The past year and a half was a rollercoaster, to say the least. Our founders have shown incredible resilience in responding to everything that has been thrown at them. Our portfolio has thrived and grown faster in the last twelve months than it has in the previous 25 years. We have companies that reached $1bn+ valuations within the year of founding, and we’ve added 9 unicorns to our active portfolio of 63. Most importantly, we are seeing a dramatic shift of behaviours and economies online.
It’s clear that something BIG and paradigm-shifting is happening at the intersection of technology and people. It’s no coincidence that players from other financial services sectors are flooding into tech startups.
Tech is pushing frontiers, as users experiment with new forms of social media, increasingly investing in crypto-backed financial instruments, and developers experimenting with new frameworks. Meanwhile, we’re also seeing mass-market adoption accelerating across sectors that have yet to be touched by technology. SMBs are scaling via digital workflows for the first time; e-commerce penetration is at an all-time high; and through digital platforms, consumers are able to play a self-led, proactive role in their healthcare journey in a way that has never been possible before.
But things are changing fast for Northzone too: we’re expanding our team across New York and London (for now)! While geography is becoming increasingly less relevant for founders and consumers alike, these hubs will continue to draw in the passionate, the aspirational, and the hungry, because the center of gravity of startups will less likely be determined by capital concentration and more likely determined by talent themselves locally.
Distributed by default, our tight-knit team of 14 investment professionals in global hubs like London, New York, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Oslo work together collaboratively in order to match the right investor with the right entrepreneur based on sector and personal fit, regardless of where they are based.
Northzone has always placed the highest value on being diverse by design, reflecting different ways of approaching and seeing the world rather than reflecting a single investment philosophy. We’re one of the few VCs that has a 50/50 gender parity on our investment team; we are proud that this is something that happened organically. We believe that by being a diverse team, reflecting different backgrounds, nationalities and perspectives, we’re able to outperform our peers.
We’re an early-stage venture capital fund. Since 1996, we have been chosen by exceptional entrepreneurs as a long-term partner for growth. So far, across nine fund generations and over $1.7 billion managed, we have invested in over 150 companies including category-defining businesses like Spotify, Hopin, iZettle, Klarna, FuboTV, Spring Health, Thirty Madison, Trustpilot, Kahoot!, Personio, and Tier as well as unannounced emerging category creators in Web 3.0, new social, food, and ML.
We want people driven by passion and with an entrepreneurial mindset, ready to embrace the uncertainty of this world and the investment ecosystem. We’re welcoming all backgrounds and reward grit. Your profile doesn’t look like the norm? Be our guest.
Please send us your application through Workable here highlighting why you’re interested in the role, one or two experiences or projects you feel are most relevant, your LinkedIn profile, and any other materials that help us get to know you.