B2B Venture Investing with Evgenia Plotnikova, Partner at Dawn Capital
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On today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Evgenia Plotnikova, Partner and Investor at Dawn Capital, in the wake of Dawn’s $400M raise in September.
Dawn Capital is one of the premier venture firms in Europe and is focused on B2B Software and FinTech, investing mostly in Series A + B rounds for high-growth companies. Their investments have included iZettle (sold to PayPal), Mimecast (NASDAQ: MIME), and many more.
Evgenia is a seasoned investor in both venture and private equity. Prior to Dawn, she was a VC at Atomico, where she spearheaded the firm’s entry into France and worked with a number of businesses, including the likes of Ontruck and Memphis Meats. Before venture, Evgenia was an investor at TPG Capital focused on telecommunications, retail, transportation, and mining.
Evgenia is engaging, candid, and insightful — making for an excellent episode. We cover a great deal, including:
- How she describes Dawn and their general investing style (4:20)
- Raising a $400M fund in COVID…a huge fund for venture capital (7:40)
- How Dawn positions themselves to entrepreneurs and founders, and the incredible value they have brought (10:29)
- Her general sourcing and diligence processes (12:30)
- Her investment in Soldo and the bright future ahead for the company (18:35)
- A special rapid-fire question round (27:08)
…And much more.
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Before investing, Evgenia started her career at J.P. Morgan in the London and Dubai offices, where she advised businesses on potential M&A transactions as well as equity and debt financings. Evgenia also spent time studying at The Wharton School — always great to have alum on the podcast.
Evgenia is fluent in French and Russian, has lived in 5 countries, and has traveled to 55 (though COVID may slow her march to 60). In 2017, Evgenia was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and became the judge for its prestigious Finance category in 2018.
Previous Episodes You May Enjoy:
Leading a Public VC Firm with Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum FinTech
Accelerating Global Fintech Ecosystems — Maelis Carraro, Director of Catalyst Fund
M&A Special — CB Insights buys Dutch “Blockdata” with Founders Anand Sanwal and Jonathan Knegtel
Financial Literacy, Mocking Oprah, and Life Lessons with Neale S Godfrey
Unlocking Entrepreneurial Progress with Vanessa Colella, Head of Citi Ventures
Leading Russia’s Fintech Innovation with Oliver Hughes, Tinkoff CEO
Building a Customer-Centric Culture with David Vélez, Founder and CEO of Nubank
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Ryan Zauk
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Ryan Zauk is an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he runs the Wharton FinTech Podcast. After graduation, Ryan will join Morgan Stanley’s Menlo Park Office focused on technology. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
