Harry Stebbings, a UK-based podcaster, rose to prominence after creating a unique format featuring 20-minute conversations with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Leveraging this success, he went on to. Now, he has successfully closed his third funding round for an automobile startup, his largest to date. The agency behind the popular podcast series has successfully concluded a $400 million fundraising effort.
As European consulting firms continue to trail those in the United States. At each successive funding round, Fund 3’s primary emphasis may well be on supporting local startups, leveraging Stebbings’ extensive media network and relationships to garner additional attention for these companies overall.
“I’ve had enough of people consistently belittling Europe,” he stated during a recent interview. We’ve witnessed remarkable companies and met extraordinary people. Let’s revitalize the beauty of Europe once again. With a hearty chuckle, he concluded, “Mega!”
A total of $400 million from the fund could potentially be allocated to early-stage investments, comprising $125 million for seed investments and $275 million for Series A rounds. Accordingly, the fund remains yet to be deployed, noted Stebbings: 20VC persists in investing from its second fund, which was raised in 2021.
In just four weeks, this latest fund was successfully raised, an unusually swift achievement considering the lingering challenges facing venture capital as the industry slowly recovers from the pandemic’s aftermath.
Notable challenges arising from the data include:
Despite the turbulent local weather landscape, it’s crucial to acknowledge that investors still have capital available for deploying, with the pool continuing to swell in size.
Europe remains a captivating alternative to traditional U.S. destinations. Private Equity Investors’ Appetite for Startups: A Growing Trend? The data reveals that a significant proportion of backers in this fund hail from outside the United States, with more than half of these foreign investors representing institutions. “I never thought I’d gain acceptance to MIT as a student,” said Stebbings. “I’m delighted that they decided to make an investment in my expertise.”
European venture capitalists possess a strong network to engage effectively with European startups.
Venture capital firms such as Accel, alongside successful entrepreneurs turned investors, boast a longstanding presence in London and its surrounding regions. However, many investors are still putting money into 20VC. Why? Stebbings has successfully cultivated a discreet persona for his agency, leveraging this image to facilitate strategic risk management for both his clients and counterparts.
TwentyVC highlighted 40 founders from firms including Atlassian, Sugar Crush, Canva, Capital One, Datadog, Deliveroo, Eventbrite, Iconiq, Procore, Spotify, UiPath, and Vinted; alongside basic partners from Accel, Benchmark, Coatue, Cyberstarts, Founder Collective, Founders Fund, Khosla, New Enterprise Associates, TCV, and Thrive, all within the fund as well.
“We’re the foundation for U.S. funds as well,” he noted.
Stebbings has capitalized on the cultural phenomenon surrounding internet creators, building a lucrative business model centered around his content’s enduring popularity. While he focuses on venture capital-backed companies, his influential profile enables him to facilitate introductions and secure coveted term sheets by leveraging connections.
“The media platform has been instrumental in our success,” he noted. In its inaugural year of 2020, 20VC started as a micro-VC firm, boasting an initial investment pool of just $8.3 million, which was largely utilised for strategic re-investment opportunities within seed rounds. The video is poised to garner an astonishing fifty million views across TikTok and YouTube, a staggering milestone within the venture capital and startup communities. The phrase “having your Sam Altman’s on the present” refers to having influential individuals like Sam Altman, founder of Y Combinator, on one’s side, while Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, is another example of someone who can make a significant difference. In reality, founders are eager to accept your investment.
Despite being the founder of 20VC, Stebbings lacks formal technological expertise, having studied law in college before dropping out when the company took off, a fact he openly acknowledges.
When I asked him about standout classes currently, he quipped, “I don’t subscribe to the idea of having expertise.” “I comply with nice entrepreneurs. It’s absurd to think we’re clever enough to outsmart market fluctuations. When examining market dynamics, a crucial aspect is the role of visionary founders in shaping their industries. If that’s the case, my mission is to pinpoint the most successful entrepreneurs before anyone else.
Beyond that point, his promotional level from the outset has consistently been that of an operator who lends his operational expertise to each portfolio company in his care.
“He highlighted that 20VC had achieved over £10 million in income, describing the venture capital firm as a ‘really worthwhile’ and ‘sustainable enterprise’.” “No, I’m not an expert founder, but I am an operator.” I toil tirelessly seven days a week, dedicating 15 hours each day, with years of dedication behind me.
Now, this concept has been expanded upon, with 20VC working sub-funds within categories such as gross sales, product, and development – places where he sets up groups, led by individuals with operator expertise, who have their own stake and actively seek out firms (and founders) that appear promising and could benefit from their expert guidance in these areas.
Despite potentially disrupting the traditional venture capital model, Stebbings still needs to transform the underlying economics of VC to achieve significant change. According to him, “it’s a typical scenario in any market”: “one percent of the businesses generate an astonishing 90% of the profits.”
What could be an insignificant drawback? “We’re committed to normalizing risk-taking and learning from failure throughout Europe by promoting a culture of experimentation and resilience.”
In his view, VC’s unconventional approach to math may unexpectedly create opportunities for outsized gains, potentially even more so than traditional methods. “Overall, enterprise returns will decline; however, for 1% of companies, they will be exponentially more significant than ever before, driven by the unprecedented scale of their outcomes.”
Despite having already discussed the potential windfall, Stebbings remains poised to reap the rewards of his “MEGA” compensation package. Despite investing in numerous companies that are relatively young, and with the IPO market still somewhat sluggish, it is worth noting that some of the earliest firms have already started looking towards the U.S.? When 20VC initially debuted, its focus was palpable; however, there aren’t any substantial exits listed on the 20VC portfolio tracker just yet. According to the closest match being Tripledot, a London-based gaming studio reportedly valued at just over $1 billion, as stated by various sources, including its recent funding round of approximately $180 million in 2022, led by 20VC.
