Gideon Valkin Launches Debut Fund to Back Europe’s Fintech Mafias Building the Next-Generation of Tech Giants

Gideon Valkin – the former Monzo and ClearScore commercial leader, investor and entrepreneur – is today launching Andrena Ventures: a $12 million solo GP fund backed by tech’s best founders and VC leaders to capitalise on the ‘spin-off’ flywheel being seen across Europe. The fund has reached its first close with a final close planned for later in the year.

He’s also announcing the fund’s first investment into Nustom, the new AI-powered software-building startup from Monzo co-founding CTO, Jonas Templestein.

Ecosystems of talent

Just as the PayPal Mafia used experiences gained at the global payment pioneer to build the world’s biggest tech giants – from YouTube to Tesla, LinkedIn and Palantir – Valkin believes a similar flywheel is being seen across Europe today. Over the past decade, European fintech scale-ups have become fertile territory for world-class talent. According to Dealroom data, there are 10 fintech unicorns in Europe that have spun out 145 new startups which have raised ~$5bn.

The talent graduating from these disruptors have seen the challenges of scaling global companies first-hand and are now applying these unique experiences to building the next-generation of tech firms across all sectors. Nustom, the first investment out of Valkin’s fund, epitomises Andrena’s thesis in that the top technical talent that built Monzo’s entirely independent banking architecture from scratch is now applying this unique experience to build an AI tool to automate software development.

Valkin has spent 15 years in this ecosystem as a founder, operator and investor, and has already backed some of the best teams to come out of it, both as an angel and as an investor at Entrée Capital. This includes: e-commerce enablement startup, Packfleet; rewards credit card company, Yonder; autonomous customer operations agent, Gradient Labs AI; and cross-border B2B payments network, Moment. Valkin’s co-investors across these deals include Index, Accel, General Catalyst, Creandum, LocalGlobe, Northzone and the foremost angel investors in the ecosystem.

Best of both worlds approach

The size of the fund allows Valkin to bring a level of close support, dedication and alignment to the leaders he invests in. He combines the access and network that founders expect from institutional funds, with the personalised support and operational know-how typically only delivered by angels. It’s an approach that allows him to keep ownership low and value high, providing a fresh alternative to today’s founders who demand much more than just capital.

“Europe’s time has arrived,” says Gideon Valkin. “A new power network of founding teams has emerged out of Europe’s first generation of industry-defining companies. These teams are using their lessons and experiences to solve tomorrow’s most pressing and important problems across fintech, AI, climate-tech and enterprise software. They deserve investors who understand these problems, believe in their ambitious vision and have the knowledge and know-how to truly support them.”

The debut fund is backed by global tech leaders including former employer, Entrée Capital; RTP Global; Taavet+Sten (co-founders of Wise and Teleport respectively); Cherry Ventures Managing Partners, Filip Dames, Christian Meerman, Sophia Bendz; David Haber, Fintech GP at Andreessen Horowitz; Firat Ileri, Managing Partner at Hummingbird Ventures etc. including at least seven VC investors who have featured on the Forbes Midas List.