Camilla Dolan

I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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In the last few years, we’ve met a number of carbon accounting startups. I’ve been somewhat skeptical because I thought there was a lot of greenwashing, mainly for two reasons: 1) A lot of emissions data is based on very rough estimates 2) Many carbon offset projects come with huge uncertainty Louis Coppey has dug into this a little while ago and concluded that obtaining reliable Scope 3 emissions data is so complicated that solving it requires industry-specific software platforms. I've written more about this in the blog post below. Spoiler alert: Meet Root Global! :-)

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The Seed - Episode 4 now up on all pods. This week Mads Jensen and I talked with Leo Ringer from Form Ventures about Europe's opportunity, are we over regulated? crypto's future, universal basic income, US consumer fatigue and why that matters to Europe - plus much more. In this clip I've mooshed together around 10 mins to give a flavour. It was a great episode but we lost Leo half way through thanks to Spanish interwebs and technical shenanigans. BUT. Still lots to poke the bear with. Love to hear what you think. Links in the comments or search 'The Seed Dan Bowyer' on all hosts. In the full pod: 00:00 Europe's Innovation Potential 03:45 Addressing Regulatory Challenges 09:43 The Future of Cryptocurrency 13:21 Universal Basic Income 14:47 Funding Public Services in the AI Era 16:53 US Consumer Fatigue and its Global Impact

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In a recent Sifted article, I share thoughts on emerging managers esp. Solo-GPs, here's what I think 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/eYx7h5Qv I’m a solo-GP building OpenseedVC, here’s what some think this means; 🔻That there is key-person risk 🔻That there is little accountability or governance 🔻That it is a one-person show Here’s what it ACTUALLY often means; 👇🏽 ✅ We've set up governance that foster accountability, not bureaucracy ✅ As a fund, we have a dizzying depth of complementary skillsets ✅ We build conviction and move quickly; critical for early stage ✅ We are process geniuses, automations and efficiency is in our DNA ✅ We have a lean, mean team optimised for high for efficiency There is no "founder-like fund" quite like a Solo-GP emerging manager. For us at OpenseedVC, we invest up to $150k at the angel stage, and are flexible. We can lead your angel round. We can follow if the terms work for us. We don't take board seats. Whatever it is, we are first investors in ambitious and experienced operators just as they start their technology companies! We are founders ourselves, and have parallel experiences to the most ambitious and resilient founders, and this is ultimately superpower 💥 Solo-GPs are outliers, and in the business of #VC #venturecapital, outliers signal potential for outsized opportunity. #operators #openseedvc #europe #africa #soloGPs

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We don't spend enough time thanking the teams that enable the engine to run under the hood. Thanks Kasun De Silva & team for the great work and interesting article for anyone that wants to know more about what happens behind the curtains of hedge funds, venture debt funds and Bootstrap Europe!

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🚀 "Funds under €250m have gained share. Smaller funds now represent 57.6% of capital raised so far in Europe, compared with 41.6% in 2023" This is a BIG win for smaller funds in a tough fundraising environment "The run rate of activity for European VC fundraising this year implies capital raised will reach €19.1 billion, compared with €22.1 billion in 2023." Supply is reducing. Demand is rising. The pace of technology development is greater than ever. The US is a 2.0x premium to Europe at Seed. Talent is cheaper than in the US and is the same quality. The opportunity is very much there to take advantage of for LPs. LPs who don't back VC vintages in 2024 and 2025 will look back with regret. #venturecapital #VC

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Striking: Zenobē, a UK climate tech startup, raised £600m from KKR and £270m from Infracapital, bypassing VC entirely. Zenobe captures excess energy from wind farms to stabilize the grid and reduce gas power reliance. This means: Zenobe secured one of 2023's biggest startup fundraises — without any venture capital. #battery #fundraising #venturecapital #energystorage #infrastructure #growthinflection Sifted: https://lnkd.in/g8wF-xA5

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Always capitivating the audience with your strategies.

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Great insights from Adam Agius on what to consider when raising debt for a search fund buyout. Most relevant to the UK market, but a worthwhile read for all searchers. There's more debt capital keen to support search acquisitions than ever before, but approaching it naively can be very costly...

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Taavet Hinrikus and I made the Financial Times Due Diligence email. https://lnkd.in/ez2AuGQx One 'unintended consequence' is that if there is a 45% tax on carry and CGT (raising £40m per year, remember) it for all intents and purposes closes the door on new VCs in the UK. Especially started by teams from non-traditional backgrounds. To meet the GP commit, you need to be already part of the 'wealthy' as you cannot rely on the value you create - nearly half of it will disappear - to fund it. We have both had extremely successful startups which are few and far between. The smaller number of new VCs will therefore more likely increasingly be for people who have inherited the capital or can draw it from their already rich family. Probably not want they have in mind with this policy.

