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Building teams and scaling impact, what "fixing the foundations" means for impact, and more

Learn directly from Rypples, Eka Ventures, Lunar Ventures, Multiples and other leading European companies & VCs.

Nov 28, 2024

Transcript

Another packed newsletter for you. Let’s get into it.

We’ve got some standout submissions on the community insights platform to share:

To get featured, go here.

Additionally we have a London-based amazing marketing, community, and events lead with a proven track record of supporting startups and VCs that is seeking permanent and/or contract opportunities. If you have any open opportunities or know the right place DM us at a@eu.vc to connect.

Rypples' Jerome Ternynck on building teams and scaling impact in conversation with Robin Haak

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas talks with Robin Haak, the solo GP behind Robin Capital, and Jerome Ternynck, founder of SmartRecruiters and a new initiative called Rypples.

Together, we explore the evolution of recruiting, why "you are who you hire," and how AI is reshaping talent acquisition. Jerome brings insights from decades in HR tech, while Robin adds the investor’s perspective on navigating and succeeding in competitive markets.

We’ll dig into Jerome’s journey with SmartRecruiters and the problem-solving mindset that’s driven his work for the past 30 years. We'll also uncover Rypples—his new mission to combine sustainable impact and financial return by investing in ocean-positive startups—and why sustainability is the next big business frontier.

Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation available on the Spotify/Apple episode.

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✍️ Show notes

Rypple's Vision: Sustainable Impact Beyond Profits

Jerome is clear about what Rypples aims to do: "We actually have the opportunity to become the first sustainable generation." The goal isn't just making an impact—it’s doing so while being profitable. Rypples is not a traditional fund; it’s an ocean investment firm investing out of its own balance sheet. Key highlights include:

Not a Fund, but an Evergreen Approach: Jerome shares that Rypples operates with their own capital, focusing on ocean-positive ventures at seed and Series A stages.
Aligned Incentives for Profit and Impact: Jerome firmly believes that making money is key to driving impact. Ventures that scale can only do so with sustainable financial models.

The Art of Fundraising and the VC Relationship

Jerome brings up a vital point about venture fundraising—how important it is to create urgency among investors: "Fear of missing out is actually the only driver of term sheets." He explains his approach to engaging VCs:

FOMO as the Key Driver: Fundraising is not about proving numbers to everyone; it’s about getting a few to fear missing out. Jerome advises keeping a small circle and building strong relationships long before you raise.
VCs Are Not Your Advisors: He stresses the need for founders to recognize VCs as investors, not necessarily advisors. Founders should manage their board with a clear understanding of each member’s role.

Scaling Smart Recruiters and SaaS Lessons

Jerome reflects on scaling Smart Recruiters, covering challenges in SaaS growth from ARR of $1M to $10M, and ultimately beyond:

Customer Acquisition & ICP Focus: The need to transition from product-market fit to go-to-market fit was a key point. Jerome highlights, “Every company needs to hire, but serving everyone makes you a servant of all and a master of none.”
Sales Metrics & Efficient Teams: Jerome speaks about getting sales efficiency right: "A dollar of sales and marketing needs to deliver a dollar of ARR." He emphasizes that for smaller contract values, optimizing for efficiency becomes even more critical.

AI in Recruiting: Opportunities and Challenges

Robin asks Jerome about the role of AI in recruitment, given Jerome’s extensive experience in the space:

Automating the Recruitment Process: Jerome believes in the potential of AI to reduce inefficiencies in recruitment, with Winston (their AI tool) already handling high-volume recruitment processes for major firms.
Moving Beyond User Interfaces: He makes a bold prediction, “No user will want to learn a software ever again. The software should learn them.” Jerome envisions a future where interfaces are replaced by intuitive AI-driven experiences.

CEO as an Athlete: Continuous Learning

Jerome underscores the concept of the CEO as an athlete, noting, “You, as a CEO, are both the main driver and the main limitation of your company.” The discussion revolves around the need for continuous self-improvement and pushing personal boundaries:

Constant Learning as the Key: Successful founders are curious and proactive in their growth. Jerome also emphasizes being open to stepping aside if you become the limiting factor for your company’s progress.

