With Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack expected to call time on 18 years as the MD of Denmark's visionary seed-stage VC fund, SEED Capital, in mid-2024, the team now has a replacement lined up.
The CEO of a Danish big name startup, Christian Brøndum from the employee rota platform Planday, was just confirmed as the next managing director of SEED Capital, making him Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack's replacement.
Brøndum will actually get to meet the rest of the SEED Capital team earlier; the VC says he will come on board "early 2023", allowing him to take stock but also providing time to kickstart fundraising for SEED Capital's latest fund.
Once Brøndum becomes managing partner, Brockenhuus-Schack is still going to stick around but as a general partner, leaving day-to-day oversight of fund operations to her successor.
And Brockenhuus-Schack says Brøndum's track record made him the stand-out candidate for the MD role.
"Christian stood out with his founder, management experience and Nordic leadership style," Brockenhuus-Schack said. "Further, Christian is known and loved by founders and brings a strategic and analytical background as management consultant which we value highly.”
Brøndum's record at Planday speaks for itself; a €190 million divestment to online accounting software company Xero in 2021 catalysed more than 15 years of growth campaigning, which saw at least $67.5 million in startup funds raised.
Under his direction, SEED Capital will embark on raising its fifth fund vintage, drawing from his "specific expertise" in SaaS models, international growth strategies, sales and marketing, and M&A negotiations.
"I have deep respect and admiration for the journey SEED Capital has been on over the past 18 years," Brøndum said, "The team has played a significant role in establishing the strong startup ecosystem we have in Denmark today."
Copenhagen-based SEED Capital has made a name for itself spotting Nordics seed-stage talent.
Appointing Brøndum is further evidence of its inclination toward former scale-up entrepreneurs for its investment team, including its current general partner Peter Egehoved (from AI in financial and project management startup Forecast), Niels Vejrup Carlsen (an ex-board member at Forecast) and Lars Andersen (who was once CEO at a Danish e-learning provider called Zenaria).
Since getting started in 2004, big exits for the SEED Capital team have included the customer feedback portal Trustpilot, crypto payments bridge Coinify, and the clinical-stage fibrosis drug candidate company Galecto.
Four earlier funds from the VC, all backed by Denmark state-owned Export and Investment Fund, have raised a combined €334.5 million according to Crunchbase data, including last year's Growth Fund which attracted €62.5 million.
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