In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Will Prendergast, Partner at Frontline Ventures.

With ~€435M in assets under management, Frontline Ventures is a venture investment firm that operates two distinct funds:

Frontline Seed: A €100M fund targeting pre-seed and seed-stage European companies with clear U.S. expansion intentions.
Frontline Growth: A €100M fund focusing on Series B up to D in U.S. companies planning to expand to Europe within 12-18 months.

Frontline Ventures, headquartered in Ireland, specializes in B2B SaaS and Deeptech sectors. The firm's position allows it to bridge the gap between European and U.S. markets, providing valuable support for companies looking to expand across the Atlantic in either direction.

As a Partner at Frontline Ventures, Will Prendergast offers us a distinctive perspective on European and U.S. venture landscapes. His insights on early-stage investing in Europe and growth-stage opportunities for U.S. companies expanding to Europe are sure to be valuable for anyone interested in transatlantic venture capital's current state and future.

Notable investments: Workvivo (acquired by Zoom), SignalAI, Finbourne, Lattice, MosaicML (acquired by Databricks), Navan.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:03 Meet Will Prendergast of Frontline Ventures
00:06 Frontline Ventures' Dual Strategy
00:51 Notable Investments and Achievements
02:47 Welcoming Will Prendergast
03:57 Frontline's Unique Approach to Seed and Growth
04:41 The Importance of U.S. Market for European VCs
05:44 Challenges and Strategies in U.S. Market Entry
11:01 LP Perspectives and Fund Strategies
37:25 Navigating Series A and B Funding
38:09 Engaging US Investors
39:16 Importance of US Customer Base
39:29 Choosing the Right US City for Expansion
41:37 Building a US Team 43:40 Common Mistakes in US Market Entry
48:04 Impact of the Pandemic on US Expansion
53:08 Differences in US and European Business Practices
55:12 Remote Work Trends and Performance
57:46 Personal Journey into Venture Capital

E354 | EUVC | Frontline Ventures' Will Prendergast on founders chasing unicorn status and patterns in entrepreneurs from U.S. vs EU

EUVC