From DeepL to ElevenLabs: Northzone taps Europe's tech talent for new investment and advisory network

VC firm Northzone has launched the first cohort of its Northstars programme, bringing together 25 experienced tech operators from across Europe.

The programme aims to build a network that will work with Northzone to identify investment opportunities and support its portfolio companies.

As AI changes how startups are built and scaled, smaller teams are taking on responsibilities that previously required much larger organisations. This has increased demand for experienced operators who can manage growth, develop products and lead teams.

The 25 participants have experience across robotics, AI infrastructure, healthcare, cybersecurity and vertical software, and will form a pan-European network to work closely with one of the continent’s most successful firms on dealflow and portfolio support.

In its first year of the new programme, Northzone will bring those ambassadors into its pipeline and investment process, helping to identify deals, offering them the opportunity to co-invest with the firm in companies they individually source, as well as providing advisory and mentorship services to Northzone portfolio companies.

The 25 Northstars are the first chosen operators in the ongoing programme. 

The Northstars

1. Adyen: Dhruv Ghulati, Principal Project Manager, AI/ML 
2. Black Forest Labs: Aitana Giebels van Bekestein, Marketing 
3. Coinbase: Keith Grose, Managing Director UK and Europe 
4. Comand AI: Marie Inuzuka, Co-founder and CPO 
5. DeepL: Sebastian Enderlein, CTO 
6. ElevenLabs: Pieris Christofi, Deployment & Product 
7. Fireworks: Dimi Nikolaou, Field CTO
8. Genesis: Guillaume Soulé, Head of EU Business
9. Langdock: Lina Wenner, Chief of Staff 
10. LegalFly: João Nunes, Chief of Staff 
11. Lovable: Sophia Nabil, Community and Growth
12. Thomas Gayno, Product Advisor (ex-Mistral, ex-Mirelo) 
13. MicroAGI: Zeno Hamers, Macrovector, Research and Deployments
14. Neko Health: Dr Gesa Sophia Borgeest, Head of GTM 
15. Numeric: Alex Heintze, Solutions Lead, EMEA 
16. Omnea: Patrick Penzo, Head of Marketing 
17. OpenFX: Karan Shah, Chief of Staff
18. Samsara: Praveen Murugesan, VP Engineering 
19. Sana: Olivia Elf, Head of Operations 
20. Sierra: Nick Young, Regional VP Enterprise Sales
21.  Scarlet: James Allgrove, COO 
22. Sunrise Robotics: Bronagh Crowley, GTM 
23. Tandem: Nelly Andrée Tranaas, Director of Operations
24. Qutwo: Elin Dölker, Chief of Staff
25.  XBOW: Zac Wallis, Head of Talent
    
    

    
    

Sam Endacott, Partner at Northzone, who will lead the programme alongside Elena Pantazi (Partner & Head of Platform), shared:

“Silicon Valley’s edge is density: capital and talent in one place, feeding each other. Europe has the talent but it is spread across dozens of cities and ecosystems.

The best operators in Berlin, Stockholm, Zurich, Paris and London should all be on speed dial with each other so they can share what best-in-class looks like in their respective fields.

The operators we have partnered with across Europe today are the future of tech on the Continent. We’re thrilled to build a founding community with them to continue unlocking the next generation of startups and founders who want to learn from top-tier talent who’ve helped scale Europe’s biggest platforms in AI.”