E576 | EUVC Summit 2025 | Firm of the Year: Credo Ventures

0:00Venture capital isn't just about deals, it's about impact. True leaders don't just chase returns, they build, mentor, and shape the future of our industry. Firm of the Year recognizes the champions of European VC, firms that led from the front, driving financial success, innovation, and real ecosystem impact. These firms have set the standard, not just in performance, but in transparency, fairness, and culture. They are the stewards of the European venture, defining what great looks like. Project A, Credo Ventures, Dawn Capital, Beck Ventures, the stage is set. So we're here to give out the award for firm of the year.

0:50For this award, we're looking for excellence at the highest level. We're looking for a firm that not just outshines in performance, but also in the maturity of its platform, its contribution to its ecosystem.

1:10And I think someone who increases the bar for all of us at all levels of the ecosystem. It's also one of the more competitive awards that we have because there's quite a few, as you can see, fantastic firms to choose from. So we're trying here to send a signal about where Europe is headed, and you can send many signals, and that can be interpreted any kind of which way you want. So maybe that's not so much. But I think for us it was important to choose something that was maybe not obvious for some or many. The criteria that we're judging on are obviously portfolio quality, how strong of a firm is being built, the platform maturity, the future, the contribution to their ecosystem.

1:54And then as an LP, we're obviously quite interested in financial returns. So I'd like to welcome Andrew from Hayes Boon onto the stage to say a few words. Thanks for having us, Thomas.

2:14Hi, everyone. It's been a long afternoon already, so I'll try and keep this relatively concise. For those of you who don't know Haines Boone, we're a US headquartered Dallas, Texas-based firm with 19 offices worldwide and with a growing presence in London, where we're looking to build out the brand, particularly on the venture private equity side, which is one of the reasons why we're here sponsoring and supporting this event. Within the investment management group across our US and London cross-border group, we have a deep focus on the venture private equity side of things, acting for a mix of investor side GPs, LPs, and also on the startup side, across really the full life cycle of the investment journey, from fund formation through to growth equity financings, exit, M &A, UK and US listing type work.

3:14The other thing that we enjoy getting involved in, given that US, UK element, is where you have startups that are looking to scale up into the US and helping to support them on the journey. In terms of the Firm of the Year Award, earlier on I think that the gentleman from Google Google was suggesting the Impact Award was the most important one, but I think the preview video mentioned the champion of VC, so I think it's quite clear which is the most important award here. So I won't go too much into that, but I think one of the reasons for supporting something like this is in addition to our day job, we try hard to add a little extra value across the ecosystem by supporting and running some of our own networking events.

4:02So it's been great to be able to support the EUVC team on something like this and getting some fantastic people in a room together. And I'll turn you back to Thomas. Sure, absolutely. Thank you, Andrew. I think maybe just before we go on and there's noise, I just want to thank you very much, the EUVC team and Isomer and everyone else for organizing the event. We all go to a lot of these. I've actually really enjoyed this today, especially the short format. I think it was really good. I was very skeptical. I think many of us were, but well done. Thank you.

4:42Can't tell you how negative I was coming into this. It was really good. It's great to be proven wrong. And I'm here to be proven wrong once again because the Firm of the Year Award goes to a firm that we have not invested with. And actually, I think we haven't invested with most of the firms that were even nominated. So maybe that says more about us than anything else. But yeah, so the winner is, sadly, I then have to say, Credo Ventures. Thank you.

5:29I'm not sure if I'm expected, but... You've got five minutes and 12 seconds. Oh, that's a lot. I'm not sure I'm ready for it, but I probably want to thank you, Thomas, in particular, for not investing in us, because he probably moved us forward. Anyways, I think I never really liked awards like this. I thought they're kind of lame, but I think I'm ready to reconsider and maybe having such an award might be a new KPI for any firm, right? Next to DPI, perhaps. Anyways, I should obviously go primarily to the founders that we backed because their success is the reason why I'm here today and also to the LPs that either invested or not invested.

6:22Thank you. I appreciate EUVC. Thank you.

6:50European venture. There's a reason why everyone knows them. Google Cloud, they were our venue, hosted the summit. What a team, what a big effort they put on to help us. We're hugely grateful. Make sure to reach out to Arabella or Roxana at the Google Cloud team to hear how they can help you as well as your portfolio. Massive credits goes to them. Ace Alternatives, we have so many friends in the Berlin ecosystem partnered with these guys. Just the best fund ops team around. and as with any good restaurant, where the locals are is also where you get the best service. And now they're expanding across Europe, so they're definitely someone to talk to.

7:28Hainspoon, they're longtime partners of ours in both our own legal work. They're great supporters of us here at EUEC, and I definitely think that they are one of the go-to legal teams to have in your corner. CW Communications, our dear friends who helped us secure CNBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times, and many more for this summer. It's a joy working with Dan and Kathy and the team. Fundcraft, Digital Native, Full Suite, Lux Headquarter, and a great partner as you grow your firm out of Luxembourg. Definitely a fund admin to consider in your stack. I can only say that the team are incredible to work with.

8:04I'm very thankful that I've gotten to know them. I think they're one of the up and coming fund admins that you want to be thinking about. Portfolio IQ by Synaptic. You may know them for the Discover tool, which is branded under Synaptic. But PortfolioIQ is absolutely a product you should know because there's no one that understands intelligence better than this team. And finally, Goodwin. They are a truly world-class legal partner you can trust. They're hands-on, business-oriented, and expert in everything and anything transatlantic. So those were our partners for the summit and awards. I know this might have been a bit long and boring, but really, if you have these guys on your side, I don't think your firm could be in any better hands.

8:44and also they're helping us do what we're doing every day for you.