SeedBlink Blog

Every start of a new year it’s a moment to reflect on the year that passed. For us, it’s already a tradition to pause for a few moments and take a look at the big wins and hard lessons that we can learn from the European venture and startup community.

In this article, we have brought firsthand insights from active European venture investors and founders who have recently navigated the fundraising journey and shared their lessons with us.

We hope the insights below will inspire you as you write down your strategy for the upcoming months and plan your next steps.

Big wins & hard lessons for Investors

2024 was a year of contrasts in the investment world. Ata Şenkon, Investment Manager at Rubio Impact Ventures, summed it up:

"In 2024, we witnessed a highly polarized VC funding landscape: on one hand, a select few European startups successfully closed considerable rounds, and on the other, most actually struggled to secure any.

For us, the highlight was the achievement of our portfolio companies within our most recent fund, which raised in total over €120 million in follow-on financing from external parties. We see this as a clear testament to sustained investor confidence in the value and potential of impact-driven ventures."

Deeptech investor and Principal at Cottonwood Technology Fund, Ytsen van der Meer, shared his experience:

"A bit of background on what happened to me in 2024. I moved on from NOM and joined Cottonwood Technology Fund as a Principal. Cottonwood is a pre-seed and seed deep tech hardware VC investing in the US and Europe. The big win for me would be that we are seeing more and more investors who are not shying away from highly complex (deep tech) technologies and investments in hardware.

On the other side, my biggest lesson is that the fundraising climate out there is still rough, probably even more so for investors trying to raise a fund than for founders trying to get together a round."

Stephanie Manz-Varga from 3VC observed,

"In 2024, the startup world operated with more caution due to the uncertain economy, but one clear win was the rise in AI investments. For me, it wasn’t just about the upward trend—it was inspiring to see investors back technologies with undeniable impact and value.

A hard lesson this year was navigating the shifting market dynamics, both as investors as well as for startups. It reinforced the importance of patience and staying focused on fundamentals—conviction, diligence, and long-term value. It also highlighted the importance of being a thoughtful partner—offering not just capital but meaningful support to help founders and their teams weather any storm and keep building toward their vision."

Frederik Stappers, Senior Investment Analyst at Aconterra Capital Partners, added another perspective: __

"A significant win in 2024 was the growing recognition we achieved among founders and investors as leading experts in the building innovation and energy transition markets. Founders contact us not only as a source of capital but also as strategic partners who understand the unique challenges and opportunities inherent to these spaces.

Similarly, a hard lesson was learning that avoiding the high valuations in the EnergyTech space means closing fewer deals, as we stayed committed to disciplined investment practices."

Valeri Petrov, Partner at Eleven Ventures, also shared their wins and lessons with us:

Big win in 2024: “A significant win in 2024 was the stabilization and normalization of the pre-seed market, particularly in terms of valuation expectations between founders and investors. This created a healthier ecosystem where genuine innovation could thrive without the market noise we saw in previous years.

Additionally, we witnessed increased interest from US and Western European investors in the SEE region, with many establishing local presence through small teams. This validation from mature markets has opened new opportunities for regional startups and strengthened the overall ecosystem.”

Hard lesson: “A challenging lesson in 2024 was adapting to the extended fundraising cycles, particularly in later stages where capital remained scarce. Many companies had to adjust their growth strategies and learn to operate with greater capital efficiency.

We saw numerous startups having to resort to bridge rounds rather than traditional growth funding. This reinforced the crucial importance of maintaining a longer runway and achieving clear business fundamentals before pursuing fundraising - a shift from the more optimistic market conditions of previous years.”

Big wins & hard lessons for Founders

For founders, 2024 was a year of breakthrough milestones and tough lessons learned in the process of fundraising.

Bart Roszkowski, Co-CEO of Protein Resources, recalled:

"Looking back at 2024, our standout achievement was successfully closing a funding round in August with SMOK Ventures and Bit Spriration Booster VC. It was an extremely challenging market for alt proteins, biotech, and manufacturing—especially given the broader shift in investors’ attention toward AI. But securing that capital was transformative for us: we tripled our production capacity and significantly accelerated our R&D. As a result, we hit a ground-breaking milestone: a true 1:1 beef analog that’s not only cheaper but also nearly 100 times more sustainable than conventional beef.

Without a doubt, fundraising itself was the hardest lesson. While we believed our technology and product were exceptionally strong, the market’s sentiment around alt proteins wasn’t on our side. Cultivated meat and precise fermentation hadn’t yet lived up to their promises, and competing for scarce capital in a market laser-focused on AI was a sobering reminder that even the most promising innovations can face uphill battles."

Leszek Zawadzki, co-founder and CEO of Juo, shared his experience with finding product-market fit: __

"In 2024, we fully experienced what it means to find product-market fit. It was our biggest success—without a doubt—but also our greatest challenge. Things before and after product-market fit look dramatically different, mainly in terms of the pace at which things happen.

Sure, this significantly helped us successfully raise another round of financing, but we also learned how important it is to plan to support a rapidly growing customer base. This is quite a difficult area to predict in terms of costs and time, and we had to quickly learn how to do it right."

UpNano GmbH, co-founded by Peter Gruber, Denise Hirner, Aleksandr Ovsianikov, and Bernhard Küenburg, also shared their story:

"A big win in 2024 was that we closed a 7M euro venture round to speed up market penetration and launch a new product platform in high-resolution 3D printing.

However, growth was slightly behind expectations due to the global economic situation. Looking ahead to 2025, we expect substantial growth, fueled by both our existing and new technological platform."

Take your fundraising to the next level in 2025

Reflecting on 2024, it’s clear that both investors and founders navigated a year filled with notable wins and hard lessons. From the rise of Artificial intelligence and DeepTech investments to the challenges of fundraising in an uncertain market, these insights remind us that every setback is an opportunity to learn and grow.

As you navigate through the economic and political challenges surrounding 2025, let these reflections guide you in building stronger strategies, fostering resilient partnerships, and pushing forward confidently.

If you’re looking to raise capital in 2025, check out SeedBlink’s Raise Hub - this will help you accelerate the preparation, execution, and management of fundraising within your network. The platform streamlines everything from pitch deck reviews to funding simulations, round execution, stakeholder management, and more so you can focus on what really matters: building your business.