Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward.
Today we welcome Olav Ostin, Founder & Managing Partner at TempoCap, one of Europe’s few dedicated secondary direct firms. With a nine-year track record, a 12-person team in London and Berlin (soon Paris), and multiple $500M+ exits, Olav is perfectly placed to explain why secondaries have gone from taboo to the hottest corner of venture.
From buying whole portfolios from corporates to cherry-picking strip deals with VCs under LP pressure, TempoCap has built a reputation for navigating complex transactions and delivering liquidity in a market starved of exits. In this conversation, Olav shares what makes secondary directs different, how pricing really works, and why “who isn’t selling?” is the right question in today’s market.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
01:00 TempoCap’s story: founded in 2016, 9 years of secondary directs, team and footprint
02:00 What secondary directs really are: single-asset vs. portfolio transactions
03:03 What they buy: later-stage, €10–30M ARR, fully funded enterprise software, fintech, cyber & more
05:00 Typical deal sizes: €5–20M singles, €20M–€100M+ portfolios
06:30 How deals come in: board seats, VC relationships, and corporate inbound
09:50 Portfolio deals: cherry-picking vs. full takeovers, strip deals, and tailored solutions
15:00 Misconceptions: discounts are not automatic; valuation discipline and liquidity dynamics
23:40 How a secondary deal is actually done: NDA, desktop analysis, confirmatory DD, SPA
28:20 Who’s selling? Corporates offloading, GPs under DPI pressure, but few fire sales
36:00 Notable exits: Onfido ($650M), D-Orbit ($500M), and what they say about today’s market
39:20 The future of TempoCap: bigger funds, becoming Europe’s leading secondary direct player
You can watch the episode here, or add it to your queue on Apple or Spotify 🎧 (chapters for easy navigation available on both).
✍️ Show Notes
TempoCap’s Model
Focus: secondary directs — buying stakes directly in companies, not just LP positions.
Types: single assets (€5–20M) and portfolios (€20M–€100M+).
Criteria: later-stage (€10–30M ARR), fully funded, mostly enterprise SaaS, fintech, cyber/defense.
Why It Matters Now
Liquidity crunch: everyone needs DPI — corporates retrenching, VCs under LP pressure.
Corporate VCs went from $18B invested in 2014 to $173B at the 2021 peak. Those portfolios now need exits.
Natural 10-year cycle: expect a decade of secondary deals as 2020–21 vintages age.
Misconceptions & Mechanics
Discounts: not automatic. Driven by exit prospects, not arbitrary %.
Process: NDA → desktop analysis → confirmatory DD → execution. Confidentiality is key.
Partnerships: prefer to keep incumbent GP in place and co-manage portfolios.
Market Insights
Exits still happen ($100M–$500M typical in Europe), but big billion-plus IPOs are rare.
Private equity buyers are more active again, though disciplined.
If companies stay private longer, secondaries fill the gap.
TempoCap’s Edge
5 exits >$500M in last 4 years.
2020 vintage fund: 0.9x DPI, 50%+ IRR.
Goal: become Europe’s #1 secondary direct player, eventually partnering in the US.
💡 One-liner takeaway:
Secondaries are no longer taboo — they’re the liquidity engine of European venture, and TempoCap is leading the charge.
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