2024 was a exciting year at Interface Capital:
1) We made 16 new investments in companies like Popcorn (next gen telco), Supercut (next gen screen recording), Autarkize (pyrolysis plant), Parahelp (AI support agent), Ethos (organize world's business data), Lemni (AI workers)..
2) We hosted an AI-First interfaces event in February with amazon speakers like @thesephist @AviSchiffmann, @fabianstelzer.
3) Our portfolio companies together raised over €225 million on following on founding
4) We had the chance to support many of our founders through the ups and downs of building startups.
2024 was also a year of learning and change.
2024 was different from the previous two years since we started Interface. Venture capital is obviously back, and markets are roaring. Very different from 2022 or 2023 when things moved slower and there was much more pessimism. It’s for sure interesting to invest through the different cycles and see how behaviors and opinions change during these times.
2024 was also more fun for me personally because I made a big change in how I approach investing. In 2023, I was very obsessed with “market coverage” because that's what I thought the best VCs do. I wanted us to see every early-stage deal in Europe. This was a setup for disaster as we’re a small team and don’t have the bandwidth to cover hundreds of rounds per month. It’s also not very differentiated, as we start looking pretty much similar to all other funds.
I strongly believe in Essentialism—the art of doing fewer things but doing them well. Chasing every deal without the necessary resources clearly contradicts that philosophy.
We shaped our focus to partner with incredible founders at the very early stages of their journey, preferably as one of the first investors, rather than chasing hot deals.
As founders ourselves, we aim to collaborate with other great founders, helping them lay the right foundations for building a successful company. This is where we can add value. And that's where we atand out compared to many other VCs. We don't have the biggest army of analysts but a wealth of hard-learned knowledge and experience.
This change did not only lead to a more focused investment strategy, it's also way more fun and plays to our strength.It's funny how life is all about trial and error and in hindsight things always look obvious.
I'm excited to see what 2025 brings! We'll invest more, help launch more companies, and plan another event—bigger this time. Let's go!