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I'm speaking at SuperVenture 2024 on the 5th of June in Berlin. The topic of the panel is emerging VC managers: time to shine or out of their depth? Are LPs fleeing to established names and those that cut their teeth during previous cycles? Or is now the time for emerging managers to bring something different to the table? Is volatility leading to true innovation and disruption? We’re on track to see approximately 44% of the total LP capital committed to US VC funds since the start of the year go to just two large established VC platforms, according to PitchBook data. While many established VCs maintain their allure, there is a subset of LPs who are making a deliberate choice to increase their allocations to specialist emerging VC managers - managers who have spun out from established funds and have an attributable track record, founders with deep operational experience turned funders or academics with deep domain expertise. There is non-trivial added complexity when it comes to emerging VC selection – given the large number of funds needed to be screened and the more complicated referencing and DD process. Data highlights how important it is for GPs to identify & back ‘big winners’ early on to drive fund returns. Typically, ~5% of invested capital in a few winners drives most of the return (>50%). The VC model is built around investing in early-stage companies each with the potential to more than return the whole fund. Who has the right to win? Who will the best founders (and LPs) decide to partner with? #SuperVenture #VC SuperReturn

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Great article by Partners Group pointing out advantages of our quarterly semi-liquid venture fund, Loyal VC, that I didn't even realise we had. Loyal deploys, and gives returns on, all your capital all the time. Other VC funds force you to hold capital for future deployment in low-yielding assets, and don't count that forced low yield in reporting your returns. To add insult to injury, they still charge you management fees on that low-yielding committed capital!! To us the Loyal way is just more sensible, and better for LPs. It is good to see others agreeing with us. Claudia Zeisberger https://lnkd.in/gbint4Jt

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When the first alphabet in these conversations changes from 'M" to 'B', you know the funding winter is transforming into spring 🌱 #VC #VentureCapital #Earlystagefunding Read more about the latest monthly funding report for VC funding in July 2024 here: ttps://https://lnkd.in/dhdWF8fP

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🔥 Hot off the press - Systemiq Capital's latest climate report 🔥 Tldr - we believe that commercial and climate returns align. When I was at business school, we often debated whether commercial and impact objectives correlate. It is brilliant to see how Systemiq Capital's portfolio companies are trailblazing and showing that YES - commercial and climate can go hand in hand. https://lnkd.in/emmGKkvW #climatetechvc #climateimpact #VC

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In the Norrsken Accelerate Fund we have made 20 investments this year in super exciting impact tech startups that are tackling some of the big issues on the planet.🌍 I’d like to the spotlight on the amazing founders behind these companies. 📸 First out are Sébastien Fiedorow and Steven Bardey, PhD who are the founders of Aerleum. What they are doing is defossilizing heavy industries which is crucial for reducing GHG emissions globally. Sectors like shipping, road transport, and aviation need clean fuels with high energy density, cost-efficiency, and supply chain compatibility. How they address this is be having a unique technology that produces e-methanol from captured CO2 and low-carbon hydrogen. It burns cleanly, has high energy density, and integrates with current supply chains. By doing this they strive to remove giga-tons of carbon dioxide from the air and transform it into clean alternatives for fossil-based products which will be massive win for the planet.💚 Read more about Aerleum here: https://www.aerleum.com/ and ping me if you want to get in touch with them.

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Green Angel Ventures has just launched the eighth round of our EIS Climate Change Fund. This is how I am personally doing all my EIS investing now, because it gives me a great spread of investments, all backed by individual angels in our group and after our thorough due diligence process, and means that I don't miss any of Green Angel Ventures' portfolio (no FOMO!) #EIS #climatetech #angelinvestment

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📰 Great to be featured on the latest Sifted article by Amy Lewin Joe Schorge, Maria Rotilu and I share our thoughts on the topic of ''How many new #VC funds does Europe need?'' and the ''rise in solo GPs across Europe'' 💭 TLDR: In my opinion, Solo GPs are fantastic! They truly do care and are super useful with great networks, hunger and high-speed. However many solo GPs don’t lead deals at pre-seed, and the European ecosystem could do with a few more funds that do. But there are exceptions, such as Germany’s Gloria Baeuerlein, Finn Murphy, and Max Claussen, to name a few. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/dWXUFsWb

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Great conversation yesterday at Preqin with Preqin's Cameron Joyce, CFA, CAIA, Blue Owl Capital's Cara Griffiths, Bain Capital's Tom Sargeant on the future of fundraising for private markets. Where will AUM come from going forward? What are the challenges that funds will face in fundraising? What strategies will be most popular going forward? It was fascinating to hear the perspectives of some of the industry's biggest platforms in Blue Owl Capital and Bain Capital from Cara and Tom, respectively, as to where fundraising is headed given their purview on the market and from Cameron on his data-driven insights from market research and plenty of numbers crunching on what it will take for private markets to grow to $30T AUM by 2030.

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TLDR: EIS should be scrapped as a fund structure but retained for Angel investments by individuals. Alex Chalmers has done all the work which in 10 years I've never got around to doing: why 95% of EIS/VCT funds are bad for our tech ecosystem, rip #startups off, and why as a Founder you should push back against their stupid fees or not take their money. https://lnkd.in/dnq9ZScS

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