures, believe it's crucial for Europe to boldly advance diversity as it will become one of the key strengths and competitive advantages of Europe in the future! 💡 Diversity drives innovation, creativity, and economic growth. Embracing varied perspectives strengthens decision-making and resilience. 🌏 Diverse teams are more innovative and better at capturing new markets. Leveraging diversity is key to Europe's global competitiveness. 😄 Promoting diversity strengthens social unity and builds resilient communities. A better balance in wealth distribution comes with more safety, security, freedom, motivation, satisfaction and happiness! 🔝 Diversity attracts talent! In the future war for talent, Europe’s multiculturalism could make it a magnet for global talent with hubs around our excellent, high-quality universities for international professionals, bringing fresh perspectives and driving innovation. Europe is inherently diverse, with over 40 countries, many languages which provides a strong foundation for a diversity agenda. Let us not stay shocked but let us have a visionary and bold approach to diversity. Despite US challenges, Europe must commit to diversity for economic growth, innovation, social cohesion, and global leadership. Now is the time to lead by example and showcase the power of diversity. 🚀

You can go faster alone, but we can go further together…! 🚀 Two years down the road with emma Ventures, one fact became very obvious during our journey: many women embark on their entrepreneurial journeys as solo founders. According to the Female Founders Monitor of the German Startup Association, 13% of female founders establish their startups without a co-founder, which is twice the percentage for men. A significant factor contributing to this is the lack of a relevant network. However - founders that start out on their own face greater challenges, especially when it comes to resources and networks. Founding as a team has many advantages: ⚙️ Complementary expertise 💻 Shared workload 💡 Improved decision-making ↗️ Shared risks and successes 🤝 Expanded networks 🌞 Shared mental load and motivation of each other 💰 Enhanced access to funding, as most investors prefer or prioritize teams over solo founders in their deal flow - some even exclude solo founders At emma Ventures, we actively encourage women to invest time in building their networks from the outset: 🎙️ Go out, don’t be shy to talk about your idea, openly mention that you are looking for a co-founder and ask people for relevant intros. 📳 Be active on social media platforms, share content around your idea and connect with people in the space. 📌 Remember, the best co-founder may not be the most obvious choice – stay patient, persistent, and structured in your approach. 🗣️ Attend relevant conferences and networking events, beyond just female-focused gatherings, to cultivate a diverse network and step out of your comfort zone!

 🎉 Celebrating Successes of 2024 and Looking Forward to 2025! 🎉 emma Ventures celebrates another successful year of investing in and supporting diverse and mission-driven founder teams! 🚀 💡 The journey of fostering diversity in the Venture Capital space is a marathon, not a sprint. As part of an entrepreneurial family office, emma Ventures is committed to act as a catalyst for change. To solve today's and tomorrow’s challenges, we need to leverage the full innovation potential of our society. More access to funding for underrepresented start-up founders will unlock massive innovation and investment return opportunities! 🙏 As we approach the end of the year, Katja and Christian would like to take the opportunity to express their gratitude to the amazing founder teams of Aeyde, Calingo Insurance AG, CARE, cleverly.de | Mentoring für Kids, Lilio Health and Raya Diagnostics for their hard work, passion and dedication throughout the year. It is amazing to be part of your entrepreneurial journeys, and we very much look forward to reaching the next milestones together with you! 🤝 Huge thanks as well to our fellow Co-investors, Family Office partners, Business Angels and Venture Capital funds for the great collaboration, deal flow and idea sharing which we appreciate very much. We also truly value the exciting conversations and partnerships with our Venture Capital fund managers such as Foundation Capital, Future Ventures, Khosla Ventures and HV Capital to mention a few.     🌞 Other highlights of our year were the inspiring sessions we hosted with StepStone Group about "Accelerating Transformation in Venture Capital" and with Quilvest Capital Partners and Quilvest (Switzerland) Ltd. about "Private Equity and Generational Transformation" at their Heritage Days in Davos. Thank you so much for having us as speakers and for the engaging discussions! We wish everyone a joyful holiday season filled with peace, happiness, and great company. May the new year bring exciting challenges, new opportunities, enthralling encounters and lots of successes to all of you! ✨ 🎉Cheers to an amazing 2025 ahead – and onwards to turning today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities by fostering diversity and unlocking the full innovation potential! 🚀

