Attracting top US VC investor like NEA or Sequoia: How did you do it and what are your tips for startups aspiring to become the next US VC funded startup?

I don’t think Ledgy has a secret special method of attracting US investors – I think top US investors now see the scale of the opportunity in Europe very clearly, when perhaps they didn’t five or 10 years ago. This is down to a couple of connected trends: first is the examples set by great companies like Adyen, ASML and Spotify, who have built global category leaders from Europe. This creates new depth in the startup ecosystem, as more successful companies spin out new founders who are ready to scale quickly with their new ventures. This creates a great environment to build tech companies, and US firms are excited by the opportunity in Europe.

What are your tips to deal with all stakeholders involved in a financing round?

My number one component of a great fundraising process is to make sure you are on top of communication. Providing regular and proactive updates along the way is essential, both for investors and your team. In particular, it’s helpful to have periodic check-ins with the team, letting the company know how conversations are going – this makes the fundraising process less of a black box for your team members.

22 million for Ledgy – what will be your first biggest planned investments?

We are excited to keep hiring great people, of course! This especially applies to our product and engineering teams. We are excited to have kicked off recruitment for the second edition of our web development traineeship. We aim to provide an introduction to software engineering best practices for up to six junior or aspiring developers, with backgrounds outside computer science. Broadening access to engineering is very important. Outside people, we are doubling down on product development to give companies around Europe top-quality solutions to the equity challenges they face as they scale.