Defiance Capital's Data Room
Welcome to Defiance Capital’s Data Room. This space contains confidential information intended solely for authorized parties. If you have not been granted access, you are not permitted to view or use this material. For additional information or access requests, please contact one of the General Partners directly.
Strategic Insights:
LPs will have full access to additional strategic insights and proprietary reports developed by the firm, made available via our dedicated LP portal. Below are a few examples of materials made available to LPs in our previous funds.
Our "Hunting the Unicorn Hunters" talk at JP Morgan. Link
Our Unicorn Founder DNA Report. Link to report. Link to TC article
Our Defying the Odds show. Link
LP Q&A:

  • Fund Name: Defiance Capital Fund I

    Fund Domicile: Luxembourg

    Focus: First check in AI-native application-layer and middleware companies in Northern Europe, offering structured early liquidity and long-term upside.

    Target AUM: EUR 40M (EUR 50M cap)

    Portfolio Size: 40 companies

    Avg. Initial Check Size: EUR 650K

    Target Ownership: 10% at entry

    Target Return: 5.2x net DPI

    Fund Economics: Standard 2% management fee and 20% carried interest

  • 1) Our Track Record Is Our Strongest Differentiator

    • We encourage LPs to review our performance and speak with our references. Venture has become an asset class filled with fluff—where many funds promote differentiators that sound compelling but don’t translate to returns. As LPs ourselves, we care about what matters most: performance and capital returned. We’re bringing venture back to its roots—with focus, discipline, and accountability.

    • We apply a private equity mindset to early-stage VC, with a clear focus on DPI from day one. While we recognize that venture returns take time, we believe thoughtful portfolio construction, proactive liquidity management, and institutional discipline—including the use of secondaries—are essential to modernizing the asset class and restoring LP confidence.

    2) Proprietary Founder Evaluation System

    • We believe that AI will soon become a baseline expectation in venture, not a differentiator. That’s why we’ve built our own proprietary system from day one—designed to identify and evaluate founders before traction, revenue, or financials exist.

    • Using a RAG-based analysis framework, we combine structured pattern recognition with real-time signals to spot exceptional founders early, even when traditional data is limited. This system enhances our sourcing, prioritization, and conviction in non-obvious opportunities.

    3) Deep Founder & VC Networks

    • We’ve co-invested with top-tier firms including a16z, Tiger Global, EQT, Sequoia, Pear VC, and Lightspeed.

    • As founders, we’ve been backed by Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Altor Equity, and Menlo Ventures, among others.

    These networks give us differentiated access, signal quality, and founder referrals that compound over time.

    4) AI-Native Team with Rare Pedigree

    Our team brings both operational and investment experience, combining backgrounds in Google Maps, Siri, Svea Solar, and Sweet Capital. We are an AI-native fund with a rare mix of venture, entrepreneurial, and technical depth—designed for this moment in innovation.

    • 3.7x MOIC (top decile) across all investments: Angel investments + Sweet Capital + Defiance Nano Fund I

    • Angel investments: 83x MOIC with a 24x angel DPI

    • Defiance Nano Fund I: Nov 2023 vintage, 2.23x MOIC and 55% IRR (top decile)

  • While we are best known for being the first check into Canva, we were also early or first-check investors in companies like Svea Solar, Selfbook, Pachama and Astranis.

  • We’ve reverse-engineered our portfolio construction to maximize our chances of becoming a top-decile fund. This includes:

    • Backing ~35 companies at the earliest stage to increase exposure to power-law outcomes

    • Optimizing for ownership with 7–8% targets using EUR 500–750K checks

    • No follow-on reserve to maximize new shots on goal; breakout winners will be supported via SPVs and LP co-investment rights

    This model is based on historic venture fund data since 2000 and mirrors strategies used by top early-stage funds globally.

  • Our investment pace and number of deals (35) are fixed. Until we reach our full AUM, our initial checks may be smaller, but we will adjust our check size upward once we hit our AUM target. We remain disciplined in targeting ownership and will increase check sizes accordingly.

  • Leading pre-seed rounds gives us the opportunity to secure tag-along rights to exit part of our position when founders do secondary sales. Such rights are usually pro-rata based but sometimes allows us to exit a larger stake at a different price per share. We sometimes also structure SPVs for our shares which can help bypass restrictions on secondary transactions. 

  • AI will likely reshape every sector over the next 20 years. As a fund, we aim to capitalize on this shift by:

    1) Focusing on capital-efficient, high-margin, defensible software models at the application and middleware layer.

    2) Leveraging Northern Europe’s edge, which includes:

    • Exceptional technical talent

    • Lower operational burn

    • Collaborative ecosystems less dominated by Big Tech

    The region is ideal for building modular, interoperable AI-native tools designed for enterprise adoption.

