Founder-focused VC offers hope to startups facing end of the runway

This year will see the return of the biting winds of a funding winter, with many founders running out of runway and faced with the prospect of selling their startups for scrap or shuttering.

The numbers aren’t pretty.

Last month, Japan and the UK slipped into a recession. The US, the world’s largest economy, is predicted to follow suit and a further slowdown is expected in China.

Offering a ray of hope for frantic founders is Olivier Raussin, co-founder and managing partner of entrepreneur-driven VC firm Febe Ventures. He tells Tech in Asia that he once went through the same dilemma, but he managed to survive – and even steer Brazilian wine startup Evino back to growth.

Olivier Raussin, co-founder and managing partner of Febe Ventures / Photo credit: Febe Ventures

“I speak from personal experience when I say it can be done. After many painful decisions and lessons, my previous company didn’t just survive. It managed to completely turn around and found a path to healthy growth,” says Raussin.

Founded in 2019, Febe Ventures – short for “For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs” – was joined by other entrepreneurs-turned-investors: Aditya Pendyala, co-founder of IoT firm Mnubo; Nicolas El Baze, a serial entrepreneur and partner at investment firm Partech; and Jai Choi, co-founder of cloud-based search web service PeerPong and managing partner of VC firm Tekton Ventures.

They have a combined history of building over 30 companies and backing over 200 startups.

“We’re operators at heart, so we understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of the startup journey and try to give founders what we wish we had: hassle-free processes, no-nonsense feedback, and hard-earned lessons from past experiences – both failures and successes,” says Raussin.

(Bottom row, from left) Febe Ventures partners Nicolas El Baze, Olivier Raussin, Aditya Pendyala, and Jai Choi with the team / Photo credit: Febe Ventures

At the end of 2023, Febe Ventures launched its second fund with a goal of raising US$75 million. It had already secured capital commitments totaling 90% of the target at the time.

The company raised US$25 million in its first fund to invest in 34 companies, a large majority of which were in the pre-seed and seed stages. Within Febe’s portfolio, 50% are SaaS or software companies, 82% are B2B-focused, and 40% have a global reach.

In a Q&A with Tech in Asia, Raussin shares his plans about Febe’s second fund and what founders need to focus on to revive their startups. Below is our conversation, which has been edited for clarity and brevity: