Six years, two continents, and four cities later, Creandum promotes Peter Specht to general partner

On a seemingly fast track to the top, just 15 months after being called up to the partner ranks, Creandum has tapped Peter Specht to rise once again, now a general partner at the firm. The appointment arrives in conjunction with the firm celebrating its 20th year in operation; a journey that's seen companies including Spotify, Kry, iZettle, and Depop find a place in the firm's portfolio.

"In essence, all checkwriters from Principal to GP do the same, which is finding amazing founders, doing first calls, analyzing, and ultimately working with the portfolio entrepreneurs. As a general partner you then become an equal owner of the firm."

Growing from its humble origins in Stockholm to now encompass offices in San Francisco, Berlin, and London, Creandum now rightfully dubs itself a firm with a global reach. 

Heading up the London office, Specht joined Creandum in 2017 as an investment manager, arriving from Bain and armed with previous industry experience through the Rocket Internet Group and at Google.

"We have a mentorship system where for each career stage you have a different Creandum Partner mentoring you. Thus I was fortunate to learn from people who have been in VC for the past 20 years and tap into their vast experience. Having different mentors over the years helped me to get more versatile input and develop my own style."

Auf Deutsch

Notably, Peter was Creandum general partner Simon Schmincke’s first hire in the DACH region, where he helped build out the Berlin hub, and is the initiator behind Creandum’s network partner setup, a programme developed to advise the portfolio in business development and sourcing and fostering a collaborative community.

¡Vale!

Having led the firm's entry into the Spanish market, Peter heads up Creadnum's Technical SaaS acumen. Notable investments under his stewardship include hrtech startup Factorial (2018) as well as business insights for finance teams startup Abacum (2021).

These strategic investments firmly established Peter's presence in the ecosystem, alongside other notable ventures such as workplace productivity app Amie, battery analytics platform TWAICE, Timberhub, cargo.one, and Leapsome.

The Big Smoke

After five years of sun-soaked days, Specht embarked on the ambitious endeavor of building the London hub for Creandum in June 2022. The journey began in a coworking space in Soho, where he was able to lure Creadum principal Hanel Baveja from Union Square Ventures in New York.

Fast forward to this past June, and Creandum now boasts its own address on the letterhead at 36 Carnaby Street in the heart of London's Soho area.

Market Differences

Given Specht's experience in the US, the DACH region, Spain, and now the UK, he elaborates on the nuances in market differences:

All of them have strong founders and companies that we are excited about. The biggest difference is the magnitude in size.

I spent 2019 in our San Francisco office which set the bar for me on how ambitious one can think.

London is by far the largest ecosystem in Europe both on the startup side as well as on the VC side. What I like about Berlin is that it’s a relatively collaborative ecosystem and Germany is Europe’s largest market to start in as a founder.

Spain however is still more of an emerging tech scene, smaller in numbers but from the two seed commitments we did there, one, Factorial, is already a unicorn.

So I like to spend time in all four regions but now call London my home.

Announced today, Specht now joins Creadum's general partners Carl Fritjofsson, Fredrik Cassel, Johan Brenner, Staffan Helgesson, and Simon Schmincke.

Lead image: Creandum. Photo: Julia Steinigeweg.