  • We’ve developed a proprietary Founder Evaluation Matrix grounded in:

    • Christian’s top-performing founders

    • 2,500 unicorn founder data points

    • 30+ founder interviews

    • AI analysis of 100+ podcast interviews

    Common Traits Include:

    • Overcoming adversity: Demonstrates resilience and leadership

    • Entrepreneurial background: Shows learning from failure or iteration

    • Something to prove: Drives ambition and consistency

    • Nothing to fall back on: Signals commitment

    • Mission-driven: Indicates long-term motivation

    • Supreme confidence + fast learners: Necessary to adapt and scale

    • Technical background: Strong correlation with success in software

  • We lean toward experienced founders, often in their 30s, with a track record of execution. However, we’ve also backed younger founders with clear histories of building since their teens.

    • Founder Alignment: We are operators turned investors. Our team includes the founder of Google Maps (Lars), a Siri co-founder (Mads), the founder of Svea Solar (Nolan), and a founding partner of Sweet Capital (Christian). This founding pedigree is unmatched in European VC.

    • AI Expertise: Christian has led data science teams since 2000. Mads and Nolan bring deep product and AI engineering experience.

    • Community Access: Our podcast, events, and retreats create authentic founder relationships pre-fundraising.

    • Tier-One Follow-On Access: Our network includes Sequoia, Index, Accel, Tiger Global, Northzone, etc., enabling easier access to Series A+ rounds.

    • Founder Coaching: Via Sofia Nunes (Mambu unicorn co-founder)

    • Milestone Planning Workshops within 30 days of investment

    • Monthly Q&A Calls with unicorn founders

    • Founder Retreats & Community Events (e.g., Nazare, PanAthenea)

    • Hiring, Partnerships & Follow-On Support

    • Board Role: We typically request board rights but rarely use them unless governance concerns arise

    • No emotional IC: Unlike past experience, we anchor decisions with structured data and pre-round LP interest

    • Avoid AAA CV bias: Strong pedigree ≠ strong conviction or scrappiness

    • No 1-person bets: Founders must either have or be seeking complementary partners

    • 12+ years of Northern Europe investing experience (Christian)

    • Strong feeder fund ties:

      • Wave Ventures (Nordics/Baltics)

      • Operators & Friends (Europe-wide)

      • Sigma Squared (under-26 top founders)

    • Founder Festival: PanAthenea (3,000+ attendees, OpenAI/Microsoft speakers)

    • First 6 deals: 4 were founders we’ve known for 5–20 years

    • Advanced AI tools plus proprietary fine tuning

  • The founding partners are Christian Dörffer, Nolan Gray, Lars Rasmussen, and Mads Rydahl. We have been working and investing together for over a decade. All four of us sit on the Investment Committee. Nolan and Christian are the General Partners, working full-time and fully committed to the firm.

    Nolan and Christian first worked together in 2015 when Christian led Nolan’s seed round—a deal that delivered a 40x return and sparked a high-trust relationship. Since then, they’ve co-invested in over ten companies, built shared conviction, and pressure-tested their alignment well before raising a fund.

    Along the way, Christian partnered with Lars Rasmussen (co-founder of Google Maps) and Mads Rydahl (founding product lead for Siri at Apple), developing deep technical and strategic trust through years of co-investing and collaboration. Today, all four are core members of Defiance, bringing a rare combination of founder empathy, investor discipline, and long-term chemistry to every deal.

    We started by deploying our own capital, refining our model, and building conviction through real experience. Now, we bring that same energy and alignment to our LPs—offering early access to standout founders, a proven filter for high-potential companies, and a fully aligned team built to go the distance.

    • Warm intros at events (before rounds open)

    • Structured co-investment rights once we’ve issued a term sheet

    • LP-first look window before opening to external investors

    • Founder-driven process — we ensure LPs are visible and helpful

  • Fund Fiannce: 

    • Anna Budzynski – (CFA, ex-PwC and Sweet Capital)

    Law Firms:

    • Brouxel Rabia (Lux)

    • Withersworldwide (UK/US)

    Banking:

    • Fund: Banking Circle (Luxembourg)

    • GP: Brex, Citi, Wise, Bridge Bank

    Fund Administration: 

    • Fundcraft

    Communication & Tools:

    • Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, Dropbox, Google Drive

    • Docsend, Specter, Squarespace

    • Quarterly reports via Fundcraft

    • Quarterly report portfolio specifics

    • Capital call notices

    • Portfolio company write-ups

    • Community & event engagement

    • IP development updates

    • Founder Evaluation Matrix based on 2,500+ unicorns

    • Deep founder podcast database (Defying the Odds)

    • Published research with TechCrunch on Unicorn DNA

    • Invited speakers at StrictlyVC, Collision, SuperVenture, Arctic15, JP Morgan, PanAthenea, EUVC

    • Join as podcast guests, event hosts, or mentors

    • Attend invite-only LP retreats or sector roundtables

    • Access IP for internal LP reporting or fund-of-funds theses

  • EUR 10M first close completed, targeting final close by early Q4.

  • The fund will be audited annually. An LPAC is planned and will be formed following the second close to advise on governance, conflicts, and major fund decisions.

  • We plan to deploy capital over a 2-year investment period.