"I do not think the tumult is over yet. But gradually market participants are adapting to the new environment"

In this final stretch to our first 0100 Conference Mediterranean to be held next week in Rome, we had a short talk with one of our moderators, Daniel Keiper-Knorr, General Partner at Speedinvest, leading early-stage venture capital firm with more than €1 billion AuM and 40+ investors.

Founded in 2011, the firm is based in Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, and Vienna, and focuses in Europe's most innovative technology startups, with successful companies like Wefox, Bitpanda, TIER Mobility, GoStudent, Wayflyer, Open, CoachHub, Schüttflix, and TWAICE are among their portfolio of 250+ companies

Daniel will be moderating the panel “The Growing Importance of Family Offices and HNWIs in Venture Capital: Perspectives from The Region”, with key speakers: Joel Sandhu from TOP TIER Access, Lorin Van Nuland from Apeiron Investment Group, Laurence Renondin from EVEN Family Office and Ipek Mutlu from ESAS.

What do you consider to be the most relevant fundraising challenges for tech investors?

Currently, the most relevant challenges are the macroeconomic and public markets environment with both together producing a compound of rising interest rates, denominator effect, and the danger of recession.

Since the year is entering its last quarter, do you consider the tech investing landscape to be recovered of last year´s tumultuous period?

I do not think the tumult is over yet. But gradually market participants are adapting to the new environment. Mid-to-long term, I am unchanged and continue to be bullish for VC as an asset class.

How relevant is ESG criteria in the process of fundraising and investing in the current scenario?

ESG is clearly becoming a more and more relevant criteria, with a growing number of LPs making it mandatory criteria in manager selection.

What are Speedinvest investment requirements when it comes to ESG related opportunities?

ESG risks are identified in every due diligence since it became an important factor in nearly every sector due to increased regulation, as well as for economic reasons. - For quite some time now one of our focus areas has been climate tech; furthermore, a lot of our emerging market fintech companies also create positive social impacts.

Regarding AI: Generative AI has shown potential for transformative business impact. Do you consider it an innovation with long-term investment potential?

Absolutely. AI has the potential to change everything.