Today, Cherry Ventures launched an open letter to founders in Europe, launching the Cherry V fund and signalling a commitment to building the first trillion-dollar company in Europe.
The firm said it has raised $500 million in new funds “to be the right kind of partner, so together we can make European tech a global force.”
The funds came together in a few months, was 2x oversubscribed, and includes a global LP base and top entrepreneurs like Ilkka Paananen, from Supercell, Miki Kusi from Wolt and Jochan Enghert from Flix investing in the fund.)
The funds are split between its flagship Early Stage fund and an opportunity fund to double down on the most promising portfolio companies at Series B and beyond.
Cherry Ventures contends that while the current narrative around European tech is all doom and gloom.“Europe is flailing. Venture is tough. The US is way ahead. Europe isn’t the place for builders."
"We don’t buy it.”
The firm asserts that startups need to act boldly and defy conventional expectations.
“Europe’s foundation is strong. We have 35,000 early-stage startups - more than any other region - and our tech workforce has grown 7x since 2015.
We have all the right ingredients: world-class talent, research depth in critical technologies, and thriving tech hubs - but our culture of innovation must change.
With new world leaders in power and strong mandates for the tech sector, Europe must take charge of its own destiny in the global tech race.”
Cherry Ventures offers a nod to big European success cases like Spotify, Supercell, Klarna, Revolut, and UiPath, and portfolio founders including Ilkka from Supercell, Miki from Wolt, and Jochen from Flix.
“We know what can be accomplished through grit, determination, and ambition.”
Cherry Ventures, who has backed over 130 companies, over 80 per cent of our seed founders graduate to Series A, concludes:
“If Europe is to build on its first wave of success stories to create the next, on a bigger scale - we all need to play our part.
We must foster collaboration between policymakers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors to make Europe the best place in the world to build a tech company.”
Lead image: Cherry Ventures. Photo: uncredited.
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