Endeavor Investor Network Event in London Gathers 90+ Entrepreneurs and Investors from Across EMEA
In November, the Endeavor Investor Network hosted a one-day event in London that brought together over 90 Endeavor Entrepreneurs, candidate companies and investors from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Three Bulgarian companies and a counterpart from Serbia were represented alongside 30 entrepreneurs and participated in the meetings, workshops and investor speed dating sessions.
The day kicked-off with an Investor Roundtable, where London-based investors had a chance to connect with their regional counterparts to discuss investment trends and opportunities across EMEA. Participating funds included globally-minded firms like Accel Partners, Lumia Capital, Amadeus Capital, Evolution Equity Partners as well as regional funds including Wamda Capital, MENA Ventures, Leap VC & Revo Capital.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen growing interest from London-based investment firms in the broader EMEA region,” noted Beth Robertson, Head of the Endeavor Investor Network Program. “It started with General Atlantic’s 2012 investment in Yemeksepeti and was bolstered by Delivery Hero’s acquisition of the company for US $589 earlier this year. As Endeavor expands its footprint in the region – with new offices launched this year in Bulgaria and Italy – we expect to see even more stories like this one.”
Simultaneous to the Investor Roundtable, Chris Grew (Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe) & Pamir Gelenbe (Venture Partner, Hummingbird Ventures) led a discussion for entrepreneurs on topics ranging from the legal best practices to raising capital to finding the right investment partner and the types of metrics investors consider when valuing a company.
This was followed by six parallel group breakout sessions on various topics ranging from “The Future of the On-Demand Economy” (led by Chris Caulkin of General Atlantic and Juan de Antonio of Cabify), to “Building the Next MENA Unicorn” (led by Fadi Ghandour of Wamda Capital). Bulgaria’s Managing Director Angel Kelchev moderated the session “New Definition of EUROPE?: Why European VCs are Looking at EMEA”. The breakout sessions provided participants an opportunity to engage in a rich dialogue around key opportunities and trends in global entrepreneurship and venture capital.
The day ended with two rounds of one-on-one speed-networking between investors and entrepreneurs, during which over 300 formal connections were made. View the event booklet here for a full agenda and list of participants. To learn more about upcoming Investor Network events, click here.