Ep 24: Tuomas Kosonen
on investing in Wolt, characteristics of Baltic founders, biggest challenges when scaling, and hottest industries for investment right now
Tuomas Kosonen is a partner at Inventure, one of the leading VCs in the Baltic Sea region. Inventure has invested in such familiar Baltic companies as Nordigen, Scoro, and Whatagraph as well as Finnish juggernaut and one of the most used apps in the Baltics - Wolt
In this episode, we talk about the Baltic Sea region as one of the leading global tech hubs and the future outlook of the Baltics and the rest of the region. We also discuss the VC investment decision-making process as well as the key challenges in scaling companies. Finally, we cover some of Inventures biggest hits and misses along with the hottest industries in tech today
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The topics covered in this episode (with Timestamps)
🔈 [01:50] Introduction and the origins of Inventure
🔈 [04:20] The Baltic sea region startup scene history and outlook
The historical relationship between Finland and Estonia
First investment in the Baltics - Froont
Nordic/Baltic bay - global startup hub
Outlook for the Nordics
The reasons behind the success of the region
Baltics as core home market for Inventure
Challenges in attracting talent to Finland and the region
Characteristics of Baltic founders
Norwegian startup ecosystem
🔈 [21:25] Investment decision-making process and investing in the Baltics
The importance of legislation for investment decisions - minor
Things that VCs are looking for in startups
Getting in on Baltic deals in time
Investments missed out on
🔈 [30:15] The biggest challenges in scaling companies
Product-market fit
Having the right people
Building a compelling story
Ability to go abroad
The ability of the founders to grow with the company
The role of VC in the management team changes🔈 [56:00] Building an R&D intensive product
🔈 [39:35] European VC trends and the most exciting industries
The story of investing in Wolt
Last-mile delivery industry - clearing up of an accumulated backlog of opportunities
Why is Amazon not in last-mile groceries?
Insurance industry - is the hype real?
Hyping product teams vs industries
Other hot industries - health tech, agtech, products improving quality of life
Future of Inventure in the Baltics
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