“In the U.S, sixty percent of VCs own companies,” says Sten Tamkivi. “In Europe, that figure is only eight percent.”
Tamkivi is co-founder with Plural Platform, a VC fund that draws on the knowledge and experience of people who have established and managed successful companies to provide an opportunity for value-added financing that is geared towards (mainly) European startups. One of the main goals is to develop a scaleable VC platform.
What does that mean in real life? Tamkivi was part of the Skype executive team in its early days. When he joined around one year into the business’s development, he later co-founded an enterprise that deals in relocation, Teleport. Since then, he’s been in several positions in the boardroom and as an advisor, in addition to actively investing and a prominent player in Estonia’s ecosystem of innovation.
In the month of June of this year, Tamkivi, Ian Hogarth, Taavet Hingrikus, and Khaled Helioui – all experienced tech industry executives and founders launched Plural as an early-stage investment fund. From there they’re hoping to get entrepreneurs to join and invest as the fund expands.
Making Itself Usable
It is mentioned that Europe is becoming increasingly saturated with regional and local VCs. What is it that can make Plural distinct?
“We’ve talked to several founders of startups and wanted them to share which were their most valuable financiers,” says Tamkivi. “Often, the investor can provide the appropriate assistance when needed.”
This way, Plural’s investors will be available when direct assistance is needed. In this instance, Tamkivi suggests that the Plural investor could help founders navigate the legal issues involved in agreeing on IP when a venture is separated from the university. This isn’t something a VC with no experience creating a business should engage in. At the identical time, it is to be noted that they could use their contacts book to get the help of an expert from other sources.
The March of The Unemployables
Plural’s entrepreneur-investor team is expected to fund up to five deals per year, with people within the group taking the lead on projects they are most interested in or are involved with. Because a significant amount of commitment and dedication are required, Tamkivi recognizes that Plural may only be an option for some. However, he can see the kind of businessman willing to take the risk of rolling up their sleeves and taking on the challenge.
He prefers to describe Plural’s investors in entrepreneurship as “the unemployed.” In other words, to say it differently, those who might not usually accept corporate or permanent positions in companies but have a genuine interest in working create young businesses.
According to him, certain people are likely to take up Plural in a full-time capacity. Others will take a more cautious approach, possibly at first by getting involved in a handful of deals to determine whether the process is compatible with their interests and aspirations.
The plural can draw investors that will aid the fund in achieving its mission of providing the most flexible VC platform. The platform will continue to grow with the addition of more investors, sharing their expertise and experience with the platform,
Investment Strategy
What does that mean in terms of an investment strategy? Without risking being stereotyped, entrepreneurs are highly opinionated. Therefore, it is possible to build an online platform that has a cohesive system based on an entire group of people who might have wildly different opinions opinion – and articulated views about what is an excellent investment or business. According to Tamkivi, Plural is very flexible in this regard.
“We do not argue,” says Tamkivi. The investment will likely reflect the desires of the partners. Tamkivi has a specific interest in Web3 and has been the leader in investment into Ready Player Me (metaverse-ready avatars), NFTPort, and Koos. AI social and environmental issues are among the priorities of the others in partnership.
The European area of focus is also vital, as the online world shifts to Web2 and Web2 to Web3 and a brand different world with blockchain-enabled websites and tokens that are not fungible and decentralized. And, of course, the metaverse emerges out of the fog.
Tamkivi believes there is an opportunity to create a European model that is somewhere in between the dominant internet of big tech, which is the hallmark of mainly US companies like Meta and Google, as well as the Chinese model where there is a lot of state involvement and consequently, concern for individual privacy.
However, there are many things to be done, not just in constructing the infrastructure needed for Web3 but understanding how the newly formed internet will benefit its users.
This is a significant challenge for entrepreneurs and investors in the coming months and years.
