Last month, M12 brought together 50 representatives from nearly 30 venture capital firms for a gathering in London to present insights on the latest technology trends, M12’s regional investments, and the value-add strategies of our portfolio development team.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Global Head of M12, Nagraj Kashyap, opened the event by reflecting on the seven investments we have made in Europe over the past three years:
- Beamery: Candidate relationship software for modern recruiting teams
- Hazy: Safe, synthetic data that works as a drop-in replacement for data science workloads
- Kahoot: A platform to create, share, and play learning games and trivia quizzes
- Onfido: AI-powered identify verification and facial biometrics technology
- Pickit: Microsoft Office add-in that makes it simple to make impactful presentations
- TwentyBN: Deep learning software that is redefining AI-human interaction
- Unbabel: An automated translation service for customer support
M12 General Manager and Managing Director, EMEA, Mony Hassid, then provided a general overview of Microsoft’s venture fund, spotlighting our founder-friendly philosophy and our commitment to deliver unparalleled access to Microsoft for our portfolio companies. Then, M12 Managing Director and AI expert Samir Kumar, shared more about the next wave of AI trends on the IoT edge.
M12 General Manager and Managing Director Lisa Nelson, showcased some of the value-add strategies that our portfolio development team leverages to help our startups grow their business and accelerate their time to revenue. The Portfolio Development team provides wide-ranging support, from facilitating go-to-market and co-sell with the world’s largest enterprise salesforce here at Microsoft, to coordinating bespoke business development opportunities at top-tier events, like Microsoft Build, National Retail Federation, Mobile World Congress, and more. The team provides our portfolio with access to best-in-class technology, as well as access to engineering teams and world-renowned subject matter experts.
“The portfolio development team provides our portfolio with access to best-in-class technology, as well as access to engineering teams and world-renowned subject matter experts.”
“Since joining Microsoft’s co-sell program a little less than a year ago, we’ve closed almost 80 deals worth US$13 million of ARR with them. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.”
Portfolio company Dynamic Signal CEO and Co-founder Russ Fradin emphasized the value that that M12’s Portfolio Development team has provided to his company: “Since joining Microsoft’s co-sell program a little less than a year ago, we’ve closed almost 80 deals worth US$13 million of ARR with them. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.”
Microsoft Corporate Vice President and CEO of Microsoft UK, Cindy Rose shared insights on Microsoft’s cultural transformation, including its deep commitment to diversity and inclusion, and Microsoft’s broader work with startups. The program wrapped with a panel of selected M12 portfolio company CEOs who shared how M12 is helping them scale.
We were thrilled to host such a strong community and share more about M12’s progress to date in Europe.
Thank you to our partner Silicon Valley Bank for helping to make this event possible!
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