Operator Circle launches to back Europe's next decacorn

"The fund's thesis is that operators, people who have lived through the specific chaos of growing a European tech company from Series B to exit, are better positioned than career VCs to identify which founders have the tools to build at decacorn scale."

"The executives backing the fund bring direct experience from companies that navigated the specific challenges of scaling in fragmented European markets: multilingual sales, multi-regulatory compliance, and a talent ecosystem that, while improving, still cannot match Silicon Valley's depth in every sector."

"The operator-to-VC transition is not new in the US, where firms like Andreessen Horowitz built their early reputation partly on the credibility of former founders and executives on the partnership. In Europe, the model has taken longer to gain traction, partly because the exit ecosystem that produces experienced operators at scale is younger."

Operator Circle, a newly launched venture firm, has secured backing from dozens of senior executives who have built and scaled European tech companies. The fund operates on the thesis that operators with direct experience scaling billion-dollar companies are better positioned than career venture capitalists to identify founders capable of achieving decacorn scale. The firm addresses a structural criticism of European venture capital regarding insufficient operational expertise among investors. Key backers include Enzo Wälchli, former chief commercial officer at ANYbotics, who joins as general partner. These operators bring direct experience navigating European-specific scaling challenges including multilingual sales, multi-regulatory compliance, and talent ecosystem limitations. While the operator-to-VC transition is established in the US through firms like Andreessen Horowitz, this model has emerged more recently in Europe as the region's first generation of decacorns only appeared in the last decade.

Read at TNW | Investors-Funding