Oooops … we did it again! Our first VC secondary deal by emma Ventures 🚀   … and why VC secondaries might have a great future 🌞   🚀 Exciting news! emma Ventures has just completed its first VC direct secondary deal, acquiring a stake in a high-growth, VC-backed company. This milestone marks a step forward in our journey to create win-win scenarios in the Venture Capital landscape based on our long-term experience in the secondary market.   The seller, a major European financial institution undergoing strategic portfolio adjustments, benefits from immediate liquidity, while we strengthen the company as a long-term partner. 🤝   Why VC secondaries matter: VC secondary transactions unlock liquidity for founders, employees, and investors, providing a vital pathway outside traditional exits like IPOs and acquisitions. They enable financial flexibility, reduce pressure on early contributors, and align stakeholder interests by bringing strategic partners into the fold.   For new investors, these deals offer lower-risk entries, backed by clearer visibility into a company’s performance and usually at a discounted rate – currently around 30% for VC fund stakes as per recent reports from Jeffries. While challenges exist, such as ensuring accurate valuation, robust cash runway and deep business analysis, the potential is undeniable.   In an environment where exits are slow, VC secondaries present an appealing alternative for liquidity. With 12% of the growing secondary market already represented by VC deals, this area is poised for further growth. 📶   We believe that experienced fund managers, who deeply understand the VC space and secondary markets, are uniquely positioned to seize these opportunities. 🚀   💬 What are your thoughts on the future of VC secondaries? Share your insights below!

Want to successfully ride the next wave in Private Equity as a fund manager? ➡️ We strongly believe that there is some urgent work to do then! The Private Equity industry has experienced unparalleled success which brings growth, but also creates new challenges. The smooth sailing seems to be over! What are the key drivers for a successful next generation of Private Equity firms? 🚀 Based on two decades of working experience in the industry and our perspective as investors in the asset class as well, we see the following factors: 📶Operational value-add as key driver for returns with multiple expansion less likely: Expanding at the margin instead of focus on balance sheet optimization! ⚙️Solving real problems implies investing into hardware: Resource allocation decisions with high upfront costs but a longer-term payoff as better fit for the private equity model. 💡Technology, Digitization and AI at the portfolio company and GP level: It is high time to upgrade - embracing digital is less an option now than a necessity! 🙋♀️Talent: The successful PE firms of the future will differentiate themselves from their peers by attracting, retaining, and developing diverse and digital-savvy talent focused on realizing value. Pushing diversity is of utmost importance as it improves leadership style and culture, innovation, deal pipeline, investment decisions and finally returns! 🤝Succession: Many of the founders of the industry are still active today. A well-prepared transition to a new set of diverse leaders equipped with fresh digital competencies is needed to lead tomorrow’s workforce. 🌍 Increased emphasis on purpose, impact and transparency: To meet demand from LPs, to attract the best talent, and to find new and differentiated ways for value creation. 👉And finally: Readiness for next gen LPs in light of the greatest wealth transfer in history. The successful PE firms of tomorrow will be those that can effectively differentiate themselves and can unlock new levers of value in a more mature and competitive space. Embracing this transformative journey and doing the homework in the fields listed above is absolutely key! Curious to learn more about your view - what do you believe are the key drivers to successfully ride the next wave in Private Equity? Please comment below.

The emma Ventures team just returned from an exciting and exclusive family office gathering in Davos hosted by Quilvest (Switzerland) Ltd. and Quilvest Capital Partners. Many thanks for the great event and for inviting us! Christian and Katja held a presentation on the topic “Private Equity and generational Transformation” providing the family office audience with out of the ordinary thoughts about the future of the industry. 💡A seismic shift is underway in asset management with approx. USD 84 trillion in baby boomer wealth being transferred to the younger generations over the next two decades. And yes – this is huge! This number represents approx. 70% of total assets managed by Top 500 asset managers worldwide. This unprecedented wealth transfer will not leave Private Equity unaffected. Is the current Private Equity model future proof? What kind of homework needs to be done by fund managers? 🤔 Stay tuned for our views on the topic. Curious to hear your thoughts in the meantime! Please comment below.

What a great day at #riseupsummit2024 in the Google Zurich offices last Friday! We at emma Ventures were excited to share our insights about "How to raise capital from Business Angels and Family Offices" and very much enjoyed the lively and interactive session! In addition, Katja was very honoured to act as jury member in the Pitch Competition and to hand over the certificate to the winner UpLeap (by breathe medical)! Congratulations Leonie Korn and team - we wish you every success on your path going forward! Thank you Female Founders Initiative Switzerland for the great day!

Looks terrific! Very well done team Aeyde!

emma Ventures is very pleased to speak at the #riseupsummit. Katja and Christian are happy to share their experience on: „How to raise capital from business angels and family offices?“ 🚀 We look forward to an inspiring session at #riseup2024.