The Rypple Mission: Oceans, Sustainability, and Scale

Jerome shares the motivation behind starting Rypples after stepping down as CEO of Smart Recruiters:

Focusing on the Oceans: With Rypples, Jerome and his partner have chosen to focus on ocean-positive projects—dealing with sustainable fisheries, ocean data systems, maritime decarbonization, and coral reef restoration.
Scalable Solutions for Real Impact: Rypples looks for startups that have a working product and market fit, and helps them scale, combining funding with operator expertise to maximize growth.

Final Thoughts: Collaboration and Real Value

Robin closes by reinforcing that Jerome’s approach combines long-term mission-driven work with real-world financial acumen. Both Robin and Jerome encourage VCs and founders to look beyond immediate numbers and think about the lasting impact of their ventures.

What “Fixing the Foundations” means for Impact

Guest post by Estia Ryan, Principal & Head of Research at Eka Ventures. | Originally published on Eka Ventures Newsletter.

It’s been (almost) a week since Rachel Reeves announced her inaugural budget. In this edition, we’ll be diving into the key policies and funding figures for Impact themes: climate and health.

If we’ve missed anything, don’t be shy and share your thoughts with us in the comments below 👇

UK budget breakdown: the impact lens

🌱 Part 1: Climate

Last week, the budget covered a variety of climate areas including more information on Great British Energy, dedicated $2b worth of hydrogen investment, and an increase in private jet rates from 2026.

📊 Headline figures & policies

£125m allocated for Great British Energy in 2025-26. The government will spend £125m on the publicly owned company with the aim of accelerating investment into renewable energy. As the FT reported, there is some confusion about how the £125m figure matches up against the £8b pledge from earlier in the year from now until mid-2029.
£4b dedicated for clean energy projects across hydrogen and carbon capture. This will go to ‘clusters’ across the UK including contracts with 11 hydrogen producers. Our read is that this is a subset of the initial £22b investment outlined earlier in the year (see video below explaining this in more detail).
£3b over the next three years for homes’ heat decarbonisation. This includes fuel poverty schemes and boiler upgrades. There is also funding to upgrade the UK’s heat pump manufacturing supply chain in order to support heat decarbonisation.
CBAM implementation due for 2027. This will place a carbon price on goods coming into the UK which are essentially ‘importing’ in CO2e emissions. This impacts heavy industry sectors including aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron & steel sectors.
Grid connections getting fast tracked? The government plans to accelerate grid connections and build new network infrastructure, working with the National Energy System Operator and Ofgem to develop a robust grid connection process.

🤔 What was left unsaid?

What about the skills transition necessary for these investments? The budget highlighted investments in energy projects and infrastructure but didn’t address how the UK workforce will be prepared for this transition (*there is a slight mention of the Energy Profits Levy capital allowance). The Green Alliance wrote an interesting piece earlier this year on the workforce transition, and there are many interesting companies in the space tackling this (i.e. Greenworkx, Gauge19, or Leafr).
Charting an implementation roadmap. Before you read this, you should know that Budgets don’t publish implementation roadmaps so this is potentially an unfair criticism. The £125m for Great British Energy and the £3b for heat decarbonisation are significant, yet there was little detail on how these funding schemes would work and/or how success would be evaluated.
What is the role for UK (and international!) startups in delivering these projects? How will the government interact with startups and innovations when delivering these projects? The budget did not include specific mentions of partnering with high-growth startups to achieve their climate aims.

As is often the case, the government will follow up in later weeks about more detailed implications from their Budget statements. For now, here’s a video from earlier in the year when Labour pledged £22b to carbon capture.

🫀Part 2: Health

We’ve started writing LinkedIn posts with Healthtech 1 - we will be linking in their take later today here. For now, see our initial takeaways from the Budget for the NHS & the broader health system.

📊 Headline figures

£23b resource spend increase for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This figure is the difference between the 2025-26 cycle relative to the 2023-24 cycle. In the base year, NHS England funding was 96% of resource spending with stays (broadly) steady in the 2025-26 cycle.

