BROADENING ‘ INVESTMENT ’
“ A lot of VCs thought they were very well-oiled machines , but 2020 has tested that and opened a lot of eyes ”
— Manuel Silva Martínez , General Partner , Mouro Capital
of video conferencing software cannot be overstated . Matthew Koertge , Managing Director at Telstra Ventures , says that , although such tech was already being deployed at his VC firm , the pandemic put its utility in sharper focus . “ Even with the pandemic ongoing , we have still been able to complete six new investments and many followon investments in our existing portfolio . We even made it fun by organising virtual lunches and gin master classes as a way to break the monotony of Zoom pitches .”
In addition , Manuel Silva Martínez , General Partner at Mouro Capital , puts forward that investment firms have generally undergone the same operational challenges as their portfolio companies , including getting used to remote working , “ not only making sure that everyone had good equipment at home , but also making sure that our processes , culture , and our raison d ’ etre were solid , grounded and resilient . A lot of VCs thought they were very well-oiled machines , but 2020 has tested that and opened a lot of eyes .”
The shared experience of a pandemic , then , has served to foster a lot of empathy between VCs and their clients . The lack of travel for inperson meetings has also meant that more online pitches with prospect companies from around the world can take place back-to-back . However , Martínez goes one step further and suggests that we could actually be witnessing the disappearance of parochial investment opportunities . In this new vision , there would be no separate ‘ London scene ’ or ‘ San Francisco scene ’, “ which is great news for smaller ecosystems traditionally underserved by capital , but it will make VC competition much more fierce .”
BROADENING ‘ INVESTMENT ’
There is a growing sense that modern ‘ investment ’ should mean more than just providing capital ( see our profile
53 fintechmagazine . com