The top 3 global startup ecosystems remain in the same positions from 2020, with Silicon Valley remaining at the top (with 31% of the total value within the top 30 ecosystems), followed by London in second place and New York City, according to the Startup Genome report. Despite the challenging conditions in the venture capital industry over the past few years, many investors believe that VC fundraising will revive in 2024. Healthcare, information technology, and business and financial services are a few of the sectors that are currently trending. Significant venture capital investment is also made in the following industries: technology, particularly AI, biotech, renewable energy, fintech, real estate, and e-commerce.
Venture studios are pre-seed and seed-stage organisations that form part of the ecosystem, they build, finance, and accelerate startup growth within their own platform. They became incredibly popular for a reason. Compared to traditional businesses, venture studio-founded startups receive initial investment twice as fast and exit 33% faster. Accelerators typically concentrate on distributing smaller amounts of money among numerous entrepreneurs, anticipating that the majority will fail. Venture studios have a somewhat different strategy, concentrating more of their resources on possibilities that they believe are ideal for a startup to capitalise on and select the best opportunities for its investors.
There are a few venture studios in the startup ecosystem that stand out in terms of their approach, ambition, and overall success. We selected the five most disruptive and innovative among them.
SKL.vc
SKL.vc is a data-driven venture studio and VC fund dedicated to launching seed and pre-seed projects worldwide with a specialisation in generative AI, consumer apps, BCI, and blockchain technologies. Unlike most venture studios, SKL.vc founded by Artem Sokolov focuses on B2C projects and supports disruptive ideas in their early stages. It has several international startups with AI and scientific focus in their portfolio. For instance, Aithor.com, an AI writer for scholarly and creative works, is developing extremely fast: the startup got its first $1 million in revenue and made a return in under 10 months from its launch in May 2023.
SKL.vc was founded by Artem Sokolov, a serial investor and entrepreneur who was recognised as EY Entrepreneur of the Year. His portfolio also consists of companies like Robinhood, Udemy, Payoneer, Docker, OpenWeb, NextDoor, CalciMedica, Kraken, StoreDot, and many more. Sokolov is driven by the purpose of tackling the world's main problems through science, education, and cutting-edge technology.
The team is well-versed in the industries it invests in, and the startups benefit from the assistance of experienced advisors. The studio actively participates in business development and co-founding, going above and beyond mere funding. SKL.vc provides marketing, extended networking opportunities, team building, developing business models, fundraising, and expansion.
Super{set}
Super{set} is a venture studio focused on building companies rooted in data and AI. With 16 startups in its portfolio, super{set} funds and builds new technology businesses, mostly in the enterprise space. Unlike many studios that invest in foundational AI, super{set} is more interested in the engineering of AI. In the early stage, they support businesses in terms of recruitment, marketing, sales, and fundraising.
The studio is run by builders with a solid track record of their own. Recently, super{set} got another $90 million to co-found data and AI companies. It was founded by Tom Chavez and his managing partner, Vivek Vaidya. Before creating superset, Tom was the co-founder and CEO of Krux, which Salesforce purchased in 2016. Previously, the founders created Rapt, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2008. The companies led by Tom have generated a 17.5x return for investors; he is also an investor in his friends' ventures, which include companies like SafeGraph, Datavant, Flexe, tvScientific, Solestial, Neuro, and Fiction.
UnternehmerTUM
Munich-based UnternehmerTUM is leading many rankings both in Germany and on a European level, and it is considered great in terms of networking for founders. It's an early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology-based start-ups in Europe, with a focus on B2B business models, such as industrial technologies, enterprise software, SaaS, and mobility. UnternehmerTUM provides funding between EUR 500,000 and EUR 10 million per investment round and up to EUR 30 million in total.
It was founded in 2002 by the entrepreneur Susanne Klatten as a non-profit organization. UnternehmerTUM connects industry and business companies with start-ups and has more than 400 employees helping to build and finance new businesses.
Founders Factory
Founders Factory is an innovative venture studio and startup accelerator based in London. They offer full help to entrepreneurs across industries like fintech, health, climate, media and telecoms. To assist entrepreneurs in expanding and succeeding, the organisation offers funding, operational support, and access to a network of top corporate partners in the sector.
The strategy of Founders Factory is centered on developing forward-thinking founders and producing future category leaders. The studio was founded by serial entrepreneurs Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox, and George Northcott. They work together with a committed group of engineers, designers, and marketers to develop an MVP, validate concepts, and get the company's first clients.
Hexa
Paris-based Hexa venture studio and fund has launched dozens of B2B software companies; some of them became well-known unicorns, such as Front, Aircall, and Spendesk. Thibaud Elziere, Quentin Nickmans, and Amaury Sepulchre created eFounders in 2011, pioneering the startup studio model focused on B2B software-as-a-service startups. Then, the studio rebranded to Hexa and expanded to new verticals, including fintech and web3.
Hexa first assists with the fundamental aspects, such as hiring, product design, and go-to-market strategy. About a year later, when a startup is ready to raise capital, Hexa is reaching out to its network of investors through an initiative known as the eClub.