4.0% “real” growth in spending for NHS England. This is the highest since before 2010. This is marginally higher than the overall resource DHSC (3.4% real growth over two years).
£2b invested in NHS technology and digital. The government will invest >£2b across the NHS across a wide range of initiatives including cyber, digital patient records, and the NHS app.
2% target for productivity improvement next year. This is linked to the technology target above (but there isn’t much detail below this figure). Additionally, the 2% productivity target is not unique to DHSC or the NHS, but has been set for all government departments.
(Not a number, but a sentiment: prevention getting its limelight?). Substantial mention of prevention across tobacco products and sugar intake. More to come in the 10 year plan…?

🤔 What was left unsaid?

Details on productivity initiatives are necessary to “fix the foundations” The key piece for us in this budget is the productivity number. The 2% productivity target for next year is, of course, across government departments including the DHSC. This comes after a comment on a £2b investment into broader NHS technology initiatives. But the budget was very light on detail about how exactly this productivity boost will be achieved within the DHSC. The huge spend increase should have more emphasis on the ROI behind the spend - otherwise the government runs the risk of splashing money at the problem without fixing the foundations.
Prevention as a focal point… but again low on detail. It is encouraging to see prevention strategies beginning to take center stage, particularly with measures aimed at reducing tobacco use and sugar intake. There was also mention of increased social care and local authority funding, which will be another step in the right direction for prevention.
(Understandably) a comprehensive 10 year plan - more to come in 2025! While the budget highlighted increased funding and new initiatives, many of these could be overturn or changed in their upcoming 10-year plan come early 2025. There was no mention of Palantir and the FDP, or details on the NHS app. Again we get that the Budget isn’t about appeasing all the health nerds, and that there are many many other important topics to cover including tax and defence… but as we look to next year, we do expect more clarity here.

These areas, if not addressed, could leave gaps in how the budget’s promises translate into tangible outcomes for the UK’s health system and its future resilience.

The Startup Fundraising Secret: How Hick’s Law Can Simplify Investor Decisions

Guest post by Abdelrhman Soliman, Investment Analyst & Startup Mentor at Multiples. | Originally published on Linkedin.

In the high-stakes world of startup fundraising, clarity is critical. When pitching to investors, founders often feel compelled to share every detail of their business, showcase all possible growth avenues, or propose numerous investment options. However, this approach can overwhelm investors, leading to decision fatigue and, ultimately, rejection.

Hick’s Law—a principle of psychology—explains why too many choices lead to slower decisions and reduced action. Originating from experiments on human behavior, the law demonstrates that fewer, well-curated options lead to faster and more effective decision-making. This whitepaper examines how founders can leverage Hick’s Law to simplify the fundraising process, align investor focus, and drive results.

Read the full story here

Nuclear Fusion: The State of Play

Guest post by Lawrence Lundy, Partner, Research at Lunar Ventures. | Originally published on State of the Future.

Atomic energy yes? I raise your fission and small modular reactors (SMRs) with fusion? If the timelines for SMRs to power datacentres were mismatched, you just wait…

I’ve been on somewhat of a “journey” with fusion. I wrote a few years ago:

“Best case scenarios from private companies are “within a decade”. But these timelines are at odds with publicly-funded projects from the EU, China and the UK coming in between 2035 and 2050. The reality is there will be a long lag between “net gain” and commercial electricity supply despite the huge demand. Even if net gain was achieved tomorrow, it will still take the best part of a decade to make a material impact on grid supply. For our purposes we do not need to distinguish between 2030 or 2040. We can put nuclear fusion on the 2030+ timeframe making it hard to see a pathway for VC funding.”

I’ll still out here calling shots.

To be clear, I was bullish on fusion generally, but specifically I thought the 15 year timeline for a electricity producing facility was sad for VCs. Especially for early-stage VCs.

Read the full story here

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Your fund’s narrative is what makes the difference between an LP glancing at your deck or deciding they’re ready to write a check. It’s your brand that makes LPs feel confident they’re partnering with someone who knows how to make magic happen.

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💬 EUVC Community | LP AMA with Vinthera’s Rodrigo Ferreira

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Prior to joining Vinthera, Rodrigo Ferreira gained 5 years of experience backing VC fund managers across the globe as Principal and Investment Team lead at boutique fund of funds firm BFP. There he played a key role in over 20 fund investments and managed a portfolio of more than 50 funds with top decile aggregate returns.

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